Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Monday, Jan. 18, 2016

Lethal Eruptions at Kilauea: It’s Not the Volcano’s Fault is the title of tomorrow’s After Dark in the Park program.
Photo from USGS/HVO

“KA`U COFFEE FARMERS ARE STRATEGIZING how to stay on their farms. Ka`u Coffee farming is a remarkable success story, and a recent sale of the land they farm has put their future in question,” Ka`u state Sen. Russell Ruderman said on his Facebook page. Ruderman and Ka`u state Rep. Richard Creagan attended a meeting yesterday to consider ownership options of Ka`u Coffee lands recently purchased by Colorado-based investment firm Resource Land Holdings. Stakeholders considered pros and cons of coffee growers buying the land, state ownership and creating a land trust.

Ka`u Coffee growers, lawmakers and other interested parties discussed 

options for land security yesterday at Pahala Plantation House.

     By buying the land, coffee grower John Ah San said, "coffee growers could be your own boss.” Hilo attorney Steven Strauss said in order for each grower to own a separate farm lot, they would have to be surveyed and costs of $25,000 per purchaser would be prohibitive. Several others said purchase costs would probably be too high for individual growers to buy the land, particularly if infrastructure for subdivisions was added.
    Strauss recommended that growers have someone begin negotiating with owners, finding out the asking price for the land to be sold in a large plot or individual lots. In the meantime, he also suggested that farmers find out the owners’ plans regarding abandoned plots that harbor coffee berry borers, which make their way into neighboring production orchards.
     Ruderman said RLH’s Hilo representative Jim McCully assured him that the company’s intent is to sell the land to growers “for a reasonable price.”
     State ownership could be fraught with problems, Ruderman and Strauss said. Ruderman said he has seen “good intentions gone bad,” with restrictions and requirements imposed by government. He said he would discuss the situation with state Department of Agriculture chair Scott Enright, who has said he considers making the purchase a line item in his budget to be an option. Ruderman said that would possibly be better than trying to pass legislation to acquire the land. He also said that it could be possible to give the farmers 35 year leases from the state at a reasonable rate.
     Strauss said government purchases traditionally tend to be geared toward large, rather than small, operations.
     Another option, a land trust would see value in the land as agricultural and plan to keep it as such, Strauss said. He said licenses give growers rights to use land but do not include conveyance of land interest. Also, with a trust, negotiations of terms would be “an open process,” he said. The meeting was sponsored by I Ola Na `Aina Momona, a nonprofit headed by Ka`u farm owner and coffee broker Malian Lahey. To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U ROYAL HAWAIIAN COFFEE & TEA CO. shared its long-term plans with Kirsten Johnson, of Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. Part of the plan is to change the company’s name. General Manager Louis Leong told Johnson that the name “is too long and too hard to put in documents.”
     Leong also told Johnson the company plans to grow coffee, tea, fruits and vegetables, with its first harvest in three to five years.
     The company plans to spend $20 million to build a coffee mill and a tea-processing plant Leong said. A visitor center and public tours of processing facilities are also envisioned. 

Ka`u Royal Hawaiian Coffee & Tea Co. bought land 
above Hwy 11 in Na`alehu for its ag project. 
Photo from Ka`u Royal Hawaiian

     “We formed a company just for this project, so it’s a brand new venture for us,” Leong told Johnson. “We’d like to add an (agricultural tourism) aspect to the project later on, after we build our coffee mill and tea processing (facilities), so we can introduce the tea culture to more people locally. Hopefully, we’ll have a very special commercial tea farm, and people can enjoy the harvesting and processing aspect of tea production.”
     Leong told Johnson the company hopes to lease land to farmers. “We’ve learned that after the collapse of the sugar industry, a lot of farmers have (to go) far to find jobs,” He said. “So if we can create opportunities and have workers in the farm industry, they don’t have to travel as far now.” To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS celebrates 15 years of a major marine conservation milestone. 

