Help Out!
by Eric Bunyan
We need your help at the Park. Someone broke in Thursday night, September 26, and stole one black water/foam Powair heavy punching bag, one speed bag and swivel, seven sets of competition head gear, one heavy medicine ball, and several volleyballs. If you have any information about these items, contact the Police Department or call the Gym at 259-7436 and leave a message. We also have lost several well marked volleyballs that can be anonymously returned. Our boxing club supports itself through fundraising and the kids will have to work extra hard to replace these items.
Coaches Poni and Stephanie Konohia are doing well with the high school and intermediate age volleyball girls at the Gym. Come out Friday afternoons and see them challenge teams from the other Parks and Gyms. Both Nani Akeo and Sandy Clarke have been having volleyball tournaments at the Gym on weekends. If you have teams that are interested call the Gym and we can get you in touch with them.
Phil Vierra, Solomon Kealoha, Charles Kaulukukui, and Milton Kepa have been putting in several hours a day since mid-August training Waimanalo's two teams in the Islandwide P.A.L. Flag Football League conducted by officer John Kaulu. Michelle Sanchez, the team mother, has helped them fund raise for uniforms, trophies and a post season banquet. Coach Solomon also heads a group from Kauhale Ohana who have been regularly painting over graffiti in the restrooms and around the park. These volunteers help make our park a better place to play and our community stronger and safer. Give them your thanks when you see them around. If you wish to help with activities or beautification in our parks call the Gym at 259-7436 or the Multipurpose Building at 259-8926 and talk to Eric or Grace. At this time we are looking for basketball coaches for P.A.L. age group leagues to begin practice in late November. Boys and girls ages 7 to 15 can begin signing up for these leagues right after Halloween.
Our Parks and Recreation District IV has just been enlarged by the addition of Makapu'u Beach Park and Kaupo Peninsula all the way to Makai Pier. This was a natural addition to our district which stretches from Waimanalo to Waialua. This park has several volunteers who water and fertilize the native plants and help clear-up and beautify the surroundings. Melvin Kaehu, the Parkskeeper at Makapu'u, has been working really hard to bring this park up to standards and could use all of our help. Thank him for his great work when you see him and do what you can to show your appreciation for this beautiful corner of the island.
This seems to be a good time and place to remind community members that it is illegal to drive or park on grassy areas of any park. Even our own City or sports league work crews need special permits posted in their front window to come on the grass in performance of their duties. Most of the improved parks have underground sprinkler systems that can be damaged by vehicular traffic and the unimproved areas have native plants and ground covers that can be damaged. Erosion caused by driving on the grass ruins the park for everyone. In one case, maintenance personnel were called out of bed in the middle of the night to turn off the water when a truck knocked over a drinking fountain in order to park thirty feet closer to their tent. Overtime pay and repair bills take away money that could be used to improve our parks in other ways.
We are still looking for monetary donations to complete the dugouts at Waimanalo Beach Park. Friends of Waimanalo, Pony Baseball, Ko'olau Bobby Sox, and Waimanalo lions Club have all donated what they could afford, but we need a few more hundred dollars to purchase the pipes needed to build the structures on the concrete pads that Job Corps has installed. Donors should get in touch with Ivy Carter at the Beach Park 7-11 store or Grace Adviento at Waimanalo District Park.
We have a long list of community events coming up. First is the annual Halloween Costume contest at the Waimanalo Gym. This will take place on Wednesday, October 30, the day before Halloween. Registration is at 6 pm, and the contest begins at 6:30 pm. There will be three age groups: 5 years and younger, 6 to 9 years, and 10 years old and above including adults. Prizes will be given in three categories: spookiest, most adorable, and most original. This contest is sponsored by the Department of Parks and Recreation along with the Waimanalo Senior Citizens Club and Friends of Waimanalo who have generously donated money for prizes. Curtis Loo, cafeteria manager at Waimanalo School, and his staff are providing their great cookies as refreshments.
On November 6 at Waimanalo Beach park from 10 am until 2 pm, the Waimanalo Blossoms will hold a potluck to celebrate their 25 year reunion. Call Maude Takahashi at 373-1020, Lily Oshiro at 259-7481, or Grace Adviento at 259-8926 for details.
November 12, from 7 until 10 pm at the Waimanalo Gym, Queen Liliu'okalani Children's Center and Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate Native Hawaiian Drug Free Schools and Communities are sponsoring Tremaine Tamayose's "Family Laundry." This down to earth, local style play shows how a family deals with conflict and the effects of alcohol. The play is alternately funny and sad, and leaves us with a message and feeling of hope. This will be the third time that we have been lucky enough to have the play here. Admission is free and light refreshments will be served. If you wish to donate cookies or the like to help us out, just bring them that night.
There will be a Teen Christmas Dance at Waimanalo Gym on December 6 from 7 pm to 10 pm. HPD Sting Dare unit will bring their state of the art disco system. Waimanalo Senior Citizens, Friends of Waimanalo and the parks Department are providing "ono" snacks for this event and community members are volunteering as chaperones. Please contact Eric or Grace at the District Park if you are able to lend a hand.
Waimanalo has another National Champion! Eugene Texeira recently won the United States Surfing Federation Junior Men's Bodyboarding Championship at Sandy Beach and Ala Moana Bowls. He competed with men 18 years and under from all over the country as well as the rest of the best from Hawaii, and easily won the coveted title. Look for an article on Eugene, Mikey Bunyan, Corey Correia, Noa Spencer, and Kawika Kanaha in the current issue of PIT Bodyboarding Magazine, which should be available at Point Break Surf Shop here, or Hawaiian Island Creations in Kailua. Mikey and Corey have also been featured in the last two issues of Bodyboarder International Magazine. These amateurs and pros Robby Gall and Kaui Kauhi along with about six or eight other Waimanalo riders are setting high standards in the world of bodyboarding.