Call Cyndy DeMeter at 345-4696 for more information or email konahorseplay@gmail.com.
Earth and Ocean Festival coming in April
The Earth and Ocean Festival at Keauhou is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 21 at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort. The free event is presented by Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce and University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program.
The festival is designed to showcase and emphasize the unique treasures of Hawaii Island via booths and educational activities on coral reef and ocean stewardship, traditional Hawaiian cultural practices, products and foods made in Hawaii, education on conservation practices in Hawaii, film and slide presentations, and features Hawaiian entertainment, including Darlene Ahuna, one of Hawaii’s foremost female vocalists. She is a multiple Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner, including Female Vocalist of the Year.
Through this event, organizers have been raising awareness of environmental issues through fun, educational and cultural activities. Families are encouraged to stroll through the grounds and meet “Humu” the walking, talking fish. The public will be urged to learn from ReefTeach, Fish for Knowledge about the Sea and participate in tide pool adventures, whale and dolphin games. Cultural experts will share their crafts and teach poi pounding, lei making and lauhala weaving. There will be entertainment provided by Hawaiian groups plus food made fresh from Big Island products.
Locally made and sourced food will be offered, including items prepared by award-winning Chef Paul Heerlein and students from the University of Hawaii Food Service Program.
A display of Earth Day flags created by students using themes from the ocean and land is planned. Individual and class winners will be announced during the fair for each category: first through second grades and third through fifth grades. The winning classes will be given a shave ice party.
Dry forest symposium slated for Feb. 24
The 2012 Nahelehele Dry Forest Symposium will highlight dryland forest ecology and restoration efforts in Hawaii. The symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort. The conference will emphasize connections in Hawaiian dry forests — between the past and the present, people and the forest, uplands and lowlands, and between the forest and the animals that inhabit them.
Hawaii’s dryland forests are fragile habitats that are home to many of the rarest plants in the world. Dryland forests were once considered to be the most diverse forest ecosystem on the Hawaiian Islands, but today they are extremely deforested and degraded. Only remnant patches remain of the highly diverse community of plants and animals that once dominated the landscape of West Hawaii. How Hawaii’s unique dryland forests evolved and the relationships between the forest, people and other forest inhabitants will be the focus of this year’s symposium.
This year is the sixth annual Nahelehele Dryland Forest Symposium. It will feature presentations by Hawaii plant and animal experts from around the state. The program includes talks about the origins of dryland forest species in Hawaii; linkages between the forest and generations of people; the complex roles of alien animals as pollinators, seed dispersers and seed predators; effects of ungulates on dry forests; and Hawaii’s native birds. There will be other talks about the role of fire in shaping dry forest succession, restoration efforts at Auwahi (Maui), and the Mauna Kea Forest Restoration Project.
An optional field trip on the geology, botany and culture of Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park will precede the symposium from 9:20 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Feb. 23. The field trip will include an overview of the geology of Hualalai and Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park and a hike to the coast to view a variety of lowland indigenous and endemic Hawaiian plants. The hike passes through a native plant restoration project conducted from 2000-2007, a petroglyph field and over different aged lava fields. Trip leaders Jill Wagner and Mark Solien will explore what this coastal forest looked like thousands of years ago based on pollen samples from a sediment core dating to the time before human habitation. The trip will end with a sack lunch on the beach.
The public is invited to attend the symposium and field trip. Register by downloading the registration form at kohalacenter.org/pdf/naheleregistration.pdf and emailing it to Cortney Hoffman at choffman@kohalacenter.org, faxing it to 885-6707 or call Hoffman at 443-2757. For more information, visit drylandforest.org/events.
Symposium registration by Monday is $55, which includes lunch. After Monday, the registration fee increases to $70. Student registration is $35, increasing to $45 after Monday. The field trip is $25 ($15 for students, ID required), and no late registrations will be accepted.
The Nahelehele Dryland Forest Symposium is a project of Kaahahui o ka Nahelehele, a nonprofit organization dedicated to dry forest advocacy and partnerships. Sponsors of this symposium include Bishop Museum’s Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, Hawaii Forest Industry Association, Hawaii Tourism Authority’s Kukulu Ola: Living Hawaiian Culture Program and The Kohala Center.
Auxiliary introducing new board Monday
The public is invited to meet the new board of directors for the Kona Community Hospital Auxiliary at the monthly board meeting beginning at 1 p.m. Monday in the hospital’s lower level conference room. Visitors with ideas or questions are welcome.
Everyone is also invited to stop by the bake sale from 7 to 9 a.m. Fridays in the hospital cafeteria.
For more information, call the auxiliary office at 322-4577 or visit kchauxiliary.org.
Kealakehe High sets public hearing
Kealakehe High’s School Community Council will host its annual public hearing at 6 p.m. March 6 in the school library. The purpose of the hearing is to hear and gather input from the public relating to school policies, procedures and waivers for the 2012-13 school year.
The format will allow testimony to agenda items first, and then those who wish to address additional items will be allowed to speak. Testimony is limited to two minutes per person or per group represented by a speaker; there will be no discussion.
Written testimony will be accepted prior to the hearing via email (khparentcenter@yahoo.com) or facsimile (327-4307, Attention: Parent-Community Center).
This hearing is an opportunity for parent, student and community input. Decisions on school policies will be made at the April School Community Council meeting.
Contact Linda Jeffrey, Parent-Community Center, for information at 327-4300, ext. 2432, or khparentcenter@yahoo.com.
Dressage event planned for weekend
The Big Island Dressage association will host a two-day show Saturday and Sunday at Horseplay Equestrian Center in Honalo. Saturday will be a dressage competition and the Sunday show is a Hunter Funday.
Spectators are welcome.
Call Cyndy DeMeter at 345-4696 for more information or email konahorseplay@gmail.com.