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NYSAPLS, Inc.
President and CEO
Roy B. Garfinkel, LS [ president’s message ]
Executive Board
Jeremy E. Thompson, LS
Executive Vice President How the hell did I get HERE?
Steven J. Willard, LS That is the question stirring around in my head as I sit here in my BME
Vice President
Scott A. Gillis, LS, LS, Treasurer Associates office in beautiful Geneva, NY writing my first Presidents
Scott B. Allen, LS, Secretary Message for the ESS. No, not how did I get here in Geneva, how the hell
Daniel E. Marvin, LS did I end up President of NYSAPLS???
Executive Director
Well, if you had told me I would end up being President of the New
Board of Trustees York State Association of Professional Land Surveyors (NYSAPLS) when I
Robert R. Allen, LS
J. Steven Boddecker, LS started surveying in 1988, I would have laughed and first said… “WHAT is NYSAPLS?” followed
Patricia P. Brooks, LS by, “there is no chance of that happening”. Afterall in 1977, I was still swinging a hammer (not
Robert G. Cross, LS a sledgehammer, a carpenter’s hammer), working 65 hours a week trying to run a small
Gregory J. de Bruin, LS, PE
John R. Ennis, LS contracting business and starting a family. I was 28 and getting burned out way too young. I was
R. Ronald Kreiling, LS paying for insurance for my employees and could not afford any for my own family, something
Joseph G. Malinowski, LS had to change.
Daren L. Morgan, LS
Robert A. Smith, LS I spotted and ad in the paper for a surveyor/print room tech, I did not know a thing about
Edwin A. Summerhays, LS land surveying, but I thought it looked pretty cool and after all, how hard could it be to stand by
Gary L. Thompson, LS
Glennon J. Watson, LS the side of a road and look through that telescope thing? So, I interviewed with Costich
Marie T. Welch, LS Engineering in Rochester, NY. Charlie Costich had been a partner at Sear Brown in Rochester
and a few years prior to me landing on his front steps had started his own company with his
NYSAPLS Headquarters son’s Mark and CJ coming on board to be the next administration of the future. The first day I
146 Washington Avenue
Land Surveyors Building spent 10 minutes in the print room and Jay Finkelstein (my first Party Chief) came in and said
Albany, NY 12210 let’s go newbie, someone had called in sick. Well, I never went back to working in the print
518-432-4046 room after that. I remember really being fascinated with surveying, I would ask endless questions
www.nysapls.org
info@nysapls.org of my party chiefs Jay and Mike Venturo as we drove to and from jobs. And, the fact I got to wear
a machete on my belt all day was just too cool!
Editor-in-Chief &
Managing Director After working for myself, I was a hustler by habit, and when we worked, I would literally run
Amber Carpenter with the rod. I remember one of the other guys telling me to cut it out or they would be expecting
amber@nysapls.org
everyone to hustle like that. Compared to today, I laugh when I think about the four-man crews
Director of Membership we had back then. Well, my interest and hustle paid off. After a year and a half, I was made a
Heather Schulz
heather@nysapls.org Party Chief with my own crew and my own truck, life was getting better. I worked all over the
State and into PA as a Party Chief for almost 18 years. I set my sights on getting licensed around
Administrative Assistant
Sharon O'Brien 2001, something I had some apprehension about, considering I had not gone to school for
sharon@nysapls.org surveying, and all the horror stories I had heard about people that had taken the test over and
over without passing. I hit the books hard and continued to ask more question of my mentors.
It worked, and after passing half of the test my first time, I passed the rest on my second try in
Affiliated Associations
Allegheny Plateau Association of Profes- 2006. That was probably one of my proudest moments of my life, and one I wished my parents,
sional Land Surveyors | Black River Valley especially my dad had lived to see. I remember when I was 16 getting balled out by my dad for
Association of Professional Land Surveyors
| Catskill Area Association of Land Sur- borderline failing geometry in High School, I said dad … I am sure I will NEVER use geometry
veyors | Central New York Society of Land in my life! Well, I bet he is laughing up there now.
Surveyors | City Surveyors Association
of Greater New York | Delaware-Hudson So, now I have my license and my feet and knees are telling me it is time to spend more time
Land Surveyors Association, Inc | Eastern
New York Society of Land Surveyors, Inc | inside and sit a while, something I dreaded, an office guy … really, I am NOT one of THOSE
Genesee Valley Land Surveyors Association GUYS! This can’t be happening to me, someone wake me up. Years later I would realize being
| Long Island Association of Land Surveyors part of a profession that offers both field and office opportunities is a good thing, a real good
Inc | Mid-Hudson Valley Association of
Land Surveyors | Mohawk Valley Society of thing. About that time in my career a jovial and gregarious surveyor named Darryl Moser
Professional Land Surveyors | Nassau-Suffolk approached me at one of the NYSAPLS conferences. Yes, by this time I knew what NYSAPLS was.
Civil Engineers Inc | Niagara Frontier Land
Surveyors Association | Northern New York They were the folks that helped me get my CEUs by throwing the yearly party, I mean educational
Association of Land Surveyors | Southern conference. Darryl had worked with my boss at Sear Brown and he started telling me stories
Finger Lakes Association of Professional
Land Surveyors | Southern Tier Association about Charlie. Darryl knew how to suck you in, after all, he was the best association recruiter in
of Land Surveyors | Surveyors Association NY, by far, and I will always smile when I think of him. And that was the start of it, an invite to
of Queensboro Inc | Westchester-Putnam
Association of Professional Land Surveyors
continued on page 4
EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 58• NO 1/ 2022 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 3