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Saturday, September 21, 2013

Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013

Eight-Man Football team for the Ka`u Trojans celebrates its inaugural year yesterday with a win against
the Kealakehe Waveriders. Photo by David Berry
NA`ALEHU ELEMENTARY IS ONE OF FIVE Hawai`i Island Schools participating in FoodCorps Hawai`i, a program started by AmeriCorps in 2011 and brought to Hawai`i this year. The program addresses childhood obesity and food insecurity in underserved communities through the promotion of school gardens, farm-to-school programs and nutritional education.
       The Kohala Center, which created the Hawai`i Island School Garden Network, maintains the program. Host site supervisor Nancy Redfeather told Carolyn Lucas-Zenk, of West Hawai`i Today, “The movement to reconnect our children and youth to the sources of their food and health, and to renew their connections to the `aina, the source of all life, is well recognized at the community level. To have the national FoodCorps select Hawai`i for additional support is a result of the work of Hawai`i’s garden and classroom teachers, principals and communities throughout the islands.”
      Jolyne Oyama, who operates Na`alehu Elementary’s school garden and FoodCorp program, told Lucas-Zenk that her participation in the program stems from her love of teaching keiki about what healthy food is and where it comes from.
      She spoke about how children’s enthusiasm is contagious, saying, “If we can get people to be excited about growing their own food or being conscious about their food habitats, it will make a real difference.”
      Oyama told Lucas-Zenk that she wants to show families how knowledge and skills taught at the school’s garden can be applied at home by having community harvests and classes possibly in conjunction with the school’s family reading nights. She also said she wants to help rebuild Pacific Islanders’ connection to their own healthier traditional diets and connect cultures by having a native plant section in the garden and incorporating Hawaiian values.
      See more at westhawaiitoday.com and kohalacenter.org.
      To comment on or “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Hawaii` Wildlife Fund has been holding Ka`u Coast cleanups since 2003.
Photo from HWF
“MAHALO TO THE 57 PARTICIPANTS from last weekend’s ‘Get the Drift & Bag It!’ International Coastal Cleanup event at Kamilo Point,” said Hawai`i Wildlife Fund coordinator Megan Lamson. Volunteers included groups from Waiakea High School Science Club, Dr. Drew Kapp’s geography students from UH-Hilo and Hawai`i Community College and individuals from Pahala, Ocean View, Volcano, Na`alehu, Mountain View, Kurtistown and Kealakekua. 
      Over the course of several hours, approximately 1,873 pounds of debris were removed from one mile of coastline, including 50 bags of miscellaneous debris, eight bags of semi-sorted debris to be used for a recycling program with Recycle Hawai`i and Method cleaning products and roughly 75 pounds of derelict fishing nets. Of the 20,815 pieces of marine debris collected and documented on datasheets, approximately 91 percent was plastic, followed by rubber (three percent), metals (two percent), fabric (two percent), and other (one percent or less).
      Since 2003, HWF and volunteers have removed over 165 tons of debris from along the Ka`u coastline. Another cleanup is set for Saturday, Nov. 23.
      The organization holds Ho`onoua Anchialine Pool Restoration workdays this Monday and Tuesday. To sign up, contact Lamson at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.
      To comment on or “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and fellow congressman Aaron Schock spoke
about the newly formed Future Caucus on MSNBC.
KA`U’S U.S. REP. TULSI GABBARD IS CO-CHAIR OF THE FUTURE CAUCUS, announced this week as a way to bring together members of Congress who are under 40 to work in a bipartisan way to solve problems. Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock is the other co-chair. 
      According to a story in Civil Beat, the Future Caucus plans to address long-term issues that might be of particular concern to young people, including technology, protecting the environment, improving education, encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, and positioning the U.S. to compete in the global marketplace.
      In the story, Kery Murakami pointed out similarities between Gabbard and the late Sen. Dan Inouye, another “young Hawai`i native and military veteran who was elected to serve in the nation’s capital.” Inouye also developed constructive bipartisan political relationships, “helped to get a lot done, and stayed around for several political lifetimes,” Murakami said.
      During an event announcing the caucus, Gabbard invoked Inouye and retired Sen. Daniel Akaka, saying, “The previous generation lamented the relationships that allowed them to do so much, had been lost.”
      Gabbard said that what is similar for all representatives, regardless of party affiliation, is that when they are back home they all hear many of the same concerns, and to address them, there is a universal incentive to work across the aisle.
      On MSNBC, Gabbard said members of the caucus share an “unwillingness to accept no for an answer. It’s our responsibility to be creative and work together.”
      See more at civilbeat.com and msnbc.com.
      To comment on or “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