     On Jan. 18, 2001, then President Bill Clinton issued a second Executive Order (EO 13196) ensuring permanent protection of preservation areas and conservation measures for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve set forth in EO 13178 in December 2000. Creation of the Reserve was the first large-scale marine conservation measure put forth by the United States, a historic act of protection for the coral reefs in three-quarters of the Hawaiian archipelago, and the largest in the world at nearly 140,000 square miles. It was also the second ever created since establishment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in 1975. It paved the way for the later designation of what is now Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in 2006 and its inscription as the nation’s only mixed natural and cultural UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010. 

     At the end of the millennium, coral reefs around the world were in crisis, and many governments were struggling to understand and protect these crucial marine resources. Large-scale marine protected areas that encompass entire geographies and multiple habitats were seen as one tool to address various threats. 

President Bill Clinton, Buzzy Agard, Tammy and Isaac Harp, 

and Sylvia Earle at the announcement of the Executive 

Order establishing Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 

Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. 

Photo from NHIUCRER

     Many conservation and cultural leaders in Hawai`i had long recognized the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a unique - and nearly pristine - place worthy of the highest protections and helped pave the way for President Clinton’s act. Among them were the late Buzzy Agard and Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott, along with Isaac and Tammy Harp, `Aulani Wilhelm, Robert P. Smith, Tim Johns, Athline Clark, Linda Paul, William `Aila Jr., Vicky Holt Takamine, Bill Gilmartin, Dave Raney and many others that sought protection for the area and helped facilitate the dialog that led to creation of the Reserve.

     Fifteen years after that historic moment, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands has earned increased protections, gained Hawai`i its second World Heritage site, along with Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, and brought together state and federal agencies to protect the nature and culture of the area under a shared vision and unified management. The creation of NWHICRER spurred a movement, resulting in more than a dozen large-scale marine protected area designations around the globe, and managers working together to improve efforts and share these wonders – and their significance – with the world. 

     While coral ecosystems around the planet still face global threats – rising sea temperatures, marine pollution and alien invasive species – protection of entire marine areas is one step to preserving these resources for future generations.
     Today is the beginning of a year of anniversaries for protections of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

TODAY, THE NATION HONORS the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King visited the newly formed Hawai`i State Legislature on Sept. 17, 1959, where he spoke on Hawai`i’s accomplishments and the nation’s status in race relations at the time. 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Hawai`i in 1959 and 

spoke at the House of Representatives.

     “I come to you with a great deal of appreciation and great feeling of appreciation, I should say, for what has been accomplished in this beautiful setting and in this beautiful state of our Union,” King said. “As I think of the struggle that we are engaged in in the South land, we look to you for inspiration and as a noble example, where you have already accomplished in the area of racial harmony and racial justice, what we are struggling to accomplish in other sections of the country, and you can never know what it means to those of us caught for the moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man’s inhumanity to man, to come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice.
     “We have come a long, long way. We have a long, long way to go. I close, if you will permit me, by quoting the words of an old Negro slave preacher. He didn’t quite have his grammar right, but he uttered some words in the form of a prayer with great symbolic profundity and these are the words he said: ‘Lord, we ain’t what we want to be; we ain’t what we ought to be; we ain’t what we gonna be, but thank God, we ain’t what we was.’ Thank you.” To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

LETHAL ERUPTIONS AT KILAUEA: It’s not the Volcano’s Fault is the title of tomorrow’s After Dark in the Park program beginning at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
     As a Volcano Awareness Month event, the program offers a companion hike Saturday, at 10 a.m. Participants meet at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium.

REGISTRATION FOR NEXT SATURDAY’S Keiki Fishing Tournament is due on Wednesday at 12 p.m. `O Ka`u Kakou asks participants to fill out forms available at local schools and businesses and online at okaukakou.org.

