Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014

Sky Esperon reaches for the ball as Ka`u faced Hilo last night at home. They host Kealakehe Saturday. Photo by Pono Palekiko

THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE has designated Hawai`i County as a primary natural disaster area due to damages and losses caused by wind, rain and flooding from Tropical Storm Iselle. After a review of the Hawai`i County Loss Assessment Reports, the USDA determined that there were sufficient agricultural production losses to warrant a Secretarial natural disaster designation.

Ka`u farmers and ranchers who have tropical storm damage can apply
for federal emergency loans. Photo by John Cross

      “I thank USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack for reviewing the Loss Assessment Reports and for issuing a Secretarial natural disaster designation for Hawai`i County,” Sen. Brian Schatz said. “Support from the USDA will help ensure that our farmers in Hawai`i County will receive the assistance they need.” 



      A Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the Farm Service Agency, provided eligibility requirements are met. This assistance includes FSA emergency loans. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans. FSA considers each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses on the farm and the security and repayment ability of the operator. So far, FSA has received over 100 inquiries for assistance from producers in Hawai`i County.
      “I appreciate Secretary Vilsack’s decision for a natural disaster designation and the work by the Farm Service Agency who initiated the request and has been on the frontlines working with farmers,” Sen. Mazie Hirono said. “Federal resources are urgently needed to help our farmers, and access to emergency loans is an important option for farmers as they work to recover. I will continue to fight for federal resources to support communities, small businesses and families.”
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

With lava less thatn a mile from Ka`ohe Homesteads subdivision,
Mayor Billy Kenoi has signed an emergency proclamation.
Map from USGS/HVO

HAWAI`I COUNTY MAYOR BILLY KENOI TODAY SIGNED an emergency proclamation for the advancing lava flow in the Wao Kele O Puna area after the flow extended to less than a mile from the edge of the Ka`ohe Homesteads subdivision.
      “We are taking this step to ensure our residents have time to prepare their families, their pets, and their livestock for a safe and orderly evacuation from Ka`ohe in the event the flow continues to advance,” Kenoi said.
      Hawai`i County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira said the proclamation allows county authorities to restrict access to Ka`ohe Homestead roadways so that residents can move safely if an evacuation becomes necessary.
      Oliveira stressed that no evacuation has been ordered at this time. He urged residents to finalize their evacuation plans and monitor county Civil Defense updates closely in the days ahead.
      Civil Defense employees will continue today to conduct door-to-door visits to each home in Ka`ohe to explain the situation to residents and to help them prepare.
      “Only residents will be allowed on the subdivision roads starting today, and we ask that non-residents stay away from the area,” Oliveira said. “The lava cannot be seen from the subdivision, and there is no reason for non-residents to be in the Ka`ohe subdivision at this time. This is a difficult and stressful time for Ka`ohe residents, and we ask that everyone show respect and understanding for our Ka`ohe neighbors.”
      Hawai`i County Civil Defense and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory are holding public meetings to update residents on the lava flow, and the next update will be at 6:30 p.m. today, Sept. 4 at Pahoa High School Cafeteria.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Funding to control little fire ants is on the County Council's agenda.
Photo from Hawai`i Department of Agriculture

HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL MEETS TOMORROW at 8 a.m. at Council Chambers in Hilo. Ka`u residents can participate via videoconferencing at Ocean View Community Center.

      On the agenda is the second reading of bills that would appropriate funds for control of little fire ants at county Parks & Recreation Department facilities. Funds would be used to hire three employees and provide them with equipment and materials in LFA control efforts.

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A section of the Ka`u Coffee Trail Run cuts through pasture
above Ka`u Coffee Mill. Photo from `O Ka`u Kakou

KA`U COFFEE TRAIL RUN DIRECTOR RAYLENE MOSES reported that 120 people have signed up for the event on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Ka`u Coffee Mill. The 5K, 10K and Half Marathon begin at 7:30 a.m., followed by family-friendly events at the mill until 3 p.m.
       Participants can choose among a 5K run/walk trail through macadamia nut groves and coffee fields; a moderate 10K run through macadamia nut grove, coffee fields and a huge eucalyptus tree forest; and a Half Marathon that follows the 5K and 10K course, then continues up to an elevation of 3,100 feet and traverses onto a four-wheel-drive access road, marked trails undulating through grazing pastures, former sugarcane fields and then down through newly planted coffee fields.

