Toni Reece: Hi there. I’m Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I have Frank Buttaro, Jr. here. Welcome, Frank.
Frank Buttaro, Jr: Thank you. Glad to be here.
Toni: Absolutely. So Frank, take a minute and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Frank: Well, I’ve had an interesting career. I worked for a nonprofit. I worked for the American Heart Association a long time ago. I actually retired from the liquor and wine business, and now I’m the Director of Marketing for the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust.
Toni: That’s fantastic, and there’s a lot of good buzz about that. A lot of good buzz.
Frank: Hopefully we’re doing some good things, and we’re bringing economic development into Berks County.
Toni: Let’s go into the Project.
Frank: Sure.
Toni: What does inspiration mean to you?
Frank: Well, I’ve been thinking about that over the weekend, because I knew I had to do this with you, and basically what it means to me is creativity, passion, and coming up with an idea or a project that gets results. I’m very results-oriented.
Toni: Are you inspired by projects, or do you get an idea and it inspires you to take action on a project?
Frank: I would say that I get an idea or sometimes I’ll see somebody that makes an impression on me, and I’ll see what they’re doing and say, “Maybe we can do something like that or improve upon something like that.”
Toni: Do you know when you’re inspired?
Frank: Yeah, I do know when I’m inspired. I get a lot of inspiration from my family.
Toni: Mm-hmm. What’s it feel like when you’re inspired?
Frank: I get all fuzzy and warm, if that’s a way to put it. I just get to a point where I can't sit still. I want to do something. We’ve got to move. Let’s do it.
Toni: Great. So, when you get that feeling and you are inspired, how do you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Frank: Well, basically what I did with the train is I try to come up with ideas that will bring people to the train. Things that are creative. What happens is, I like to see the reactions from people when they’re on the train, when they get the experience on the train. That’s how I put it into practice. Everything I do — and I live in Montgomery County, but all my business life I’ve spent a lot of time in Berks County, and I met a lot of neat people from Berks County. What I try to do when I get involved with projects other than the train project, which is my position, I try to take that inspiration that I get and that feeling of creativity and passion and put it into projects that I’m involved with with some of the other nonprofits in Berks County. I worked on Over the Edge with Megan last year. I was on that committee with her.
Toni: That’s inspiring, too. You have to inspire someone to have them go over a building.
Frank: I would have went over, but I had shoulder surgery, so I couldn’t do it.
Toni: Oh. Yeah. You’ll never see me go over the edge, but I do like supporting it and watching it.
Frank: It is. I really like supporting the Bethany Children’s Home. It’s a real inspiration to me because it does things for children that are less privileged.
Toni: So really, you are inspired to create projects that will help other organizations or people, correct?
Frank: Sure.
Toni: And also provide the experience within the railroad, right?
Frank: Absolutely.
Toni: That’s fantastic. Alright, so who in Berks County inspires you?
Frank: Well, as I said before — it’s funny. I read through some of your other interviews. One person that I think in Berks County that inspired a lot of people was Al Boscov. I met him a few times, and what he did and what his passion was for the City of Reading and for Berks County and his community involvement, he pretty much was a big inspiration to me, but I think the biggest inspiration right now to me presently is our Executive Director, Nathaniel Guest. He’s a gentleman that had the vision of what he wanted Colebrookdale Railroad to be. Working with the team that we have on staff, he instills that vision in all of us. He’s a visionary. He could see what it was going to do for Berks County and for the surrounding communities.
Toni: You get to execute that vision.
Frank: We do, which is incredible. I have an incredible position where I can take his vision and put it into ideas and projects, and bring people to our vision, basically.
Toni: Anybody else in Berks County that inspires you?
Frank: Not necessarily. I get a lot of inspiration from my family. My sons. I have four sons, and they’re all doing very well. I get a lot of inspiration from them. They’re all successful. Then, I also get inspiration from my grandson, who is on the spectrum. To see him develop — and he’s going to be 6 years old now — to see him develop into just an incredible little human being gives me a lot of inspiration.
Toni: Incredible human beings. I was listening for your common theme of the people that inspire you, including your 6-year-old grandson, and it sounds like these are incredible human beings.
Frank: They are.
Toni: That’s amazing. What do you want your legacy to be, Frank?
Frank: You know what? It’s funny. I guess I want people to remember me by some of the things that I’ve worked on throughout my career, some of the things I’ve accomplished, and I want my sons and my family to be proud of me. I want my grandchildren when they grow up and when the train is finished and our vision is complete, they can say, “You know, my Pop-Pop had something to do with that.” That’s what would be my legacy, I guess.
Toni: Well, isn't that kind of cool though, Frank, that your legacy is being lived now, because you have something to do with that right now.
Frank: Yeah, it is. It is.
Toni: Not a bad way.
Frank: I don’t like to talk about legacy, because that means my life is going to be over soon, and I don’t want that.
Toni: No, not necessarily, because we’re living our legacy every single day. You’ve already accomplished one of the greatest goals, so your grandchildren will be able to say that right now.
Frank: I hope so.
Toni: Yeah. Thank you so much for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Frank: Oh, my pleasure. It’s been a wonderful experience, and I think what you’re doing is a wonderful thing.
Toni: Thank you.
