Kings Point Class of 1994

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. He was born on Oct 15, 2011 in Arcadia, CA. 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

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It’s spring time already and time can’t go by any faster . . . though I’m sure we’ll be saying this again soon enough.  Thanks for all of the submissions - have some new ones again.  I also made a good dent into our “MIA List” and had a few of us send in some corrections.  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″

James MacRitchie, Chuck Eaton and myself continued our “Sausage Fest” tradition with a trip to Park City, UT.  It was our 8^th trip and we’ve only repeated a resort once.  We’d love for others to join in so drop me a line if you’re interested in 2012.  We usually go somewhere between mid February and mid- March.

Nothing new on my side . . . just being busy with work, life and our little Lucy who is now almost 5 months old (and will be over 7 when you get this).  Work is busy, and we continue to incorporate more Running into our lives and launching another Summer Training club here in San Diego.  I just finished our Spring gropu that had over 325+ members in it.  Run along . . .

Speaking of annual trips, John Bellisimo, James Power and Tim Green have thrown out the idea of doing a “kind-of” regular (every other year or so) mini-reunion, starting with our 17-1/2 year which will be coming up.  If anyone is interested or has any ideas, hit John up at john.bellissimo@wellsfargo.com

Derek Paschal and his wife Julie are pregnant with our first child, and they’ll be having a boy!  “She is due in mid August, so we’re very excited.  Other than that there isn’t much to say.  I certainly don’t live a very exciting life anymore, but I’m expecting that to change once the baby comes home.”  Congrats Derek!

Tommy Blenk is finally “back home” from Korea and wrote a very quick note . . . “I am now living in NY, working out of the ABS NYC Office.”  I think he lived there for almost 10 years??

Many of you have heard, but James DeSmet left GE and joined “Big Ass Fans” (yes, a real company and name)  Well, he better get a “Big Ass House” cus him and Missy are expecting #4 this summer!  James wrote in ” . . . and yes, the stem is finally on the apple!  Saw the (Rayme) Lacy’s over the holidays and they are doing well.  Rayme is doing his best to keep the reactors cool & contained in Wisconsin by shoveling snow into the containment pool while doing his best Homer Simpson impersonations.  Ed Quinn just recently joined us at the Big Ass Fan company.  If Ed holds to his reputation, by the end of the year we should be able to officially replace the Big for a Jack.

Hans Rittinger is “still powering paradise at Florida Power and Light. St. Lucie Nuclear”  And also sent in a photo of his daughter Lola who at 4 yrs old  . . . “is ready for the summer surfing on her board”

Peter Ford offered a long overdue update . . . “I recently took over as CEO for Salalah Port Services, a listed company in Oman (but still a part of the APM Terminals portfolio), as of September 1 2010. It is an incredible challenge and even with all the tensions in the middle east we seem to have come out on top stronger. Recently, I had a visit from General McNabb, head of TransCom, and his staff to see the strategic importance of us in the logistics chain. He is smart as a whip and passionate about transportation!

Rachel, Skyler, and I are certainly settling in nicely as we get to live on a beautiful beach in Muscat. Well, they live there full-time and I spend half my time in Salalah with the team there. Rachel and I will celebrate our 17 year anniversary this year and Skyler is about to turn 10, both of these have snuck up on me and make me feel that much older…It seems like just the other day we graduated…

Since being over here, I have been able to bump into other KP’ers living in the middle east. The family and I spent a great evening with Karl Lang (’93) and his family in Dubai the other month. This week I got to see Rex Gundle (’83), Doug Smith (’94), and Kurt Sulzbach (’99) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where we had a global APMT meeting and witnessed the grand opening of our newest container terminal. While over there I also got to spend some quality time with Hans Bean (’93) in Hong Kong. We had some drinks one night and then coffee/lunch in days following. He looks to be enjoying his time back over there and I don’t blame him.  That’s all for me now. Take care, Peter Ford

Dave Gombos wrote in . . . “I am going on six years here in Shanghai as a new construction surveyor with ABS.  Business is still pretty good here despite all the economic turmoil in the world.  My wife, Diana, and I have two girls ages 6 and 3.  They certainly keep us on our toes!  If any other KP folks are in the area, please drop me a line at workworldwide@earthlink.net .  I am nearly 10 years in China total, and the growth I have seen is astounding.”

Hugh Healy reports that all is well family in Guam.  “I just returned from a 5 day off road, adventure motorcycle ride through Cambodia visiting the ancient temples.  I didn’t see any missing Kings Pointers in Bangkok or Cambodia but I’ll keep searching!”

