ARCO Alumni

The common theme was the legacy of ARCO Anchorage when ARCO and Vastar alumni gathered at Paramount Cafe in Denver Nov. 1. The Prudhoe Bay NRWO Group, the CPF2 Kuparuk Group and broader Kuparuk employees met up with friends, some of whom had not seen one another for 20 years. The ARCO networking event coincided with SPE ATCE and drew a crowd from Denver and out of town. Pictured at left: David Smith, Andy Bond and Greg Sanders.

Cathy Hanks heard about the event at SPE and joined the site that day. "I was unaware of the site and did not know about these ARCO events," she says. And Tom Walker, with Newfield in Denver, was at his first ARCO alumni networking evening. Greg Sanders, a Reservoir Engineer with Pioneer Natural Resources in Alaska, also found out about the reunion while at SPE and has now joined the alumni site. His favorite part about the event? “Free drinks!” he jokes. “Really, checking up on people I hadn’t seen in a long time.”

In addition to figuring out who works where and which companies are acquiring or hiring, talk turned to empty nesting, reconnecting with old friends … and even football! Med and Gina Kamal were enthusiastic about Stanford's win against USC the weekend before when Stanford prevailed after three overtimes.

Many ARCO alumni now have children in college or applying to colleges, as is the case with Mike and Cathy Clonts’ oldest daughter. But some also have children in the working world.

"Our children call and are surprised we are on the ski slopes,” Stacy Strickland says. “They didn't know we had a life outside of them. It keeps Watty and me laughing." The Stricklands’ daughter Abby works for Chesapeake Energy and is currently completing her field-based assignment in Shreveport before relocating to Oklahoma City. Michael, their son, has accepted a job with Newfield in Utah and will graduate from Texas A&M in the spring. While Watty is with Newfield as an Operations Manager for the company’s North Dakota operations, Stacy recently began working part-time with fellow ARCO alumnus Mark Pearson at his start-up business, Liberty Resources, LLC. “I love my job,” she says. “There are so many benefits in working for a small company, especially with great people.”

Scott and Mary Wilson are recent empty nesters but are just beginning the transition to reacquainting themselves with life as a couple. They both attended the reunion, and Scott says it was wonderful to see Med and Gina again. “Jane Williamson and I also commented on how proud we were that one of our old Lisburne co-workers, Ryan Lance, had been promoted to Chairman of ConocoPhillips,” Scott adds. “They are all such great people, and it only reminded me of how much we miss the old gang.” Scott says the ARCO Alumni website and the gatherings in particular provide great opportunities to catch up on who is doing what. “It’s more personal than most of the other social networking sites, so you can ‘high-grade’ your contacts,” he says.

ARCO Anchorage alumnus Gordon Pospisil enjoyed seeing old friends. “I did have to laugh when Watty, who I worked with for several years in Prudhoe Bay reservoir engineering, had to check my name tag when we first met,” Gordon says. “Yes, a few years have gone by! It was great to see that so many friends and former co-workers are doing so well in their lives and careers.” Furthering the empty nesting talk, Gordon shared that he and wife Blythe's younger son is looking at universities with music programs while their older son is a junior at Dartmouth.

And Terry Palisch with Carbo Ceramics shared that his oldest son is a freshman in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M while his other two sons are still at home. Terry plans to attend as many future alumni events as he can because the Denver reunion brought back great memories. “Of course catching up with old Kuparuk friends was fun,” he says. “But the highlight was reading the Haikus written by Bob Beal about all of us NSK’ers that Watty brought with him … too funny!”

Some other alumni in attendance included Clay Borden and Chet Paris with Newfield; Debbie Kercho with Davis Petroleum Corp.; Danielle Ohms with BP; Mark Pearson and Bob Schulz with Liberty Resources; and Hal Blacker with Dejour Energy.

John Keplinger Jr., Melanie Westergaard, Chris Bement and Alan Wilson represented host Encana.

View the Denver Reunion photo gallery.