Subject: Class of 78
Date: Jul 11, 2008 12:42 AM
From: Mindy Tallman
(Melinda Biesbrock)
HI Brad!
I don't know if you remember me, but back when I was Melinda Biesbrock;
now known as Mindy Tallman (Mindy was always my family nickname
and it stuck). I have visited the website for our class and am planning
on attending with my husband to the 30th (gulp) reunion. We will
be married 22 years in sept. We beautiful a have 19 year old daughter.
I haven't been to a reunion since the "10". All of us
I have experienced a lot of life and changes. Moves, parenting,
marriage, career...... too much to put in a simple e-mail. I was
rather surprised to see a pic of me on the web page. Too funny !!...
since I was virtually invisible in high school. My 19 year old daughter
was kind enough to comment that I still looked the same. I appreciated
her little lie; actually I do look somewhat the same just a "bit"
older. Can't we all relate to that?! Older and wiser is what I say.
My wonderful daughter did say that I am still very young at heart
and I must say that is mostly true. Part of us never really grows
up does it?
Your girls are beautiful and I am sure much older than the pics
posted. Life is good if we choose to look at what is most important
and thank God for all we have. It sounds like your work is extremely
fulfilling. We can't do enough for the youth these days. So many
need substance, stability and a sense of belonging. We certainly
weren't angels in our youth but in comparison to today; after raising
a teen; we had it pretty good. Peer pressure is very different now.
Being a mother is the most challenging, fulfilling and rewarding
experience of my life. Our children are truly a blessing from God.
Sorry, enough gushing. Kind of proud of my own girl; she is a sweetie.
I guess I am getting more nostalgic as I age, but I suppose in retrospect
all our lives are intertwined to a certain degree. I now live in
Turlock, CA which is where my husband was born and raised: job offer;
long story. We lived in Visalia for 15 years prior to this move.
Miss Church family and friends, but after 8 years have finally adjusted.
Anyway, I do still get down to Hanford to visit my parents but not
as often as I should I must confess.
Just wanted to say thanks for the website and the access to information
as I haven't received anything since that "10" year reunion.
Whatever, such is life and if I truly wanted to be there I could
have gotten the info I needed.
Hope all is well with you and your family. Hope to see you in Aug
and say hello after.............. a few years.
God Bless you Brad!!
Mindy (Melinda Biesbrock) Tallman
---------------------------------
Subject: My Story
Date: Jul 9, 2008 6:20 PM
From: Gerard J. Reyes
I've been reading some of the e-mails to the HUHS Reunion page and
they crack me up. I don't know if any of you remember me but I was
one of the weirdos who was in Band and Drama, making me a two-time
offender. (Jerry Reyes, by the way.)
To give you a bit of filler, I received a Drama scholarship upon
graduating from Hanford High. I moved to San Diego County and attended
a junior college for eight years (what the heck, as long as I was
getting grants to go to school I thought I might as well take advantage).
I served in the Army for six years, got out with the rank of Sergeant
and graduated from Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown
College. This is all absolutely true.
I eventually landed in LA and worked at various jobs until I decided
to make a go of acting once and for all. Less than a year after
I started, I was cast as one of a scurvy bunch of pirates in a small,
independent feature called, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse
of the Black Pearl." At the wrap party in Hollywood, I was
surprised to discover my name in the credits! I was even more surprised
when, two years later, with the release of "Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," I saw my name in the credits
again although I hadn't worked on the movie at all. Working on the
assumption that my inclusion in the credits was a sign that they
really REALLY wanted me back, I weasled my way into the third installment
- "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" - but as
a completely different character. This confused the director so
much, he had me shot by Keith Richards. Incidentally, my name does
NOT appear in the credits for the third movie, but since I worked
on two movies and got credit in two movies, I suppose it all evens
out.
The movie business is even weirder than even I had imagined; my
car can be seen more often than I am in a few episodes of "Charmed"
that I worked on and I was once paid $1000.00 to sleep most of the
day. There's no business like it! No business I know, anyway.
Never did marry. Too busy being the inspiration for "The Peter
Pan Syndrome" I suspect. Some of you may remember that I had
a girlfriend in San Diego I was remaining faithful to until I could
return. She was my date for the Senior Prom. I did go back to San
Diego, but by then her family had moved. We still keep in touch
to this day, though, and are still the best of friends.
Lots of weird stories, all from a pretty weird life. Hit me up sat
the reunion and I'll be sure to bore you to tears.
See you all in August!
- Gerard (Jerry) Reyes
Conquering the Caribbean, one movie at a time.
---------------------------------
Subject: Class of 78
Date: June 28, 2008 2:07 PM
From: Kirt Smith
It was a dark and windy night . . . That lead in sounds
like something from Mr. Bowie's class. Many things have happened
in my life. I left Hanford in 1979 and only came back for a brief
period. I traveled with a telecommunications contractor for 6 years.
Went into the Army to fly helicopters. Lived in Germany for almost
six years. Flew in Desert Storm. Then returned to the states and
flew another 4 years in the Bay Area. I went to work for Bay Area
Rapid Transit and have been with them ever since. I own a Cafe/coffee
business and too many investment properties. I have 5 kids, 3 step
and 2 of my own. Life is good! If anyone remembers Shawna Van Gronigen
(who moved to Clovis back in eigth grade) and knows how to reach
her. Please give her my e-mail address.
Kirt Smith
Manteca, Ca.
---------------------------------
Subject: Class of 78
Date: July 1, 2008 10:23 AM
From: Michelle Proctor
Brad,
A lot has happened since my last story a couple years ago, but I'll try to give you the "short" version.
My husband of 25 years filed for divorce in 2005, signing papers exactly two months to the day of our 25th anniversary! The judge signed in May of 2006. I have taken back my maiden name and my new e-mail address is proctor3md@netins.net. I've been working for a reinsurance company since November 2003 but am looking to go into the education field, a childhood dream of mine, if everything works out. Also, for anyone wondering, I live several hours south of the F-5 tornado that hit Parkersburg, Iowa last Sunday. Last Friday morning, we also had an F-2 tornado closer to home, in Attica, a town of about 400 people and about 30 minutes south of me. Believe me, tornadoes are pretty scary as they are so unpredictable. At least two of the people killed in Parkersburg were in their basement, (which was the right place for them to be), and died when the house was "sucked off its foundation"! As of the last news report, items from Parkersburg were being found over 100 miles away in Wisconsin! (The wind speed was clocked at 205 mph!) (Last fall, we had an F-1 tornado about seven miles from my home that pretty well destroyed a friend's home as well as doing some serious damage to a local manufacturing business.) Oh the joys of the midwest; we even had an earthquake in Illinois this year!
As for my kids, my two youngest sons graduated from high school this year and will be attending college in Northwest Iowa this fall. One wants to be a CPA and the other wants to study Computer IT, a far cry from his original thoughts of being an Iowa State Trooper, (long story!)! My daughter had her first child, a girl, this year and had asked me to be a part of the delivery team, quite an experience! My second son now has two daughters, one of whom he has custody and the other is living in Oklahoma with her mother. We all continue to miss my oldest son.
Unfortunately, due to the economy and BIG bills from graduating two high school Seniors this year I won't be able to make the reunion. Since my kids haven't seen any of my side of the family since 2000 I had planned to take them to CA as a graduation gift but those plans fell through.
Michelle Proctor
---------------------------------
Subject: Class of '78 Virtual Reunion
Date: Wed. September 5, 2007
From: Ed Heasley