Joe Costanza offered an update after some time away from the Kings Pointer . . . “I am working for Liberty Maritime Corp. in New York as the Environmental Management Engineer.  My job is basically to ensure that all the ships in our fleet are in compliance with environmental regulations from authorities around the world since our fleet travels worldwide.  I have been back with Liberty Maritime for five years now after a short hiatus for two years with another company.  My wife Marlene and I bought the house we always wanted just over two years ago in Greenlawn on Long Island.  We now have two children.  Our daughter Rebecca is getting ready to turn six, and our son Matthew will be turning two at the end of August.  Beside keeping busy with all the normal stuff, I am also a lieutenant with my local volunteer fire department, of which I have been a member now for seven years.  That’s about all I have going on here.”  Well, that’s a lot, Joe!  Congrats.

Ed Pudjayana is sorry . . . “No juicy updates, just work - sleep - repeat.”  At least we’re still kicking the grindstone, Ed.

And Nicolle (McIntyre) Fowler wraps things up for this submission . . . “All is well here in Fargo, here is a picture of the kids from St Patrick’s Day.  The twins (Megan and Zachary) are now 4 ½ months and getting along great with their big sister Alyssa (3).  We are certainly busy around here!”

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

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Happy New Year everyone!  It’s great to get into another year with an update from many of us.  We have some newcomers to the mix.  And please don’t forget to check out www.kps94.org for instant updates.  If you get this, but not my emails check the website for more info, specifically the MIA section which I’ve updated as of end of January.

Blake's Little Luciana "Lucy"

Things have been great on my side - as those of you on the email list, you saw that wifey (Linnea) and I had our first baby girl, Luciana Sage Miller on 11/28/10 coming in at 6lbs-8oz and 19.5″ long.  Definitely a change for the better and we’re enjoying parenthood.  At 7 weeks old, Lucy is healthy, well and “at ease” - Wifey is even better, and only 7 more pounds to go to return to “running weight” and back running at 6 weeks.  If anyone is curious about intense exercise while pregnant - hit me up and I’ll offer our experiences.  We’ll just say that we didn’t listen well to our mothers and many naysayers out there.  Little Lucy did 2 half marathons and a full marathon while peed up in that little womb.  Linnea ran until 7 months and we attribute to much of the wellness to the continued exercise during pregancy.  For me, business is going really well - 2011 will be a great year and the entrepreneurial spirit rocks on!

In 3 weeks, myself, James MacRitchie and Chuck Eaton will continue our “Sausage Fest” tradition with a trip to Park City, UT.  It’s like our 8^th or 9^th annual trip by now.

Speaking of annual trips, John Bellisimo, James Power and Tim Green have thrown out the idea of doing a “kind-of” regular (every other year or so) mini-reunion, starting with our 17-1/2 year which will be coming up.  If anyone is interested or has any ideas, hit John up at john.bellissimo@wellsfargo.com

I’m sorry, but I have some older entries that didn’t make the last submission so as usual, will go in reverse chronological order.

Over the summer, Eric Fresch made a trip back east and in memory of Pat Shea, went to the Spot and posted a beautiful sign in Pat’s honor.

Will Herman hit up the website www.kps94.org and found the MIA list and wrote in.  “My wife found this the ther day and said I should get off the MIA list. A lots has happened since KP.  Julie and I have 6 kids ages 12 to 1.  We are in the training pipeline to take command of USS NEW YORK (LPD 21) in February 2011.  After working for the National Response Corporation for 3 years, I was glad to get back to sea even if it was with the Navy.  We were very fortunate and have had great tours on 4 different ship and 3 different staffs.  I ran into Matt Lavin while I was working with the Coast Guard on Maritime Homeland Defense.  He is in Elizabeth City, NC getting ready to start flying C-130s for the USCG.

Matt Hannuksela wrote in and “ran into Catalda Van Dyke while grocery shopping for the tug a while back.  Her and Terry are now living in Anacortes, WA.  A bit of a KP’94 4th Co NW baby boom is in progress.  Terry and Catalda had their 3rd a baby boy earlier this summer, Chuck and Erin Eaton are due with their second (a girl) in Oct, and Tracy and I are due with our second (a boy) around Thanksgiving!  Still working for Crowley doing Ship Assist and Escort work in Puget Sound.”  Thanks for all of the updates, Matt.