Mark Yamanaka offers a free concert 

Wednesday. Photo from NPS

MARK YAMANAKA PERFORMS Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Yamanaka shares original songs from his CDs, Lei Pua Kenikeni and Lei Maile. Free; park entrance fees apply.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016

Speaking of Ka`u's Heritage was the title of a gathering that filled Pahala Community Center last night, led by Fred August Kalani Meinecke and sponsored by Uhane Pohaku Na Moku O Hawai`i. Photo by Julia Neal

SPEAKING OF KA`U’S HERITAGE was the title of a gathering last evening that filled Pahala Community Center. Sponsored by Uhane Pohaku Na Moku O Hawai`i, it focused on Hawaiian knowledge useful today that is carried by local families, oral histories, writings and archaeology. Fred August Kalani Meinecke, who teaches Hawaiian language and Hawaiian studies at Windward Community College on O`ahu, shared his Ka`u connections, including a paternal ancestor, Kaholowaho, of Kahuku. He talked about the vastness of Ka`u on the side of Mauna Loa, the largest single mountain mass and largest active volcano on earth. Ka`u has over 1,000 square miles, bigger than Maui, Moloka`i and Kahoolawe combined, noted Meinecke. He talked about early settlers from the southeast Marquesas and later Tahiti and also arrivals from Samoa.

Kamuela Plunkett talked about knowledge found
in archaeology and history, including agricultural
practices, that are valuable in growing food
today. Photo by Julia Neal

      Archaeologist Kamuela Plunkett said he entered the field to learn how Hawaiian methods of growing food in the past can help “understand how to feed ourselves.” He said that in old Hawai`i and today, it takes a community. He said “the word community is easy to say but difficult to live by;” it takes relationships, patience, aloha and forgiveness. He mentioned Ka`u Multicultural Society President Darlyne Vierra and praised the organization’s efforts to collect photos and documents on the history of local families in agriculture. He said history is important - important to know what the heritage is, whether one has been here a lifetime or only one year.
      He talked about massive farming systems found through archaeological research. One of them with sweet potatoes and sugar cane was 26 square miles, crossing 21 ahupua`a. He said remnants of the food systems can be seen today in pastures as ripples on the land. These were the terraces or walled in sweet potato planting areas with berms. Field walls and mounds not only provided protection but held moisture for dry times. Sugar cane was a windbreak, also collecting moisture and making mulch. He mentioned planting food lower, makai in wet years and more mauka in dry years. “Hawaiians called it common sense.” Scientists today call it "risk management," he said. “We look back not to stay in the back but to move forward.”
      He also noted that oral histories, the mo`olelo describing huge amounts of food grown in ancient Hawai`i, are not just stories; they are supported by findings of archaeological research.
      Earl Louis said, “Ka`u is the piko. Ka`u can be an example.” He urged going back to the ahupua`a system.
      Stephanie Tabata and John Dancel talked about their family's long Hawaiian lineage in Ka`u, with their own oral history and documentation of land ownership that differs from some of the other written and oral accounts.
    Trini Marques talked about the need for archaeologists going on lands to connect with the families whose ancestors lived there in the past. 

     Anna Cariaga suggested “unlearning” the negative and moving forward, understanding and implementing the valuable Hawaiian lessons in a positive way.
     Kawehi Ryder, founder of Uhane, talked about opportunities to restore springs and fish ponds at Punalu`u and said there was a poi mill at one time near Kawa.
     Meinecke said that Wai`ohinu means reflecting water, earning its name from seven lo`i - taro patches, and noted that water for taro had been diverted by the now defunct sugar plantations.

     Hawaiian musician and educator Emma Emalia Ka`olanial`i Keohokalole, who has Ka`u ancestors, led songs of Ka`u during the meeting.

Emma Emalia Ka`olaniali`i Keohokalole, whose
ancestry dates back to High Chief Kewawe-a-Heulu,
of Kiolaka`a and Wai`ohinu, led the singing last
night, including Ka`u's songs. Photo by Julia Neal

      The book The Polynesian Family System in Ka`u by E.S. Craighill Handy and Mary Kawena Pukui was on display and for sale as a reference for Ka`u households. So were films on history made by Eddie Kamae.

