Waimea community invited to honor first responders
North Hawaii’s first responders will be honored at a community-wide in-person dinner gathering from 5:30 to 7 p.m. this evening at Mana Christian Ohana’s Kahilu Town Hall.
Emergency responder honorees will include Waimea Police, South Kohala Fire Stations including Waimea station, South Kohala station and Waikoloa station, as well as volunteer teams of Anekona and Waikii. Plus EMTs and lifeguards, Pohakuloa Training Area police and fire emergency responders who cover the Daniel K. Inouye Highway in partnership with county police and fire.
Members of Waimea’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Hawaii Life Flight crews that air lift individuals to Maui or Honolulu for emergency care have been invited, and The Queen’s North Hawaii Community Hospital emergency room team will be present.
The gathering is free and all are invited. Due to COVID safety protocols, the event will not be a potluck dinner. Instead, community members and businesses are contributing to help purchase popular dishes from more than a dozen Waimea restaurants and stores including Earls, Ippys, Dom DeLucas, Merrimans, Pau Pizza, Red Water Cafe, Hawaiian Style Cafe, FORC, The Fish &The Hog, L&L, Tropical Dreams, Starbucks, Foodland and KTA.
“While many of these individuals humbly insist they are just doing a job they get paid for, these men and women deserve recognition more than ever due to the pandemic,” said Nancy Carr Smith, the WCA Director who is coordinating the dinner gathering.
Joining will be Mayor Mitch Roth, and Council Member Heather Kimball.
The spotlighted not-for-profit for the gathering will be the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation with Frank Sayre and Laura Mallery-Sayre.
This is Waimea Community Association’s first in-person gathering since March 2020 when COVID forced the organization to hold its monthly community meetings virtually.
For questions regarding WCA, email WaimeaCommunityAssociation@gmail.com, or call James Hustace (808) 464-2570. For questions about the Mahalo First Responders gathering, contact Nancy Carr Smith (808) 896-2239 or email nancy@alohakohalarealty.com.
