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We want to give a shout out to Will Beekman.

Not just to him, but we’re going to start with him.

On Wednesday, news broke that Beekman was leaving the F.M. Kirby Center to take the general manager’s position at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

The move takes Beekman from a role at the Kirby in which he and his team have been exceptionally successful to a role at the arena in which his predecessor, Brian Sipe, had overseen a period of notable wins for that venue.

So a successful and well-liked arena manager is succeeded by a successful and well-liked theater manager.

So far, so good.

As Bill O’Boyle reports elsewhere in today’s edition, there was buzz in the community about what will happen to the bright lights on the Kirby’s marquee on Public Square when Beekman heads across town.

It is a natural question, because the Kirby is a beloved community institution.

As Beekman put it, he knows the facility is in “great and capable hands.”

On Wednesday, the Kirby announced three staff promotions. More shout-outs are in order:

• Lauren Pluskey McLain has been named managing director and will assume all administrative oversight for the organization.

• Anne Rodella has been promoted to artistic director. In her new role, Anne will guide the theater’s overall artistic vision. Rodella, who has worked for the Kirby Center for more than 19 years, was most recently serving as the venue’s director of sales and marketing.

• Joell Yarmel will become director of development.

Beekman added, “As a group, we have built a culture and a business model that is working, and with the staff they have in place, I have no doubt that the organization will continue its ascent.”

That is why people in this community have so much genuine respect and admiration for Beekman: He is highly successful at his craft, but he’s also a kind and compassionate guy who has led by building his people up.

The measure of the man also can be found in some touching remarks he made on social media early Thursday. We hope Beekman will forgive us, but they were public, so …

“When I walked out of the elevator for yesterday’s press conference, I saw a large number of people congregating on the concourse of Mohegan Sun Arena PA, but the first person I noticed was my wife,” Beekman wrote, sharing our front page photo of himself waiting to be announced as his wife, Katie Connors Beekman, watches.

“Of course she had come down to support me. I wasn’t surprised at all,” Beekman continued. “For me, this picture says it all: I’ve always been able to pick her out of a crowd, and she has always had my back.”

We applaud Beekman for his humility, grace and class, and wish him and his whole family well as he embarks on this exciting new endeavor guiding another important regional institution.

Likewise, McLain, Rodella and Yarmel are entering a new phase of their careers at the Kirby Center, and we are equally confident that they will propel the venerable theater to greater heights and more top-notch entertainment.

Nice guys and gals do finish first sometimes, and we’re all better for it when they do.

— Times Leader

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