PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Thriving on Our Experiences

Recently, while coaching a 5th grade girls basketball game in the South Fayette High School gym, we overheard members of the opposing team say, “Wow! This is like a college campus. I wish we could move here!” They were obviously impressed with our school.

Their reaction made us think about the people behind the scenes who make South Fayette such an inviting place to live, but whom we often take for granted, like the volunteer fire fighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians in our community. As you will read in this issue, we call them the “quiet heroes.” They act heroically on our behalf day in and day out and are not ones to put themselves in the limelight. Thankfully, we can do that for them in this issue.

There are other individuals in our community who are also our quiet heroes. Has anyone ever met Robert Burns? A custodian at South Fayette High School, he is willing to do anything to help, with a genuine smile on his face. Thanks to you, Robert! How about Tom Kalasky, Postmaster at the Presto Post Office? He makes us want to stop every single day just to get a laugh. Thanks, Tom, for your ever-present kindness and sense of humor. Has anyone ever talked to Patty Stevens at the Township Municipal Office? Or Roberta Dantry at the elementary school office? Or the school traffic guard, Schandra Tillar? Or Donatella Terensky, a grocery clerk at Shop ‘n Save? Thank you ladies for your kindness and always having a smile for everyone. We would never know that you have bad days, too!

The positive experiences these people create for others make our township outstanding. They make us proud to live here.

Do you take for granted the smile and hug your child gave you today for no reason? And what about the opportunity to vent to your best friend, or the coffee your spouse made you for breakfast? What experiences!

Positive or negative experiences, used in the right way, can help us. We can learn and grow from them or simply be grateful to have had them. Even a simple, kind gesture can create a good experience for someone.

Our experiences can also make us masters of our craft! Our experiences allow us to use our knowledge to its fullest potential, if we choose to. Wouldn’t it be marvelous if each of us used our experiences to be better individually? Better parents, better workers, better spouses, better neighbors, better managers, better prioritizers. Simply better at whom we are and what we do!

We are confident that there are many more individuals, besides the ones we’ve mentioned here, who offer us simple experiences that we can use for life. We have the power to emulate great experiences and learn from bad ones. Whether in your business or personal life, whether you have been praised or unjustly judged, know that the experience has made you a better person. Our best to each of you as you find experiences in life that help you to grow and that you will be grateful for!


Marcie and M.C., Publishers

M.C. McKee and Marcie Sprecher
Publishers