El Leo, with Ka`u's Sen. Russell Ruderman as a member, will perform at
Plantation Days next month.
THE PUERTO RICAN BAND EL LEO will play at Plantation Days on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Pahala Plantation Manager’s House. The band specializes in kachi-kachi, the adaptation of Puerto Rican jibaro music to Hawaiian life when Puerto Ricans became one of the many ethnic groups that migrated to Hawai`i. Kachi-kachi became a favorite dance in camps of the old sugar plantations. El Leo’s recorded favorites on its Jarican Express album are Amor, Cana Brava, Banana, Yours, La Borinque Rap, Na Pua Noni, Solina, Puerto Rico, Sounds of Silence, A Lo Oscuro and Waltzes in Puna’s Rain. 
      One of the longtime members of the band is Ka`u’s state Senator Russell Ruderman, who plans to join in the celebration.
      Plantation Days includes a parade with horses and riders on Maile and Huapala Streets, followed by a day of music, dance, food, demonstrations and life of Ka`u’s agricultural community. It is sponsored by Ka`u Muliticulural Society. Call Darlyne Vierra at 640-8740.
      To comment on or “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Cy Tamura made it into the end zone for a touchdown.
Photo by David Berry
EIGHT-MAN FOOTBALL took the Ka`u High Trojans to a 28-12 win over the Kealakehe Waveriders on the home field last night. Touchdowns were made by Trojans Rigan Kaapana, Cy Tamura, Kupono Leffew-Palakiko and Anthony Emsley-Ah Yee. 
      Ka`u is the first high school on this island to establish the faster-running, higher-scoring Eight-Man Football. Coaches and team members say they hope that other smaller schools on this island will adopt the sport so the Big Island can have a league and play the winners of the Maui League and that perhaps O`ahu or Kaua`i will take up the sport. It is well established on the mainland among schools with smaller student populations. There are state, regional and national finals in Eight-Man Football. The field is narrower but the same length as 11-man football. There are fewer tackles, leading to fewer injuries and more running and passing.
      The Trojans meet Kamehameha JV next Saturday at 2 p.m. at Kea`au. Then, after a huge community fundraising effort, they travel by plane and ferry to Moloka`i to play the Farmers on Saturday, Oct. 5. The Farmers will come to Ka`u for the Trojan homecoming game.
      To comment on or “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Kahuku Junior Ranger Day is next Saturday. Photo by David Boyle
KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP HOSTS ITS End of Summer Jam this evening at 7 p.m. at the Lava Lounge in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. DJ Tiki spins your favorite tunes. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply. 967-8371 

DEADLINE TO REGISTER FOR KAHUKU JUNIOR RANGER DAY is Tuesday, Sept. 24. The program takes place Saturday, Sept. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Keiki of all ages join park rangers for a day of activities to take a closer look at the Kahuku Unit. Free lunch is provided.
      Call 985-6019 to sign up.

KA`U CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ART SHOW entry dates are coming up on Friday Sept. 27 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 28, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The show begins Monday, Sept. 30 at CU Hawai`i Credit Union in Na`alehu, with announcement of winners, including cover art for The Directory 2014, on Saturday, Oct. 5.

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