      Registration for the races and a Kendama tournament is available online at race360.com/21357.

M57, The Ring Nebula, by Hubble Heritage Team. The center star is dying
and shedding its outer layers to expose more hot layers beneath that radiate
ultraviolet light. This causes the old layers to glow like a fluorescent light
bulb. This star, while looking insignificant here, is 200 times
as bright as the sun. Photo from Lew Cook

“TWO VERY LARGE BIRDS FLY OVER US THIS MONTH – Cygnus the Swan and Aquila the Eagle,” reports astronomer Lew Cook in his September article for The Ka`u Calendar newspaper. “They appear to be chasing Mars and Saturn out of our evening sky. The brightest stars in each constellation along with Vega (very high in the northwest) form the Summer Triangle, formed by the brightest stars in Cygnus, Aquila and Vega in Lyra. What color do these stars appear to you? Most people see Vega as the bluest, closely followed by Deneb, while Altair is blue-white. If you look toward the southwest, you can spot Antares in Scorpius before it sets. Get out just after dark to see Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius, and before its light is reddened by passing through more air as it sets. Everyone who can see colors at all sees Antares as red. So is the planet Mars, which Antares rivals in color. What differences can you see? Which is brighter? Redder? Mars is now approaching Antares – take a look before they disappear into the sun’s glare. 

      “Stars’ colors are determined by the temperatures at their surfaces. Blue equates to an extremely hot surface, while red means the star is comparatively cool. As an example, Antares checks in at 5,300 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s hot, hotter than lava, but cooler than the white-hot or the blue-hot surface of Vega. Altair, the brightest star in Aquila, has a surface temperature of around 13,000 degrees. Deneb is a little warmer at 14,000 degrees, and Vega tips the temperature scales at 16,500 degrees. Vega isn’t even the hottest star in the constellation Lyra, but since it is close and a bit larger than the sun, it wins the prize for the brightest star in our Summer Triangle. What’s a hotter star? The star that is tossing off its outer layers that form the Ring Nebula, M57, in Lyra. How hot is it? Over 200,000 degrees! Deneb is the brightest of the three stars in the Summer Triangle.

      “You might say, ‘Hey, Lew, I can see it isn’t! Look up and see for yourself.’ Well, you’re right. While Vega appears brighter, Deneb is far away, so far that if it were at Vega’s distance (25 light-years) it would outshine all stars but the sun in our sky. It would be about as bright as the crescent moon, but shining all from one point. Altair is a close star, only 17 light-years distant. Put it at Vega’s distance, and it would appear less than half as bright as it is now and shine at second magnitude.”

      See The Ka`u Calendar or kaucalendar.com for a Star Map and rising and setting times for the sun and moon plus a listing of moon phases.

Ka`u's girls volleyball team sings the school song after last night's game.

KA`U HIGH SCHOOL TROJAN WAHINE VOLLEYBALL hosted the Hilo Vikings last night at Ka`u High School gym. The Junior Varsity team lost in two sets 11-25, 12-25. Varsity wahine lost in four sets 25-21, 11-25, 10-25, 14-25. Jami Beck exercised good blocking for the Trojans. The Trojan wahine host Kealakehe Waveriders on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 10 a.m.
      This story was written with reports from Ka`u High School journalism intern Kaweni Ibarra.

OTHER KA`U HIGH TROJAN SPORTS TEAMS HAVE A BUSY weekend planned, as well. Eight-man football team flies to Maui Friday to play Seabury Hall. Boys and girls in cross-country have a meet at Kamehameha in Kea`au Saturday at 10:30 a.m., and bowling teams roll into Kona for games against Kamehameha-Hawai`i.

