By R.V. Baugus
By now hopefully you have read through your September/October issue of Facility Manager magazine. Within the pages of the magazine highlighted by a cover feature story on good friend and industry veteran Beth Wade was a secondary feature on Sara Escobar, a young lady who just graduated high school this past May and is now a college freshman at the University of Texas.
You might recall that in writing the story I placed an editor’s note before the feature stating that while Sara 
has no direct connection to the public assembly venue industry, her story is indeed one about life and overcoming some of the most difficult challenges that can be thrown at someone so young.
It was only a matter of days before one of our industry’s wisest in Frank Russo sent me an email to share some ideas about how Sara’s story does in fact play into our industry.
“Venue managers with a significant part-time labor force should consider using this article as a motivational tool,” Frank wrote. “The story gives hope, guidance on how to improve your lot in life, how to be grateful for and accept what you have been given, and how doing better gives you a chance to help others.”
Frank has always been someone I could count on, and I should have known he would have found an even greater silver lining in this story.
I now challenge our industry’s venue managers to heed Frank’s advice to make this story shareable among your part-time labor. It is not only a story of hope (where many stories begin and end), but one of an individual who actually turned her hope and dreams into the reality of a college education on the road toward one day becoming a dentist.
Frank didn’t stop at saying our industry’s part-time employees should be the only benefactors of Sara’s story.
“I’m away for the weekend but as soon as I get home I’m making copies of this story for my grandkids!” he shared.