Kami (Thompson) Gallaher sent in a quick update - ” My husband (James Gallaher KP ‘93) & I recently had a baby. I gave birth to Declan James Gallaher on 10-10-10. He was 9 lbs 4 oz, 21 in. Everyone here is doing well, healthy and happy.”  Congrats Kami!

Matt Ross sent in a group picture of some KP’ers including Captain Robert Carr (KP’90), Chevron Shipping President Mike Carthew (KP’74), Chief Engineer Doug Price (KP’91) and Chief Mate Matt Ross (KP’94).  According to Matt’s Holiday letter which was sent on New Year’s Eve.  Matt’s been busy with work and wordly travels including bringing “The Arizona Voyager” ship on her final voyage.  Matt also spent some time in Scotland visiting his mother’s families.  And finally, Matt passed his first Pilot Exam in San Fransisco.  Congrat’s Matt!

Nicolle (McIntyer) Fowler announced the arrival of their twins.  “The babies arrived November 23, 2010.  Megan Suzanne Fowler 6 lbs 1 oz, 17 inches long at 10:12am and Zachary Paul Fowler 5 lbs 13 oz, 18 1/2 inches long at 10:13 am. Both babies are perfectly healthy and came home with us from the hospital without issue.  Big sister Alyssa is adjusting well to the two new arrivals! Paul went back to work middle of this week, so I am on my own now - we have a little bit of a hectic time when they are both hungry at the same time, otherwise they do a lot of sleeping. I will be home on maternity leave until February, so if you any of you are around, we love visitors!”

Chris Wholfeld sent in a holiday card showing his family.  And by the photoshopped Ultrasound picture on his wife’s belly, it appears that they are expecting another baby! Congrats Chris.

Ed Pudjayana wrote in “Nothing new here. Just happy to have a great paying job that pays the bills and get a quiet night sleep.  Pretty low key.”

Fred Castanguay wrote in to announce that he was recently married to a lovely woman from Venezuela, Carlita, and are both now living in Shanghai looking to start a family.

Dan Brodeur sent in some updates from the Northeast.  “Was out in Seattle for Reserve Duty and caught up with Scott Huber for dinner.  He’s doing well.  Was out to visit Matt Lenski and family in northwest Indiana.  He’s working for a power company as an electrical engineer overseeing repairs. I’m still coaching high school volleyball in New Hampshire as a Varsity team coach.  Took a job at a larger high school in the fall of 2009 and we went to the semifinals for the second time in 9 years.  Unfortunately we lost, but it set the stage for this fall.  We had a good season, running the tables to win the state championship with an undefeated 20-0 record.  The team we beat in the finals was the team that knocked us out last year in the semifinals.  It was pretty sweet!”

Art Miller hasn’t sent in any updates in a while and writes in . . . “Still linving in Southern, CA with my wife and 3 kids.  I was out of work for a few months when my old company shut down our division but as of March 2010, I am the new Regional Manager for QuayQuip-PEM. We manufacture Marine Fenders and Mooring systems.  If anyone is working for any of the ports or for a shipping company in charge of their own pier maintenance, shoot me an email artm@quayquip-pem.com or call (619) 955-0664.  While I was in between jobs, I started a small consulting and specialty procurement company that focuses on obsolete parts for ships, mainly the US Navy and MSC.  Would love to set up a BBQ or something for any KP grads in the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties).  Oh yeah, GO STEELERS!

Casey Scott has finally returned from the Middle East after 5 years in Qatar. He’s now chartering ships in Houston and says it’s “Nothing to brag about but it’s a fun job.”

Chris “Canman” Anderson wrote in after some time.  After being an Engineering Officer onboard the HARRY S. TRUMAN, I left for some needed shore-duty at the Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic here in Norfolk.  I have been quite busy doing requirements and analysis for Ballistic Missile Defense.  Last August, Kim and I were blessed with a baby boy, William Decker.  He was 7 lbs, 11oz and 21 inches.  Since then, we’ve been enjoying ourselves and getting out.  We met up with some friends in Annapolis before Thanksgiving for a Naval Academy home game against Central Michigan.  Sean & Angie Poltrack, Todd & Amanda Evans, Jim & Jen Levings, Mike & Linda Goodnight, and Kurt Davis were in attendance.  Dave Schmitz met up with us afterwards.

We spent Christmas at home but just returned from a venture down to Tampa and Disney World.  I ran the Disney half-marathon with a Navy friend and then spent several days enjoying the parks with our families.  Rayme Lacy was out of town working on a project, but Tanya Lacy and the kids stopped by to see us at Epcot.