PO`O KUMU HUIHUI MOSSMAN and Ka `Umeke Ka`eo Public Charter School present Sunset Hula tomorrow at 6 p.m. on the hula platform near Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Free; park entrance fees apply.

FRIENDS OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK hold their annual meeting Saturday at Pahala Plantation House. Check-in begins at 10:45 a.m. for the members-only event. To RSVP or become a member, email admin@fhvnp.org or call 985-7373

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2014.swf.

Ka`u News Briefs Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014

Rebuilding Chain of Craters Road along the coast from Kalapana into Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park may be an option to allow access to lower Puna if Hwy 130 near Pahoa gets covered by lava that continues to move slowly toward the area. Map from NPS

REBUILDING CHAIN OF CRATERS ROAD in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is one possibility for access to and from lower Puna, according to Hawai`i County Emergency Management Agency, also known as Civil Defense, Director Darryl Oliveira. At a meeting today with Puna residents 
recorded by Big Island Video News, Oliveira said his agency is working with the national park on what permits or processing would be required to open the road. He also said it would cost “multiple millions of dollars” to rebuild a section of road that stretches southwest from Kalapana into the park. The approximately nine miles of pavement was covered by lava from the East Rift Zone eruption that began in 1983.

Lava continues to inch its way toward populated areas of Puna.
Map from USGS/HVO

      According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, as of Dec. 2012, parts of the road were buried in lava up to 115 feet deep.
      The agency is planning routes to get medical and emergency services to residents should Kilauea’s East Rift Zone eruption from Pu`u `O`o continue on its current path and move across Route 130 near Pahoa. Oliveira said the route would also be a way for residents to come and go, “even though it would add a huge amount of commute.”
      As of today, lava is continuing its trek east/northeast and is just under one mile from Kaohe Homesteads. From its beginning on June 27, the flow has moved slowly, disappearing into ground cracks and then resurfacing to move closer to populated areas.
      Jim Kauahikaua, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s scientist-in-charge, said that at the current rate of movement, it would take a week for lava to reach the subdivision’s boundary. He expects it to move along the lower East Rift Zone unless it stalls or stops.
      Oliveira said his agency plans to raise the alert level from watch to warning either today or tomorrow.

      See bigislandvideonews.com.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

“AGRICULTURE IN HAWAI`I IS PRESENTLY UNDER ATTACK.” That’s the opening line of a document from statewide Hawai`i Farm Bureau Federation posted online by Civil Beat. The document outlines plans for a communication plan that includes messages delivered by print, radio, TV, Internet and social media to combat what it states is a public perception “based on confusion, misinformation and a lack of knowledge about farming practices and livestock handling.”
      It continues: “While the working farmers and ranchers of Hawai`i were busy growing crops, feeding their families and the citizens of Hawai`i, and contributing to the economy and their communities, non-farmers that are unfriendly toward modern agriculture, many located out of state, have waged a campaign of political and environmental activism. Fueled with misinformation designed to illicit fear and suspicion in the community and divide the ag sector (e.g. food vs. non-food, organic vs. conventional), these efforts are aimed at driving modern production agriculture out of business in favor of a Utopian, homespun agricultural model that, if successful, would destroy more than two centuries of evolution in agricultural practices in Hawai`i. Moreover, a successful activist campaign would erase decades of accomplishments on behalf of government and non-government organizations alike; to build food security and grow the next generation of Hawai`i’s farmers and ranchers. Worse, this ill conceived and thinly-veiled environmentalist model has no hope of practical success, being woefully inadequate to keep pace with the hordes of invasive pests and weeds that have been introduced to Hawai`i. Its success would cause the collapse of agriculture in Hawai`i and have reaching impacts beyond our shores.”

American Farm Bureau Federation announced four new state Farm Bureau
presidents in December 2013, including Chris Manfredi, top right,
for Hawai`i. Photo from fbnews.fb.org

      The document describes goals of the statewide organization’s public relations campaign for which it is seeking funding.
      “The goal of the Small Farmers, Big Stories campaign is to open up the farm virtually, to invite the public to understand sound farming practices and leverage the good will elicited by positive and recognizable farming and ranching images and project them onto their operational practices,” the document says.
      “It is the stated goal of this campaign to hold farmers and ranchers in high esteem to the point of attracting young farmers, ranchers and researchers to careers in agriculture, impacting future generations while addressing social, economic and environmental sustainability.”

