Inducted in 2012

Curtis Barnes - Class of 1960

Curtis (Curt) Barnes was born in Taft and completed his B.A. in painting from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964. He then finished a Masters of Fine Arts at Pratt Institute in New York City, where he continues to live and work. He has exhibited his art at OK Harris in New York and in other galleries and museums in the United States, Europe, South America and at the Whanki Museum in Seoul Korea. He was awarded a residency at the British Academy in Rome, Italy and was guest editor of the College Art Association Art Journal issue on “constructed painting.” Curt was awarded major grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1993, and in 2003 by the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation, to assist him as he explores and advances his reach into the relatively uncharted realm of painting on convex surface.

He has taught at several American campuses, including Fordham University at Lincoln Center. He has lectured at Princeton University, East Carolina University, Hampshire College and Pratt Institute Graduate School. His work focuses on curved, constructed abstract art which intensifies the physicality of painting and its inherent illusionism. He has pieces permanently presented in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Charles Beard - Class of 1957

Not long after attending Taft High School, Charles Beard purchased a make- over rig from Chevron Oil Company by way of Lloyds Drilling Company and started his first business. Forty-three years later, he became President and owner of General Production Service, Inc. His company employs nearly 250 people, and its work generates a significant payroll for the Taft community. Even more remarkable than the jobs he provides, Charles Beard has the ability to quietly “make things happen.” One doesn’t need to ask; he sees a public task and responds to it. He has been a core figure in sustaining the Taft Oildarodo Celebration, the Oil Worker’s Monument, Little League Baseball, and the “Bike” Giveaway. He was the one who provided the manpower and equipment for the development of the lake at Camp Condor named after the Westside Children's Camp Association Inc. business manager Paul Lukens. He was one of the co-founders of Taft National Bank and is one of the co-founders of The West Side Economic Development Co. LLC.

Charles has been a quiet partner in supporting dozens of other community projects that he recognized as needing a helping hand and the more one looks, the more clear it becomes how much the soul and character of Taft have benefited from Charles Beard's commitments. He is an accomplished businessman, a community leader and an investor in the future of Taft youth.

Les Haney - Class of 1942

While at Taft High Les was A.S.B. President his senior year and was named All Valley in baseball in 1940, 1941, and 1942.
At age 12 Les drew a circle on his garage door and began practicing pitches. Three years later he pitched with the Belridge Oilers in the National Championships in Detroit.

For more than 65 years, when one speaks of fast-pitch softball in Taft, the first name that surfaces is “Les Haney.” He had 17 no-hit games in a season and once struck out 43 batters in a 20-inning game. He earned a citation in Ripley’s “Believe it or Not” by striking out all 27 batters he faced (two foul tips) in 1945.

In the summer of 1948, he led the Taft Merchants to the World Softball Championship. Les’s rising fastball was clocked at 115 mph, and he used it along with a drop which curved in two directions to overwhelm batters. Les played for such teams as the Peacock Dairies, Inc., Hanford Kings, and The Long Beach Night Hawks. In one year pitching for Hanford, he averaged 21 strikeouts per game for 43 consecutive games. He was named to the All-American Team by the Softball Congress of America in 1948, 1950, 1951, and 1953. He is a member of the Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame in 1972.

Mrs. DeAnn Gaither Sampley - CLass of 1972

After graduation from Taft High DeAnn attended Bakersfield College. While taking a general education class, a deaf student and the student's interpreter began to stimulate an interest that led her to the field of American Sign Language and helping deaf students.
Following her graduation from Cal State Northridge, DeAnn earned a Master of Arts degree in Curriculum Development and began her professional work. During the next 35 years, she established the first American Sign Language (ASL) course at Taft College. In her tenure at Bakersfield College she secured recognition for ASL as a foreign language and developed an ASL Lab which has served thousands of students.

DeAnn is the author of "A Guide to Deaf Ministry" which reveals that serving deaf people involves cross-cultural communication. Those who would minister to the deaf must understand their needs, their language, their world. In 1993 she co-founded the non-profit organization Children to Love, International (CTL). It serves the needs of abandoned and abused children (often ones with severe special needs) in both Romania and India. DeAnn has spearheaded development of both college and professional teams ministries serving in the seven Romanian orphanages. She is currently fighting to implement social apartment living for orphans under the guidance of CTL and the Romanian government.

William Silcox - Class of 1940

William Silcox was raised in the 11-C Camp just north of the Historic Fort on Lincoln Street. He worked on Weed Cutter "B" crew for Standard Oil in Taft in the summer and between semesters at UC Berkeley.

He blended military service during WW II with pursuit of his engineering degree which he received from UC-Berkeley in 1947. He spent his career with Standard Oil developing high volume lifting technology which would permit oil production by drilling from offshore platforms. In 1967 he was placed in charge of all Standard Oil offshore drilling technology development including platform and subsea drilling, undersea pipeline, and arctic offshore facilities.

When he began his career, deep water drilling could reach as deep as a human diver could be safely kept 250 feet below the surface. Bill’s twelve patents, along with his professional leadership in developing tools and technology led directly to undersea drilling being able to reach depths of 2,400 feet. He and his team designed and installed subsea completions, diverless drilling systems and ROV supported completion systems for deep water. His developmental studies on compliant platforms resulted in the tension-leg platform concept.

After retirement Bill continued to consult with companies, and was eventually being hired as Vice-President for Technology at the Wellstream Corporation where he developed a successful high pressure, deep water, flexible pipe essential to underwater oil flows. His design is now used around the world. In 1986, Bill was elected to the United States National Academy of Engineering.