August 2013

Craig Mongeau - August 2013

First, a reminder that the N.Y.S. Highway & Public Works Expo is fast approaching. To be held once again in Syracuse, this year’s show is slated for Wednesday, Oct. 16. Look in the next issue for more details. Now on to another matter.

Do what you love — that’s the advice you’ll hear from most successful people; it’s their proverbial secret to success. Success, however, can mean many different things to many different people. Of course it can mean money and lots of it. But it also takes the form of good health, a wonderful family, a smile on your face most of the time or it can be as simple as not dreading getting up in the morning to go to work, which is where we spend most of our time.

Bette Boise, who recently passed away at the age of 91, was a success. I had the good fortune of meeting her a couple of times at the N.Y.S. Highway & Public Works Expo and though I never got to know her well, it was quickly apparent that she was happy and loved to be around people in this industry. Always smiling, she was confident, but not arrogant — a very precarious balancing act that can only be pulled off when you’re not faking it, when you’re completely at peace with who you are and what you’re doing.

Bette would make you smile, too. She was funny and you had to be on your toes because she possessed a quick wit. It was almost like she could size you up faster than you could do it on yourself. That’s because she loved people and she paid attention to them. She was the kind of person that you were lucky to meet and to know. She had a way of making you realize that you had work to do, that you could smile more, that you could be more at peace with yourself, that you should love what you do.

Bette loved what she did and we were lucky she did. She will be missed by so many and that alone is a great success.