Sharon Sears, the only marketing and public relations director the Dayton International Airport has known, is leaving Dayton to accept a position in Florida.

Twenty-two years ago, thenairport manager Jim Wood hired Sears from a similar job in Columbus.

"This has been the most rewarding position in the world," Sears said. "No 15 minutes in this job are ever the same."

Just last week, she was interviewed on national television when a suspicious package was discovered at the airport, closing the main concourse for two hours. It turned out to be an abandoned bag stuffed with phone books.

"One thing this job is that you never know when you will be needed or when news may develop," Sears said.

Even on her wedding day in 2000 when she married John Sears, airport concessions manager.

"We held the reception at the Dayton Airport Hotel and a heavy snow began falling," Sears said. "Before long, I was being interviewed on television, still wearing my wedding gown, explaining that all the runways were cleared and no long delays in flights were anticipated."

John Sears left his airport job last October and took a position in marketing and business development in Orlando.

"Since then, we have been commuting back and forth, and while I was in Florida helping John pick out a condo that we purchased, I heard about a position. It wasn't long before I was hired as tourism manager for Seminole County in Florida," Sharon said. "Among other duties, I will be helping arrange for film companies to consider the area for movie making.

"I am leaving Dayton while still loving the job. I have made so many friends here, both at the city, in the media and airport personnel."

Sears also taught a weekly class - introduction to journalism - at the University of Dayton four nights a week for the past 10 years.

"I will miss that, too. One of the things I told my students who were planning a career in public relations or marketing is to get information as soon as possible, and then release it to reporters and photographers as soon as you can."

Sears has won a number of awards, the most prestigious being the 2003 Smitty Award, a lifetime achievement awarded by the Dayton chapter of the Public Relations Society.

One of the lighter moments in her years in Dayton surrounded an adventure in 2004. She was a guest on the nationally syndicated "Jane Pauly Show" taped in New York City. Sears, who had lost 100 pounds, was flown to New York, given a spa treatment and a fashion makeover and met soap opera star Susan Lucci.

"That was all very exciting," Sears said. "I rank that experience high on my list of great life adventures."

She said she looks forward to her job in Florida as a whole new beginning.

"I only hope that in my new job I can find the type of friendships that I have developed here. All of them involve cherished memories."

Dale Huffman wants your story ideas. This column is for you. Send e-mail to [email protected] or write to Dale at 1611 S. Main St., Dayton, OH 45409. Fax: (937) 225-7334. Phone: (937) 225-2272.

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