      Ashley Lukens, program director at the Center for Food Safety’s Hawai`i office, criticized HFBF’s campaign as misguided, according to a story in Civil Beat. The campaign is “not about restoring the community’s faith in farming,” Lukens told reporter Anita Hofschneider. “They need to address the community’s concerns about restricted-use pesticide use.” 
      The HFBF document points to the Center for Food Safety as evidence of how farmers are being attacked. The “leading and well‐funded anti‐agriculture activist organization has recently opened an office in Honolulu, and has partnered with Earthjustice, a law firm founded by the Sierra Club and specializes in environmental litigation,” the document states.
      The description of the Center for Food Safety on its website centerforfoodsafety.org says it is “a national nonprofit public interest and environmental advocacy organization working to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture.”
      “My sense is that the community is going to see through this because it doesn’t in any way address the concerns that the largest chemical companies in the world use Hawai`i as the outdoor laboratory,” Lukens said.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie

      Hofschneider also reported that HFBF hasn’t registered with the Campaign Spending Commission, even though its campaign plan mentions a Maui County ballot initiative as one of many recent attacks on agriculture.
      According to Hofschneider, HFBF President Chris Manfredi said, “We haven’t gotten to the point of implementing the plan yet so I don’t know that that’s appropriate. She said Manfredi said the campaign is not simply in response to controversy about biotechnology in agriculture and that it fulfills the organization’s mission to be “the voice of agriculture.”
      See civilbeat.com.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE HAS RELEASED MORE THAN $4 million for capital improvement projects that will fund water treatment projects across the state.
      “These funds will help renovate and maintain facilities that are dedicated to the health and safety of Hawai`i’s people,” Abercrombie said. “We are grateful for the federal funds provided to the state that will be used to construct water treatment facilities throughout our islands.” To receive the federal funds, a 20 percent state matching allotment is required.
      Allotment of funds for the following projects, identified by state legislators, has been approved by the governor:

• $2,200,000 – Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund, statewide – Funds will be transferred to the revolving fund to match $10,859,000 in federal funds to provide construction loans to finance wastewater treatment facilities of various capacities and designs.
• $1,825,000 – Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Loan Fund, statewide – Funds will be transferred to the revolving fund to match $8,845,000 in federal funds to provide construction loans to finance drinking water facilities of various capacities and designs.

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Ka`u travels to Maui for its second game against Seabury Hall Friday.
Last year, the Cowboys came to Ka`u. Photo by David Berry

THIS SEASON’S FINAL SUNSET HULA PROGRAM takes place Friday at 6 p.m. on the hula platform near Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. It features Po`o Kumu Huihui Mossman with Ka `Umeke Ka`eo Public Charter School.
      The performance is presented authentically in a natural setting, rain or shine, without electronic amplification. Audience members are encouraged to bring sun/rain gear and sitting mats.
   
KA`U HIGH’S EIGHT-MAN FOOTBALL TEAM members are preparing for their trip to Maui to play Seabury Hall Friday at 7 p.m. Last year, during Ka`u’s inaugural eight-man football season, Seabury Hall’s team traveled here for a game. The Trojans meet the Cowboys following last week’s season opening win over Kohala.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2014.swf.

Ka`u News Briefs Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014

Ka`u residents interested in the Food to School movement, which includes school gardens like this one at Na`alehu School, can attend an upcoming conference. Photo by Nalani Parlin

STATEWIDE HAWAI`I FARM BUREAU FEDERATION PRESIDENT CHRIS MANFREDI, of Na`alehu, is seeking funding for a $400,000 campaign. According to Manfredi’s proposal posted online by Civil Beat, “Farms and ranches are being targeted for increased regulations, moratoriums and outright bans on modern farming practices, including the use of biotechnology, pesticides and herbicides.” Manfredi wrote, “Hawai`i’s political landscape has made our state and farming industries across the country vulnerable to these strategic battles.

