Jim Biasotti:  

After graduating from Bella Vista in 1978 I flew up to Alaska on Super Bowl Sunday in 1979 and worked for a year with my friend Jim Bird, his sister Pam Bird, boyfriend Duane, Jon Tippit and his lovely wife Tena Tippit (graduated BV 1974?) They where the best hosts anyone could have and treated us really good- just like family. They really looked out for little brother and his friend-me. I had the time of my life (I will never forget) at 19 exploring everything. Hiking, fishing, flying on float planes, fighting forest fires, cutting down timber and even getting to work a few months for the Alaska Fish & Game Department on fish enhancement projects out off the coast of Kodiak Island. Best thing in the summer was we could play softball even at 10 pm under the sun. I made the City All-Star Team as their center fielder probably because I was crazy enough to dive for fly balls in the outfield gravel! Yep, no grass up there- we played on all dirt and gravel fields. I admit (he, he) that I also had already been introduced to alcohol in high school, but in Alaska it was legal at age 19 so I didn't need to worry about needing a fake ID or something. I came back to Fair Oaks in 1980 and graduated from ARC with a Degree in Electronics in 1982 and got my first professional job with Intel. I also got married to my high school sweet heart Sarah Hoeffel and spent the next 18 yrs in the Electronic Manafacturing Business with Intel, Cypress Semiconductor and NEC in Roseville. During that time, with 2 sons, unfortunately we got divorced. I also attended Saint Mary's College and earned a BA Degree in Business and Finance and went to work in 2001 for a very experienced financial planner w...Expand for more