      Read comments, add your own, and to like  this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

A MAJORITY OF HAWAI`I RESIDENTS OPPOSE the merger of Hawaiian Electric Industries and Florida-based NextEra Energy, according to a poll with results announced in Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The percentage is up from 46 last January.
      Twenty-six percent of 433 residents surveyed said the merger would be good for the state. Last year, 32 percent said it would be.
      According to reporter Kathryn Mykleseth, Hawai`i residents expressed concern about NextEra’s lack or rooftop solar in Florida and money leaving the local economy.
      Mykleseth also reported that, while local unions and business leaders support the deal, 54 percent of union members surveyed oppose it, and 24 percent favor it.
        Read comments, add your own, and to like  this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

AS HAWAI`I ISLAND’S DENGUE FEVER outbreak continues, Hawai`i State Department of Health has received laboratory confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a past Zika virus infection in a baby recently born with microcephaly in a hospital on O`ahu. The mother likely had Zika infection when she was residing in Brazil in May 2015, and her newborn acquired the infection in the womb. Neither the baby nor the mother are infectious, and there was never a risk of transmission in Hawai`i, according to DOH.

      “We are saddened by the events that have affected this mother and her newborn,” said DOH State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park. “This case further emphasizes the importance of the CDC travel recommendations released today. Mosquitoes can carry serious diseases, as we know too well with our current dengue outbreak, and it is imperative that we all Fight the Bite by reducing mosquito breeding areas, avoiding places with mosquitoes and applying repellent as needed.”

      To date, there have been no cases of Zika virus acquired in Hawai`i. Since 2014, DOH has identified six persons in the state who acquired their infection in another country. Physicians are required to report all suspected cases of Zika virus and more than 75 other reportable diseases in the state. Physician reporting is crucial to conducting an effective disease surveillance program in Hawai`i.

Dr. Sarah Park

      “In this situation, an astute Hawai`i physician recognized the possible role of Zika virus infection, immediately notified the Department of Health, and worked with us to confirm the suspected diagnosis,” Park said. “We rely on our exceptional medical community to be our eyes and ears in the field to control and prevent the spread of illness in Hawai`i.”
      The department sent a Medical Advisory to physicians statewide as a reminder that while Zika virus is not endemic in the U.S., it can be acquired in a number of countries and travel history should always be considered.
      Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon. There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat Zika.
      For more information on Zika virus, see http://www.cdc.gov/zika/, and for CDC travel recommendations, see http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices.
        Read comments, add your own, and to like  this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

I OLA NA `AINA MOMONA HOLDS a strategy and informational meeting today at 5:30 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. The nonprofit works to help Ka`u farmers achieve land security. 

      Attorney Steven Strauss, of Hilo, will offer advice and answer questions. Sen. Russell Ruderman is expected to attend.
      Everyone is welcome. Pupus will be served.

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK waives entry fees tomorrow in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

DON SWANSON, RESEARCH GEOLOGIST at USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, discusses past lethal eruptions, why they were deadly and what we can expect in the future during After Dark in the Park on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
      Volcanic activity from Kilauea produces both lava flows and explosive eruptions. Both types of activity occur about equally often, and both have killed people and destroyed property. The most recent fatality from an explosive eruption occurred when a man was crushed by a boulder ejected from Kilauea in 1924, and last year, Kilauea flows destroyed a structure outside of the national park.
      Volcanic disasters happen when people are caught by these natural events. “We can’t control the volcano, but, in a perfect world, we can control our presence on the volcano,” Swanson said. “The world isn’t perfect, however, and that’s where the problems come in.”
      As a Volcano Awareness Month event, the program offers a companion hike this Saturday, Jan. 23 at 10 a.m. Participants meet at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium.

REGISTRATION FOR NEXT SATURDAY'S Keiki Fishing Tournament is due on Wednesday at 12 p.m. `O Ka`u Kakou asks participants to fill out forms available at local schools and businesses and online at okaukakou.org.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

See okaukakou.org.

