Bright Lights Music

George's Wall of Fame

Oh.....When Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring

And the "Travelers" fly over Bradley

So Kathy can wave them in

And the people at the Skyline

Make Georgie want to sing...

Ah when Irish eyes are smilin

I'll be dancing the Highland Fling!

And speaking of the Irish... I'll bet Kathy and Judy here know how to do the Highland Fling as we have a Sullivan and McDonald sitting here with me. Or they may just want to fling things at me? Lots of people do. But I'm thinking we may have hit the pot of Gold here at the Skyline!  I'm surrounded by beautiful women! There is my “Star of the Day”, Kathy Sullivan Maznicki, and our lovely waitress Sara who is doing a wonderful job. Here comes Lisa, another Skyline server who is here to say hello and has fed me in the past. "George who hasn't fed you" Who said that? My money is on Judy. And then there's lovely Stacy, one of the Skyline owners who is partners with the beautiful Gina that you have met in my previous columns. I'm overwhelmed here. I'm lost for words. "That will never happen" Who said that? Did you girls bring leprechauns with you?

Before we get started I need to ask our Stacy a question. Was that you I saw on a stepstool in the parking lot with the camera trying to take pictures of planes flying over? Are you waiting for someone special?  And Stacy's reply; “George, it’s just a normal day for me, I was trying to get a picture of our Skyline sign including a plane in it... and I kept missing. I either got the tail end or the nose of the plane. Don't you know anyone at the air traffic control tower? I needed them to slow down for my picture.”

Stacy, if I knew you were going to do that, I would have called all the pilots and told them to wave to you as they come in. “Thanks George, I know you are always here to help, I'll be back to talk with you later as I have to go to the schools open house for my twins!” Hey Stacy? Yes George? Talk about being in two places at one time!  Ha! I'm laughing at that joke even if no one else is. Kathy and Judy are just looking at me so it must be time to get started. 

Kathy Maznicki is someone I have known and respected dating back to the years she worked for the DOT at Bradley. She is now in charge of scheduling the corporate jets and helicopters from the flight department of Travelers Insurance. She gets all those executives to the right place at the right time so we can remain known as the insurance city! It's all in Kathy's capable hands! She tells me that some days she has to get one person to three different locations by finding smaller airports and the most efficient transportation available so they can get as much as possible done in a day. This ensures that Travelers can continue to provide its customers with the best service possible. I know Kathy's work ethic, so I'm sure they appreciate her expertise and commitment to her position.

Kathy, let's take a walk down memory lane as you have had a colorful career at Bradley leading to this point. "Yes George, and you put some of the color in it! Remember the bus trip we all took to Fenway and you offered me a great big professional tour of Boston before the game? You, Harry Minich, Dick Brennan and I got off the bus and never made it back in time and we got in big trouble?" Kathy, that was a worldly educational experience in travel, the trip coordinator mistook it for delinquency.

Kathy started her career in travel administration at the Ramada on Rte 75 and made her way over to Bradley and boy are we glad she did. She started as a clerk typist assisting John King in the Airport Badging Office. She was also responsible for entering Airport statistics on ledger sheets, at a time when the eraser was a big deal! If a report was late, she had to erase and keep all the aviation changes up to date. Kathy ended up having one of the very first computers at the airport to expedite that process. She was one of the original state workers to get involved and learn the technology that has made such enormous strides to what’s available today in aviation. Why, look at me!  I'm in the computer. Hi Kathy! Hi everyone!  Kathy says not to get too impressed about having the first computer because she also had to inspect the port-a-pottys at the airport as part of her security detail. Hey Kathy, I have had my share of incidents with port-a-pottys too. Once on the golf course I hit one dead on. It wasn't even on the hole I was playing. I yelled FOUR but I think TWO was the more appropriate number as I scared the "you know what" out of the guy that came running out of there.

Now Kathy's work was so good that she ended up being head of Badging and then promoted to a position in marketing. This involved promoting the use of Bradley and the local tourism district. Kathy traveled with groups that brought information to cities like Toronto to visit businesses and let them know everything we can do for them here in the BDL community. She said there was also a great focus on getting information about outbound travel to Connecticut shore line communities that were close to New York, but might find Bradley easier with less congestion and better parking.

Kathy worked with the States Marketing Director, Andre Libert on getting Southwest Airlines into BDL. "George, we were ecstatic when we got news they were choosing BDL but we were unable to tell ANYONE.” Not even me Kath?  “Especially you George! We couldn't say anything until it was official! It was just Andre, Bob Juliano and I that knew. I endured months of people saying Kathy what's going on here and what's the new gate for and so on. We never leaked a word and when the time finally came that we could announce the big news and have a big celebration party, the baby I was expecting came three weeks early and I missed all the hoopla. Well there was hoopla with the new baby but I missed all the celebration at BDL, but was glad to have been a part of something that enhances our service here."

Well folks that baby was Kathy's little girl, Maggie, and her 3rd child and she decided that she wanted to spend time at home and raise her children.  So she left BDL after 14 years of outstanding service. She stayed involved and maintained her position on the Bradley Family Day Committee that holds 3 events per year to raise money for Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. This year she is the President of the committee and they have so much to be proud of for the good work they have done to date. Scroll down to the very end of this page to see information on the next upcoming event to help the cause.

Kathy is now back at BDL with great responsibility for scheduling and coordinating the corporate fleet of Travelers Insurance. She knows exactly when those people take off and land and provides them with excellent aviation expertise. There are weeks that she has to be on call 24/7 tracking flights in case there are operational changes or venue adjustments or anything that might happen. It takes a lot of coordination to keep it running smoothly. She said she loves it.

Kathy, I must say it has been an absolute pleasure here. I have to take a minute to thank the Skyline for the absolutely wonderful and delicious meals, service and atmosphere they provide every time we come in. Gina and Stacy have been above and beyond fantastic.  What a wonderful family run business that is a great part of the BDL community.

Kathy says her greatest accomplishment has been her four children, Dylan, Corey, Maggie and Garrett, ages now 6-14... Oh, and meeting me. Now she's a wise guy like Judy. We all agree that we love the airport. Kathy said as a kid, her mom used to take them here to watch the planes. Judy tells me her dad used to take her to work and she would spend the day on the observation deck waving to him and her uncle Don as they both worked for American Airlines many years ago. So our fascination and love of aviation is shared. 

And as the luck of the Irish would have it, I think I'll take me four leaf clover and be thankin me lucky stars for the opportunity to know Kathy and be able to tell her story. I'm sure there is more to come! It's always laughter and goodness and smiles with Kathy as well as her dedicated work ethic to anything she puts her hand to. Keep up the good work Kathy. I along with so many am so proud of you, think the world of you and wish you continued success in all your dreams. Kathy always tells me. "George, don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it!" She must know that I flunked swimming lessons! From Duncan Angus Georgie Ulitsch... thank you Kathy for the happy times you bring to all of our lives.