      “We are losing ground and need your help,” Manfredi said.

      Manfredi cited cases across the state, including Hawai`i County’s registry requirement and partial ban of GMO crops; Kaua`i’s requirement for biotechnology and pesticide disclosures and buffer zones; a ballot initiative on Maui that he said “could lead to a county Charter Amendment banning biotechnology” and bills introduced at the state Legislature “on GMO labeling and glyphosate ban.”

Current statewide Hawai`i Farm Bureau Federation President
Chris Manfredi was on the cover of the organization's
publication, Agriculture Hawai`i, in the Oct.-Dec. 2008 issue.

      Manfredi also wrote about the Center for Food Safety, which recently held a meeting in Pahala which he attended. He  described the nonprofit, which brought to Ka`u a Filipino physician and farming advocate who work internationally on GMO, pesticide and land security issues for farmers, as “a leading and well-funded anti-agriculture activist organization.” Manfredi noted that the Center for Food Safety has “partnered with Earthjustice, a law firm founded by the Sierra Club and specializing in environmental litigation.”
      Manfredi wrote, “The saddest parts of these attacks are the divisions created within the ag sector; pitting food against non-food, organic versus conventional. These divisions weaken our industry and deter investment. Worse, farmers and ranchers are demonized to the point where young people are further dissuaded from entering careers in agriculture – while activists selfishly attempt to advance their own agendas and political careers.”

      Manfredi also said, “Across the nation, farmers and ranchers have been caught off guard by extremist activists that will stop at nothing to realize their utopian, misinformed and unsustainable vision of how you should farm.”
      According to the appeal letter, money raised would be used for a communication plan that includes messages delivered by print, radio, TV, Internet and social media. The campaign would also use what Manfredi referred to as “guerilla marketing techniques.”
      The HFBF document obtained by Civil Beat listed the guerilla tactics: customized temporary tattoos issued to children and teens at school presentations; face painting for children and others that would create “photo opportunities” at events; and talk story sessions with school program members where farmers would discuss their operations and “provide talking points to share their campaign message.” Other guerrilla tactics listed are op-ed pieces for newspapers and magazines, “strategically timed” letters to editors and online comments that highlight campaign messages.
      The plan also calls for bringing back publication of Ag Hawai`i, HFBF’s quarterly magazine, as a “full color, glossy” publication with “more human interest stories as well as timely, issue-oriented pieces.”
      The organization’s website would also be updated and feature interviews with farmers from across the state and a blog “to illustrate how (a) farmer lives the campaign message.”
      “Please join us in thwarting these efforts by countering with positive fact-based messages before you find yourself fighting these same issues in your communities,” Manfredi concluded.
      John Hart, a political analyst and professor of communication at Hawai`i Pacific University, told Civil Beat reporter Anita Hofschneider, “This is bringing in the big guns” and that “certainly in an issue like this that is very contentious, I would expect this kind of money would have an effect. This is gunning for attitude change.”
      According to Hofschneider, Manfredi said he contacted Farm Bureau chapters in other states as well as the national organization to seek funding for the campaign.
      See civilbeat.com.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

STATE REP. RICHARD CREAGAN will hold a community forum on water for Ocean View on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 10 a.m. during the first Pancake Brunch sponsored by Ocean View Community Association. It will be held at the community center, one block off Aloha Blvd. on Leilani, which is a block below Hawai`i Blvd. off Seabreeze. To be discussed will be money from the state Legislature that has already been approved. Creagan said he wants input from the community on how to use the funding. He will also take questions on other issues concerning Ka`u. 

      Creagan said he will meet with Ha`ao Springs & Mountain House Ag Water Co-op members this month and plans another community water forum sometime this fall.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.  

