November 2006

Craig Mongeau - November 2006

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our exhibitors and attendees of the 2006 N.Y.S. Highway & Public Works Expo.

This is a show I look forward to every year, and the reason is simple: family. That’s what the expo represents for us at Superintendent’s Profile, and we suspect it’s that way for all of you, too. Highway and DPW teams from across the state gather in one place, catch up on old times, discuss what’s going on in each village, town, city or county, meet with exhibitors who truly care about helping make your jobs easier, and sharing the pride each team has for its home, as evidenced by the “colors” or uniforms each of you wear to the expo.

Trade shows can be a bit corporate – or another way to put it, impersonal. Not this one. And that’s a testament to you who bring your down-to-earth values, your proud work ethic and your genuine passion for what you do to Syracuse in October each year. As a traditionalist, I appreciate these traits and wish other industries would exhibit (or return to) practicing these values.

I also want to thank our readers for the many kind words you’ve said or written to us about this magazine since we started publishing it in 2003. Among the kindest compliments we’ve received was during this year’s show from Keith Hurtgam, superintendent of highways of the Town of Hartland Highway Department and past president of the N.Y.S. Association of Town Superintendents of Highways. He said that he likes how each profile is different in some way, and that it’s never boring or stale. I hope the majority of you also feel that way because telling each of your stories in an individual way is my most important goal. While there are common denominators in what each of you do, everybody and each department is unique in at least one way, and that alone makes it truly fun to write these stories.

Thank you for reading, and most important, thank you for noticing. P