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf
and kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_January2016.pdf. 

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016

Participants learn about Hi`iaka and Pele and the natural phenomena they represent tomorrow at Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. See more below. Photo from NPS

NEW OWNERS OF KA`U COFFEE LANDS at Moa`ula and Pear Tree do not have immediate plans to develop residential- and commercial-zoned properties there, Duane Shimogawa reported in Pacific Business News.

Byron Levkulich
Photo from RLH

      “We will do our own research to see what the demand is for these types of properties,” Byron Levkulich, principal of Resource Land Holdings, told Shimogawa. “We hired one employee on the Big Island who’s doing research for us.”
      All but one of the area’s Ka`u Coffee growers have signed leases with RLH to continue growing their award-winning coffee. Under the leases, growers can sell their interest to others with approval from RLH.
      Levkulich also said RLH plans to develop farm lots that coffee growers could purchase to plant coffee.
      Grazing cattle and growing macadamia nuts are also planned on other parcels RLH owns in Ka`u. Jim McCully, a Hilo partner with RLH who is in the profession of subdividing land, told Shimogawa, “We look forward to getting these lands in the hands of the right people, who will use them for (agricultural).”
      McCully’s dealings in real estate development, as described at mccullyworks.com, include “greenfield entitlements, subdivisions, various land use actions, infrastructure development both public and private, and conservation zone applications and permits.”
      RLH invests in agricultural, timber and mining properties in the United States, according to its website at rlholdings.com. The Colorado-based company closed on the Ka`u purchase in late December.

      See bizjournals.com/pacific.
      Read comments, add your own, and like The Ka`u Calendar News Briefs on Facebook.

Infected mosquitoes continue to spread dengue fever
on Hawai`i Island. Photo from DOH

MORE AREAS OF HAWAI`I ISLAND are closed due to dengue fever. Closure of Muliwai hiking trail on the far cliff side of Waipio Valley and its Waimanu Valley campground follow closure of Waipio Valley access road to residents only on Wednesday, after Hawai`i County officials confirmed two cases of dengue in Waipio residents. Campers with existing permits will be contacted by DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife. No new permits will be issued until further notice. 

      Restricted access will remain in effect for eight to 12 weeks after no new cases are diagnosed in the area by health officials.
      As of yesterday, Hawai`i Department of Health raised the number of confirmed cases of dengue to 223, with five being potentially infectious.
      For more information on the closures, see hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts.
      For additional information on dengue and preventing the spread, see health.hawaii.gov or call DOH at 974-6001.
      Read comments, add your own, and like The Ka`u Calendar News Briefs on Facebook.

AS RESIDENTS OF HAWAI`I COUNTY consider public ownership of electric utilities, Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa announced research showing that a new utility model, including a neutral independent system operator or cooperative ownership, would improve service, reduce rates and promote clean energy. 

      According to the Guernsey Report commissioned by Maui County, the approach has several advantages.

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa

      “There would be little physical infrastructure that would need to change hands, making capital costs relatively low. The ISO would need to acquire existing dispatch, monitoring and control equipment in order to manage the transmission/distribution system. However, the great majority of existing MECO generation assets along with MECO transmission and distributions wires would remain with MECO.
      “This approach has the potential for quickest implementation, although a timeline is highly uncertain. The county would need to organize political capital to introduce, negotiate and enact enabling legislation at the state level, which would take an unknown amount of time. However, given enough political willpower, this route could be completed much more quickly than a negotiated sale or condemnation of the MECO assets, which could take five to seven years or longer.
      “The approach can be implemented regardless of the outcome of the Hawaiian Electric Industries/NextEra merger; whatever the regulated electric utility provider for Maui County might be, the utility would be subject to the jurisdiction of the ISO.
      “This approach promotes competition by providing clear price signals and market transparency so that power producers of all types can make rational economic decisions; this approach also optimizes transmission planning such that all power producers are incorporated into planning and infrastructure improvement efforts.”
       “There’s always a bottom line for a private utility,” Arakawa said. “Their decisions are influenced by making a profit, whereas an ISO’s only duty is being fair to the consumers and making sure our electrical grid is reliable and efficient, as well as renewable friendly.
      “This community is more than ready for an electrical utility model where they – the ratepayer – is the bottom line.”
      Marti Townsend, Director for the Sierra Club of Hawai`i, said, “We agree with the conclusions of Maui County’s study that the people of Maui should seek a new electric utility model, which may include pursuing public ownership of the utility.
      “Here on the clean energy leading edge in Hawai`i, large investor-owned utilities are dinosaurs. It makes more sense for our environment and our economy to manage our electrical grid as a shared resource and encourage as much competition as possible to give ratepayers what they want: clean, cheap energy. 