KA`U RESIDENTS INTERESTED IN THE FOOD TO SCHOOL movement can attend an upcoming conference where Re-Growing Community Food Systems is the theme. The conference will bring together education, health and agricultural stakeholders from across the islands to raise awareness and facilitate discussions about increasing the supply, distribution, and procurement of locally grown food for Hawai`i’s schools.
       Presented by Hawai`i Farm to School and School Garden Hui and The Kohala Center, the Hawai`i Farm to School Conference will be held at Kamehameha Schools’ Kapalama Campus in Honolulu from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3. Registration is $50 per person and includes breakfast and lunch. More information and registration are available online at hif2sc.eventbrite.com or by calling The Kohala Center at 887-6411.

      “Farm to school is a local, national, and international movement that is simultaneously making positive and significant strides in the areas of agriculture, education, and health,” said Hawai`i Farm to School and School Garden Hui coordinator Lydi Morgan Bernal. “This conference will promote the knowledge and best practices needed to develop and sustain a statewide farm to school program to re-grow Hawai`i’s agricultural economy, future farmers and healthy schools and communities.”

Agriculture, education and health are components of the state's school garden
program, including the one at Na`alehu School.

      Keynote speaker Kacie O’Brien, farm to school regional lead for the Western Region of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, will provide federal-level guidance and support for strengthening Hawai`i’s farm to school efforts. Featured panelists include Hawai`i Department of Agriculture chair Scott Enright, state procurement administrator Sarah Allen, Hawai`i Department of Education school food services branch director Glenna Owen, and other leaders from across the state. Slow Food of Hawai`i and many of O`ahu’s local farmers and chefs will provide an “ono and pono” breakfast, and Hale Kealoha `Ai Pono will offer attendees a model school lunch featuring fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
      Two scholarships programs are available to help offset conference registration fees and travel costs. Educators and students may apply for scholarships of up to $200 per person (total of up to $1,000 per school) from the Kokua Hawai`i Foundation for reimbursement of conference registration fees and/or neighbor island flights and rental cars as needed. For non-educators, a limited number of conference registration scholarships of $50 each are available. More information and applications are available online at hif2sc.eventbrite.com. The application deadline for both scholarship programs is Monday, Sept. 15.
      Kokua Hawai`i Foundation will be coordinating visits to O`ahu farm to school sites for interested conference attendees on Saturday, Oct. 4. Farm to school site visits will also be offered statewide throughout October in conjunction with National Farm to School Month.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HILO HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAM travels to Ka`u High tomorrow for a match at 6 p.m. This is the Trojan team’s first home game of the season.

FRIENDS OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK request that members RSVP by tomorrow for the group’s membership meeting this Saturday at 11 a.m. at Pahala Plantation House.
      RSVP by phone at 985-7373 or email at admin@fhvnp.orgor fhvnp@icloud.com.

LESS THAN TWO WEEKS REMAIN for discounted entry fees for the Ka`u Coffee Trail Run on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Ka`u Coffee Mill in conjunction with `O Ka`u Kakou’s `Ohana Day. Fees are $35 for the 5K, $45 for the 10K and $55 for the Half Marathon. All fees increase by $20 after Sept.13. High school team members can enter any event for $10. 

     The 5K is a family-friendly, run/walk trail through macadamia nut groves and coffee fields.
     The10K is a moderate run through macadamia nut grove, coffee fields and a huge eucalyptus tree forest.
     The Half Marathon follows the 5K and 10K course, then continues up to an elevation of 3,100 feet and traverses onto a four-wheel-drive access road, marked trails undulating through grazing pastures, former sugarcane fields and winds down through newly planted coffee fields.
     Awards go to the top three men and women overall (overall winners do not win top age-group awards) and the top three men and women in age groups from 19 and under to 70 and over.
     Post-race activities for the whole family include keiki games, live entertainment, live/silent auctions, local vendors, ono food, awards and great prizes (must be present to win).
     The `Ohana Day and Ka`u Coffee Trail Run are sponsored by `O Ka`u Kakou, and all proceeds stay in Ka`u to benefit the Ka`u community.

      Registration for all races and a Kendama tournament is available at race360.com/21357.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2014.swf.