Spring – 1976

As soon as I got my driver’s license my first stop was to go see Dale over at the Hertz Rent-A-Car agency.  At the time, the local Hertz office was owned and operated by Reid Miller Enterprises out of Grand Junction, Colorado.  The local manager was Dale Wilson and he was just about the nicest man on earth.  I had met him even before I learned to drive as my older brother had worked for him one summer.  He always said, “As soon as you get your license, come see me.”  That is just what I did.

The Hertz office was located in the Holiday Inn lobby just west of town.  The Avis office was there as well.  When I showed up, Dale knew exactly why I was there and he put me to work on the spot.  At first my job was to “shag” cars, which meant cleaning and filling them up with gas.  We had our own tanks at the time and kept a power wash out by them.  As soon as I “prepped” the cars I would put them back on the line and available for rent.  I loved this job as I was able to drive all kinds of cars and go out on the “ramp” at the airport.

Ramp duty included driving around all the parked aircraft and pulling up to the jets and Turbo-Props before the pilots even turned off their engines.  As someone who grew up loving all things “aviation” this was a great job.

Over time I picked up or dropped off a lot of famous people at the airport.  Now when I say famous, I am not only speaking of the “Hollywood types” although there were plenty of them.  I have always admired successful entrepreneurs and business titans which Aspen hosted plenty of as well, some of which were certainly famous in their own right.  So who is Frank Stanton?

One rainy day, an older couple came in to turn in their car and requested a ride to “Monarch Aviation” which at the time was the fixed based operator for private aircraft.  I volunteered the duty as I was glad to go do something.  This was a quiet time of the year and there was not much going on.

We arrived at the ramp only to learn that their jet was in a “holding pattern” above the field due to poor visibility and rain.  With nothing to do back at the office, I volunteered to wait with them.  We sat on the bench out in front of the Monarch Aviation office.  Our conversation quickly covered their visit to Aspen, their journey home to New York City and what kind of plane was coming to pick them up.  I learned that they were being picked up in a Rockwell Sabreliner 65 owned by one of the Television Networks.  Their names were Frank and Sarah Stanton (I had never heard of them.)

As time passed they asked me what I was studying in school and what other interests I had.  I promptly told them of my love of aviation and my hopes to get my pilots license some day.  After 30 or 40 minutes of waiting with the plane still stranded in the skies above, I reluctantly bid my new friends farewell and a safe journey home.  I needed to get back to the rental office.  As I got up to leave, Mr. Stanton handed me a check and said, “Thanks.”  Sarah politely informed me that they wanted to help me learn to fly.  I put the check in my pocket without looking at it and waved goodbye.

When I got back to the office I looked at the check and noticed it was made out for $350.00.  The memo line said, “10 hours of flying.”  I showed it to Dale and although he did not know who Sarah and Frank Stanton were either, he did offer to help me spend my new found wealth.

At home that night I asked my parents who Frank Stanton was.  My dad told me about how he had basically built the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and really brought television “sitcoms” to the masses.  By the time I met him he had had been retired for about three years from the network.  The two of them were very active with the American Red Cross.

During his years with CBS he was credited with the careers of many successful performers including Jackie Gleason and Lucy.  I was disappointed to learn that he was behind the cancellation of “The Wild Wild West” show in 1970 as he deemed it too violent.

My chance encounter with Sarah and Frank Stanton is still one of my fondest memories from my years working at Hertz.

“Frank passed away in December 2006 at the age of 97”