Profiles - About Alumni for February 2008

Featured Alum: Ken Lain

Ken was a local boy who graduated from Prescott High School and used Yavapai College as a stepping stone onto bigger and better things. Working his way through college, Yavapai gave him the opportunity to keep the cost down through lower tuition and living at home. He graduated from ASU in 1986 with a BS in Business Management. Yavapai College set the stage for his business savvy and he feels he could not have moved up the university ladder without the College’s help.

Rising to Director of Marketing in the corporate world his Yavapai College sweetheart and he began to miss their small town of Prescott. They moved back in 1992 and began working in the family business. You guessed it, his wife’s maiden name is Watters and they now own Watter’s Family Garden Center.

Ken is known by his friends as 'The Garden Guy'. He's been gardening in the Prescott mile high cities for 30 years, and knows the best techniques for gardening in the high mountain climates of Northern Arizona. His local garden advice is published each Saturday in 'The Daily Courier' and can also be heard Saturdays as the host of ‘Gardening in Granite’ talk show on KYCA radio and again on KJAZ 89.5 FM each Sunday. Ken is passionate about plants, proper landscape designs, and spreading the good news that gardening can be easy and fun.

Ken’s gardening credentials are those of Master Gardener, Certified Nursery Professional, and owner of Watters Design and Garden Centers located on Iron Springs Road in Prescott. Ken is currently serving on the YC Alumni Outreach Steering Committee.

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Elaine Balmes Farr

Elaine Balmes Farr attended Yavapai College from 1973-1975, majoring in Psychology. She completed a Bachelors of Science degree at BYU after leaving YC. She worked as a probation officer for 14 years. Currently living in Cottonwood, she enjoys her hobbies of genealogy, gardening and knitting.

She loved attending Yavapai and was able to play volleyball and basketball with the women's teams while here. She met her husband at YC as well, and they’ve been married 30 years. Their favorite activity was attending the men's basketball games. A large group of friends 'borrowed' metal trashcan lids, and joyfully clashed them in unison to support our team. “We were nicknamed 'tin pan alley' by the local press. One student, Frank, would jump onto the court between quarters, dancing to the band and rousing the crowd. It was easy to meet people, and kids came from all over the state, but mostly northern Arizona, so we found people we knew from high school sports and things.”

Her sister, Debbie Balmes, was one of the first students, starting as a freshman in 1969, when students were meeting in the Prescott Public Library, local church buildings, and elsewhere, before the campus was even complete.

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Roger Espinoza

From The Daily Courier: Friday, January 18, 2008

Former Yavapai College soccer player Roger Espinoza went in the first round of Friday's MLS Draft, becoming the fifth former Roughrider to reach professional soccer's summit in America.

The Kansas City Wizards, who also selected Chance Myers with the No. 1 pick, chose Espinoza with the 11th overall pick. Espinoza played 50 games in his two-year Yavapai career (2005-06) earning first team All-America honors and the Region 1 Player of the Year.

After YC, Espinoza played at Ohio State, leading the Buckeyes to the NCAA Championship game this past fall. He will forgo his senior season at OSU to join the MLS. "To me that's an unbelievable accomplishment for a kid just one year removed from Yavapai College, being drafted in the first round in the highest professional league in the United States," Yavapai head coach Mike Pantalione said Friday.

Espinoza, 21, joins YC alumni Alan Gordon, Mike Randolph and Avery John currently playing in the MLS.

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Chuck Walker

Chuck Walker, Business Lecturer, 2001 to 2002. “As a life long learner, I appreciate the education opportunities that Yavapai College provides. As a seasoned business executive, I have taught Strategic Planning for Management and Supervisor Skills for Management at Yavapai College. I am waiting to have more time to take classes that would further my education for health, activities and hobbies. I am proud to serve the Yavapai College Foundation Board of Directors in the past as President, and as board member since 2001.”

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Don Burns, 1969 – 1971

“I graduated from YC in the first graduating class. After 13 years in my chosen field, I enrolled at ASU taking night classes when I could and then 14 years later received my bachelor’s degree. I am now retired after 32 years in computer programming and have moved to the Verde Valley where I took a position as an adjunct faculty for YC teaching computer classes.

Learning programming at YC was a bit challenging to say the least. The college did not have a computer so we students would write our programs, key them in to punched cards and then every weekend would drive to Phoenix and run and madly debug our programs at Maricopa Technical College where YC leased computer time until we got our very own IBM model 25 - it had 24k of memory, what a monster.

I will never forget Bill Rinaldi who was the entire data processing department. He knew computers and was a great teacher.... his ego may have been oversized but we overlooked that. Under his teaching, the students who stuck with him knew virtually every single aspect of the mainframe inside and out.... literally.

I love teaching at YC but to stay in touch with reality I also have an excavation business that lets me get down and dirty. The best job that I ever had in computers was undoubtedly at America West Airlines where I had the sole responsibility for all of their voice response systems. I programmed and maintained the computers in Phoenix, Reno and Kansas City that had 672 telephone lines that answered approximately 400,000 calls per day.”

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Jaymie Swift, Class of 2004

Jaymie shares with us this story that I know you will find interesting. “My two years at Yavapai College seemed like, well minutes. My time in Prescott flew by so quickly, but was a vital part of my life. It was my first years living the college life on my own and away from home. Not only did I gain knowledge as a student but also as an athlete. I signed my letter of intent on signing date of December, 2001, on a full scholarship to the Lady Roughriders volleyball team. So my experience at Yavapai was fun and new.

All my professors and coaches were great people who really cared and respected you as an individual. Fay Matsumoto was the most helpful of them all. She was one of my best mentors at YC. Fay really helped me to grow as a person and player. Another person that I really looked up to was LouVina Maho, she was always there with a smile to help with any question that I had. As a Native American mentor, Ms. Maho was understanding and encouraging during my years at Yavapai. Yavapai helped me to grow in all aspects educational, athletically, and socially. It really helped me adjust to the whole college life experience.

After finishing at Yavapai, I moved to El Paso, Texas and attended The University of Texas. I received my bachelor’s degree of Health Science in Health promotion with a concentration in Kinesiology. I completed my degree in June, 2007.

Finishing my time in El Paso, I moved back to the rural area I grew up in and lived from about a month. I was a college graduate and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to. I ended up taking a leap to an unknown area across the country. I was offered an assistant coaching position at Dartmouth College. I had never been to New England and didn’t know much about the Ivy League. I was thrilled that the volleyball program considered and wanted me as part of their coaching staff. It took me a few days to think about it but I really wanted the experience.

I took the job; this is where I am today. I am very glad that I did accept this position; I learned so much about coaching at the Division I level. We finished our season November 10th, finishing 4th in Ivy League. We did well and I am looking forward spending another season here with the Big Green of Dartmouth!”

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