MANSFIELD OH by Lou Whitmire mansfieldnewsjournal — If you thought you saw The Partridge Family bus parked recently outside Crossroads Community Church on Park Avenue West, you’re partly right.

Lori Biddle, director of creative arts at the church, said six artists transformed a bus with bright colors reminiscent of the vehicle used in the 1970s TV sitcom.

Biddle had the bus towed from a junk yard to the church site for a teaching series on healthy marriage. The hit song, “Come On Get Happy,” sang by The Partridge Family was part of the concept. The song was played during church services, and yes, people sang along, she said.

The Partridge Family ran from 1970 to 1974, featured Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce. The show was about a widowed mother and her five children who formed a band and traveled on tour in their memorable bus.

The local bus, parked outside 1188 Park Avenue West, is expected to be towed back to the junk yard soon.

Biddle said the inoperable bus was an advertising piece and talking point for the congregation while focusing on family.

“For our Come On Get Happy series, Pastor Tim Armstrong suggested that we repurpose and design a broken down bus. We were able to borrow one when Carroll’s Salvage Yard in Crestline generously loaned one to us for a few weekends. Our next series is called ‘Grow’ and we are busy working on the design concept for that series to begin,” she said.