    “The outcome of Maui’s study bodes well for efforts in other counties to explore alternative utility ownership, including the study of Honolulu’s options for public ownership proposed on Tuesday by Honolulu Council Chairman Ernie Martin, and the work of Hawai`i Island Energy Cooperative on the Big Island to create a utility cooperative.”

        Read comments, add your own, and like The Ka`u Calendar News Briefs on Facebook.

Kalani Meinecke Photo from WCC

SPEAKING OF KA`U’S HERITAGE is the topic of a free event at Pahala Community Center today from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Guest speaker is Prof. Kalani Meinecke, from Windward Community College’s Hawaiian Studies program. Kumu Kalani, as he is known by his students, “breathes life into the Hawaiian language through his personal and intimate knowledge of both culture and language,” his WCC biography stated. 

      More speakers are Samuel Kamuela Plunkett and Emalia Keohokaole.
      The evening includes mo`olelo sharing, kukakuka (talk story) and light refreshments.

I OLA NA `AINA MOMONA HOLDS a strategy and informational meeting tomorrow from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. The nonprofit works to help Ka`u farmers achieve land security.
      Attorney Steven Strauss, of Hilo, will offer advice and answer questions. Sen. Russell Ruderman is expected to attend.
      Everyone is welcome. Pupus will be served.

KAHUKU UNIT OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES National Park offers a free program tomorrow. From 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., participants discover the Hawaiian goddesses Hi`iaka and Pele and the natural phenomena they represent on a moderate, one-mile walk.
      See nps.gov/havo for more information.

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK waives entry fees Monday in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

JAZZ IN THE FOREST 2016 SERIES kicks off two weeks from today. Two performances (4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) on Saturday, Jan. 30, will feature Jeannine Guillory with Volcano Art Center’s Jazz Ensemble. 

      The Jazz in the Forest concert series offers an extraordinary opportunity to hear the highest caliber jazz – anywhere – up close and personal.
      Guillory’s background in jazz, reggae, pop and rhythm & blues lends to a strong versatile sound and energy that gets her audience and peers alike to stand up and applaud her amazing voice and on stage presence. She most recently played the part of Sheila Bryant in A Chorus Line. Guillory has performed at venues throughout Europe, South America and the United States. Stage performances include the renowned Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Big Island Jazz Festival. She is a former vocalist with the internationally known reggae/jazz group Groundation, which continues to tour the globe.
      Tickets for the matinee are $20 for VAC members ($30 non-members) and for the evening show are $25 for VAC members ($35 non-members). Ticket holders will be able to purchase beer and wine before each performance.
      Tickets are on sale at VAC’s Administration Office in Volcano Village, VAC Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and at Basically Books in Hilo. The last day to purchase tickets online, at VAC Gallery or Basically Books is Friday, Jan. 29. After that, tickets will be sold at the door if they are not sold out. Tickets will be held at Will Call on the day of the show or may be picked up any day before the show at Volcano Art Center’s Administrative Office, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Get ‘em while they’re hot!

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf
and kaucalendar.com/Directory2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_January2016.pdf.