Thanks 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

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Hey there everyone! I hope everyone has been having a good summer.

By the time this is published, our Fifteen (15) Year Reunion will have taken place. I’m being preemptive here, but we should have a write up and pictures on our website, www.kps94.org.

Not much new on my front – same old biz, and same old fun. I did get in a great backpacking trip with my wife to Mt. Whitney at end of July. Pics are on my facebook account, and there’s a detailed write up on my blog, www.blakemiller.net

Abel Tanael with Family

Abel Tanael wrote in . . . “A lot of things are going on both at work and at home. My daughters are growing fast. Isabel Elaine is 7 this Saturday, July 18th and Elisha Joan will be 5 this coming labor day weekend. I won’t be able to make it this time to our 15th year reunion since our family have long planned to go back to the Philippines and celebrate the Christmas season over there this year. It’s been 11 years and it’s long overdue. Loads of renovation going on at my home. I’m now learning to be a handyman. It’s getting there. At work, busy as always. Matt Andrews {is} checking our traffic here at the Hamilton Port. Fertilizer season is over for now but it’s time for the retailers to get their supplies from us so we are busy trucking everything out from our warehouse to theirs.

Hugh Healey sent in picture and announcement of the birth of their son “Liam Francis Healey” born on 5/20/09. Congrats Hugh!

Francis Liam Healey

Joe Woods played golf in the KP NY Golf Outing with Willie Pack (KP 00′) and Tom Wingenfeld (KP 69′). We played great and won 1st place. It doesn’t hurt that Willie is a 1 handicap. At the outing I ran into Tim Green, Matt Andrews and Joe Costanza. All are doing very well. Great job Joe and team for winning!!

Brett Miller & Family

Brett Miller and wife Kelly have been blessed with another baby girl. Emily Claire Miller was born on July 10, 2009. Brother Owen, 4and half, and sister Audrey, 3, are both very excited for our new addition. Kelly is doing well, and adjusting to no sleep, again. Congrats Brett and Kelly!

Chris Price just had their second boy on 7/22/09, his name is Alex Thomas. All went smoothly and everyone is happy (Brother? Evan is a little less than happy but he’s getting on fine). Congrats Chris!!

Brian Murphy's Family

Brian Murphy and his family got together with Matt Lavin and his family up in Cooperstown, NY, over Memorial Day. Matt and his wife, Ericka, now have four kids, with the newest addition, Parker, joining the clan in 2008. Matt is also in the process of moving from the Coast Guard base in Cape Cod, where he was flying helicopters, down to Elizabeth City, NC, where he will begin training on the C-130. I have some great pictures from our trip but can’t find them! - I’ll forward for the next edition.

As for me, things are going well. I’m still with Starr Marine Agency (14+ years) in New York, heading up the hull department. I now handle the international hull portfolio as well, which is fun but very challenging. Jeanne and I have had a busy and fun summer with our kids - Grace is 5 1/2, Patrick is 4, and Kate is 2 1/2. Attached is a picture of the gang from our vacation in the Adirondack mountains in July.

I’m scheduled to get together with Matt Andrews, Garrett Cousineau, Tim Green, and probably a few others from the NYC contingent later this week. Should be fun. That’s it for now - I’m looking forward to seeing everybody at Homecoming.

That’s it for this issue . . . don’t forget, we’re more “social”. Be sure to join our Facebook group “Kings Point Class of 1994” We also have a continuous list of “Missing in Action” classmates showing those who we do not have email addresses for. See www.kps94.org/mia for more info. Till next round . . . ~Blake

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One of the main reasons for this site is to publish the quarterly “class notes” that go into the Kings Pointer magazine.  The alumni association does have the Alumni website, but honestly, it’s not very user friendly and good.  I like ours better ;)  And since it’s 2008, we can now do things like offer RSS feeds for you to subscribe too, and you can also make Comments to each individual post.

One of the issues I thought of is to “When” I should publish the notes.  It takes about 3 months from my submission until they get published, printed and sent in the magazine.  I know alot of us love to get the hard copy Kings Pointer magazine in our mailboxes, but I also think that in today’s “instant-info” age, we may just want them as soon as they’re submitted.  My gut says that I should publish them right away, but I figured I’d ask, so please Take The Poll over there on the <—- Left side.

Until I get this figured out, i’m going to start publishing PAST Notes, starting with last quarter’s.  It will take me some time to get all of the past issues posted, but I’ll slowly get there.

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