I have blinked again and it’s almost the end of 2011 and writing another issue of the Class Notes. Thanks for all of the submissions – have some new ones again. Don’t forget to find us on Facebook too – I won’t provide the link here, but our group name is “Kings Point Class of 1994”

Things going well for me, the biz and the family. Recently (October) bought and moved into a new home – very family and entertaining minded, complete with a Pool and an in-ground Trampoline! What? Pretty cool to be really like a kid again 😉 And I got to turn the Big40 a few months ago as it’s “that time of the decade” for a lot of us. I’ve heard/known about a handful of celebrations being had for all of us hitting the big milestone!

A few months ago while flying home from a little family vacation to Ohio, we were boarding a connection flight out of Houston. While drudging through the first class section, keeping eyes peeled front, up and center, I got a tap on the thigh. A bit surprised and bewildered thinking “WTF – who’s this dude tapping me on the thigh!?!” I slowly and cautiously look down. Low and behold, I look down and see a big, fat grin from no other than Pat Lynch! “What the Hell?” I think I first yelled! I busted out in laughter! After we got in the air, we got to visit for a quick catch-up. He’s doing awesome at work, living in Manhattan with his family and was heading out to San Diego for a quick show/convention. Turned out he was a day behind from the NYC hurricane debacle that shut down their local airports. Little can beat running into, almost literally, a classmate and friend! A cool moment indeed!

Ed Pudjayana wrote in … “My wife Lily and I just celebrated the birth of our first child, Ethan. Mother and baby are doing great and we’re getting adjusted to being parents. We wish all the KP parents and parents-to-be out there a very Happy Thanksgiving. Congrats Ed!

Earlier this year, I got to work closely with Derek Parker in the launch of his new company “Ashley Engineering Systems” Complete with a new logo, branding/identity, business cards, letterhead and a new website, www.ashleyengineeringsystems.com . Congrats to Derek in launching the new biz!! He’s got a snazzy new office space too . . . as Derek did write in with “Many thanks to Jen Faul for providing artwork for the opening of the new Ashley Engineering office this past June. She drove up from New Orleans and spent a couple of days in Charleston to finish the remodeling and to hang the pieces. It was great to catch up. Best wishes with her new endeavors.”

Abel Tanel apparently is a great singer, and wrote in “It has been a while since I last gave update on my endeavors. Our family is doing great and still enjoying our life here in Canada. I still work for the same company for the past 7 years as the Operations Manager taking care of our facility down at the Port of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. This past summer we had the opportunity to spend our vacation at Disney World in Florida. That was a great experience for both the young and the young at heart. I certainly had a blast auditioning at Hollywood Studios for that American Idol Experience. I got into the show and sang in front of 1300 people…Awesome experience! Anyone can view the video on my facebook account. The video recording was not a good one because my wife had to hide the camera while recording the show. It’s at 9:35 into the recording where you can actually hear me sing.

Now, we are getting into the season here. Lots of ships lined up to berth at our facility offloading liquid fertilizer and dry bulk fertilizer as well. I ran into Chris D’Aran (KP 95) a few months back. He was the Master of the vessel carrying our liquid UAN. We had a good 26hrs together. He was able to spend a little bit of his free time with my family.” Congrats on all of the news, and the singing career!

I was able to remove Glen Fields from the MIA list as he wrote in . . .”It has been a little while since we spoke so here is a quick update. I am still with Macom Technology Solutions (RF semiconductor company). I just finished a 5 year assignment managing our international business. I spent a lot of time on airplanes and visited nearly every country on the planet. One benefit of the job was the opportunity to visit all seven wonders of the world, checking the box on that bucket list item. We recently moved from Idaho to Boston. I have started a new position within the company managing our Aerospace and Defense business, which will significantly reduce the travel. The family is doing well. Kristy and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary and have 3 children (Tori – 14, Amanda – 11, Jackson – 6).” Congrats on all of the travels and new position, and 16yrs with Kristy!? Awesome!

Derek Paschal writes “My wife Julie gave birth to our son Andrew on August 10. We like to call him Drew. So far everything has gone really well. I have attached a picture of Julie and Drew. That’s about it from my end. I hope everything is going well with you and your family.”

Jeremy DeHaai attached a picture of him and the family on a camping trip to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana a few weeks ago Additionally, attached a picture of the RV they bought a few years ago – “We really love spending time as a family on our camping trips.” Nice! On the road to retirement now!

 

 

Dennis Jacko sent in a quick update . . . “I have taken command of USS NEW ORLEANS (LPD 18) based out of San Diego (as usual). Due to a shuffle in the amphibious XO’s and CO’s, I was pulled from my XO job on USS PEARL HARBOR where I was supposed to eventually take over as the CO and moved directly as CO on NEW ORLEANS. It was tough to leave at first, but NEW ORLEANS is a fantastic ship, newer, bigger, and has much more combat capability. I’ll be deploying in November for 7 months with elements of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) on board, including 800 Marines and a mix of up to seven transport and attack helicopters. I also heard that Chris Wohlfeld is recently back from his vacation in Afghanistan and reunited with his family after building warm relations with the Afghan people.” Congrats Dennis on the new Command!! Wholfy, write your butt in!

Thanks again for the submissions! I have updated our “MIA List” of missing email addresses on our website, www.kps94.org/MIA And be sure to join our Facebook group “Kings Point Class of 1994” Till next round . . . ~Blake