Ka`u News Briefs April 25, 2011

Sen. Gil Kahele launches his social media sites tomorrow to keep in touch with his constituents. He is seen here with Miss Ka`u Coffee Brandy Shibuya (r) and First Princess Jaeneise Cuison.  Photo by Julia Neal

KA`U’S STATE SENATOR GIL KAHELE will launch a new website tomorrow to help him stay in contact with the large population of his Senate District II. Kahele can often be seen stopping in at community events as he drive from his home in Hilo to his birthplace in Miloli`i when he has time off from the Legislature. The district is so big he wants to keep in contact online, too. While preferring to meet people face to face, Kahele said that social media provides a valuable way to interact and listen to the unique communities he represents. The website will include his latest news, priorities for the district, tracking the bills he sponsors and supports, a calendar of his activities and scheduled monthly live web chats when constituents can talk story with the senator.
     See http://www.senatorkahele.com and watch the live streaming of the launch on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

ONE JOURNEY is back at school on the Ka`u High School campus after battling bands from across the state to take home the coveted Brown Bags to Stardom trophy. The band was set to perform this morning during recess at the school for an overwhelming spontaneous homecoming welcome. The eight performers traveled to Honolulu accompanied by two chaperones. One Journey competed against 20 high school finalists on O`ahu.
     Producer Johnny Kai said he plans to soon come to Ka`u to visit this district of talented young people and their `ohana.

Miss Ka`u Coffee Pageant director Gloria Camba and
  her partner Rogelio Aquino.  Photo by Julia Neal

WINNERS OF THE MISS KA`U COFFEE PAGEANT are already gearing up for their first public appearance. It will be this Saturday at the Merrie Monarch Parade in Hilo. The 2011 Ka`u Coffee Queen Brandy Shibuya will be accompanied by her court, first Princess Janeise Cuison and Second Princess Brandy Eder. Also representing Ka`u Coffee in the parade will be Miss Ka`u Peaberry Rebecca Lynn-Kailiawa Escobar and Young Miss Ka`u Coffee Dayse Meleani Andrade. The two floats are sponsored by the Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative. The sold-out pageant drew many scholarship contributions and was emceed by Kahikina and KAHU public radio’s own Deevah. 

     Pageant director Gloria Camba said that all the work was worthwhile since so much of the community participated and enjoyed supporting the talent and education of Ka`u youth. 

Top Hawai`i winner at the SCAA Bull Kailiawa works with a volunteer volleyball
 team on new coffee fields along Hwy 11 at Pahala.  Photo by Julia Neal

IN OTHER COFFEE NEWS, Bull Kailiawa, who kept Ka`u in the top ten of coffees worldwide in the recent SCAA competition, noted that all three of the Ka`u Coffee SCAA winners in the last five years are former plantation workers who were leased land by the sugar plantation when it shut down in 1996. Kailiawa said the three have been like brothers, working in the fields and as truck and crane operators in the sugar industry, then helping each other out on their coffee farms. Kailiawa has scored in the top ten internationally two times, Willie Tabios twice, and Manuel Marques once in five straight years of Ka`u Coffee making a name for Hawai`i at the annual Coffee of the Year event. Kailiawa heads for Texas this week to serve up Ka`u Coffee at a pavilion showing off the winners at the Houston Convention Center. 

Volunteers pull weeds at the coffee farm along Hwy 11 in Pahala to raise funds to go to nationals.  Photo by Julia Neal

EIGHT YOUNG KA`U VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS are raising money for airfare to join the Southside Junior Boys Volleyball Team, which is traveling to Minneapolis, Minnesota for international competition. Southside has been extremely successful over the past two years, finishing as the highest USA Team in the national tournament. Southside Junior Boys finished seventh and eighth in the last two years, only outplayed by international teams from Puerto Rico and Brazil. The Southside Boys program is the only Junior Boys program in this county and has opened its roster to players from around the island to give boys who love volleyball a chance to compete. 

Jack and Kobe Moses help clean up the
coffee farm along Hwy 11 in Pahala.
Photo by Julia Neal

     This year Southside Volleyball Club is taking three teams to the nationals. Ka`u boys Brian Gascon, Kameron Moses, Nai`a Makuakane, Avery and Addie Enriques, Kai Enriques, Emmett Enriques and Grant Galimba are all working hard to raise funds for the trip. The team has participated in car washes, weed pulling at the new coffee farm along Hwy 11 in Pahala, hosting volleyball tournaments, a Zumba Jamboree, bake sales and BBQ plate sales. The boys are selling miniature anthurium plants through Katherine Okamura at 895-2550. 

     The team is open to anyone willing to donate or provide opportunities to work to earn money for their trip. They will participate in the Kamehameha Schools Ho`olaule`a in Kea`au on Saturday, May 7; the Ka`u Coffee Festival on Saturday, May 14; produce another fundraiser at the Ka`u Family Fun Fest in Na`alehu on Saturday, June 11; and host a BBQ Plate Fundraiser at KTA in Hilo on Sunday, June 12. To help, call Katherine at 895-2550 or Guy Enriques at 217-2253.

The famous Honu`apo lookout on Hwy 11 shows pole
fishermen camped on top of the cliffs.  Photo by Julia Neal

THE SCENIC BYWAYS PROGRAM for Ka`u is taking shape with a formal proposal sent to the federal government. A meeting sponsored by the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce will be held tonight at Ocean View Community Center at 6:30 p.m., and the public is invited. A committee studying the proposal has come up with a number of suggestions, including that all of Hwy 11 passing through Ka`u be nominated as a State Scenic Byway. The suggested theme is The Slopes of Mauna Loa. The nomination papers emphasize that Ka`u has the longest sections of untouched highway in the state. “We hope that designation will help preservation efforts,” said committee member Dennis Elwell. The nomination listed 17 sites and turnoffs between Manuka Park and the Volcano entrance to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. 

     The committee drawing up the plan has included chair Marge Elwell, Dallas Decker, John Replogle, Dan Taylor, council member Brittany Smart, Dennis Elwell, Rell Woodward, Lora Gale, Laura Schuster, Doug Sensenig, Blossom DaSilva and Kenny Joyce. The Scenic Byways program will help provide for planning for more scenic overlooks, turnouts and signage to educate and celebrate the beauty and history of Ka`u.

MARK YOU CALENDARS FOR THE SPRING FLING at Punalu`u Bake Shop this Saturday, April 30. Ka`u School of the Arts hosts the event that features over three dozen artists and a full day of entertainment beginning at 9 a.m. The Na`alehu Civic Club Singers, the Ka`u `Ohana Band, Hands of Time, Keoki Kahumoku and others will perform at the new pavilion. Surrounding the pavilion, Ka`u artists and artisans will display and offer their creations for sale, give demonstrations and lead art activities.

DO YOU HAVE YOUR KA`U COFFEE RECIPE ready for the Ka`u Coffee Festival recipe contest on Saturday, May 14? The deadline for entries has been extended to Saturday, May 7. Applications are available online at www.kaucoffeefest.com. Contact Michelle Galimba at 430-4927 or mgalimba@kuahiwiranch.com for more information.