About Town | 9-29-14

Shriners meet for lunch

All resident and visiting Shriners are invited to lunch at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Fish Hopper restaurant. For more information, call Jim Dakan at 895-9101.

Voting machines for blind users demonstrated

Those who are intimidated by voting because of low vision, blindness or a disability can learn about new voting machines designed for low-vision users Thursday during a meeting of the West Hawaii Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind.

A representative from the Office of Elections will give a hands-on demonstration of this assistive voting machine at the 10 a.m. meeting held at Hale Halawai. Every polling place will have such machines in the November election.

The support group meets on the first Thursday of the month. For more information call Sally, 345-7065 or visit nfb-westhi.org.

Eight-week yoga class planned

An eight-week yoga workshop called “Feel, Flow and Glow” will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. each Thursday starting Thursday through Nov. 20 at Club Rehab in Kealakekua.

The first class is free. Drop-ins are welcome.

For more information, call Kona Coast Wellness at 345-0050.

Two candidate forums coming up

The Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce will host two candidate forums in October. A state House and Senate forum will take place on Thursday. A gubernatorial forum will be held Oct. 13. Both forums will run from 6 to 8 p.m. and will be held in the Kealakehe High School cafeteria.

Candidates for state House include District 5 with Richard Creagan, Dave Bateman, and Jon Lalanne. This district includes Naalehu, Ocean View, Captain Cook and Kailua-Kona. District 6 covers North Kona, Holualoa, Kalaoa and Honokohau and will feature Nicole Lowen facing Kelly Valenzuela.

Senate District 4 will also be included. This district represents portions of Hilo, Hamakua, Kohala, Waimea, Waikoloa and Kona and will feature Lorraine Inouye. Alain Schiller is unable to participate. The moderator is Vivian Landrum, president and CEO of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce.

The governor forum will have candidates David Ige and Duke Aiona. Moderating this forum will be Sherry Bracken of Hawaii Public Radio and Mahalo Broadcasting.

All forums are free to the public. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase. Call 329-1758 or email info@kona-kohala.com for more information.

Fruit growers awarded

The Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers named the recipients of its appreciation awards, given annually to supporters of the state’s fruit industry. The five award winners were lauded at the organization’s annual conference, Sept. 12 through 14 at Kahilu Golf Course in Wailuku, Maui.

Award recipients are James Simpliciano of Maui, Scot Nelson and Sharon Hurd of Honolulu, Reggie Hasegawa of Hilo and Emmerich Grosch of Kona.

Simpliciano, a former chef and Lahaina citrus grower, was lauded for his dedication to locally grown products as both a farmer and culinarian.

Nelson, plant disease epidemiology and management specialist with the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, was tapped for helping growers identify and remedy disease issues.

Hurd of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture was recognized for her “tireless efforts to help growers and statewide groups find pathways to success.”

Hasegawa, of Crop Production Services, and Emmerich Grosh, of Captain Cook Trading Company, were both lauded for support of Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers and its programs.

For more information about Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers, visit htfg.org.

Hair sought to make wigs for cancer patients

Kamaaina Diamond Co. at Crossroads Shopping Center, by Safeway, is hosting a haircutting event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 18. Professional hairstylists will cut ponytails and offer free hairstyling. The ponytails will be used to make free wigs for cancer patients, through the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program, to be distributed via the American Cancer Society.

Ponytails must be at least 8 inches long and 25 percent or less grey. A Mary Kay representative will offer free facials at the event. Free pupu and drinks, door prizes and drawings for gift certificates will be supplied during the event. Precut ponytails will be accepted any time. All ponytail donors will receive a gift certificate from Kamaaina Diamond Company. For more information and to sign up, call Brenda at 331-1904.

Subica awarded for preserving artifacts

Hilo resident Wayne Subica was honored recently for his efforts to preserve and protect artifacts of historical relevance to Hawaii Island. Hawaii Loa Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, presented Subica with the Historic Preservation Recognition Award to celebrate his dedication to telling the stories of previous generations.

At his Hawaii Plantation Museum, Subica displays a collection of books, papers and photographs related to Hawaii Island’s sugar plantation history. The museum also contains iconic signs and advertisements from mom-and-pop businesses that flourished around the island after the immigrants completed their contracts with the sugar industry. The museum is located in Papaikou at 27-246 Old Mamalahoa Hwy. in the historic Onomea Plantation Store, also known as the S. Yoshiyama Store.

For more information about Daughters of the American Revolution, visit dar.org.

Cancer Center receives donation

The Kona Business and Professional Women group donated $1,000 to the Kona Community Hospital Foundation toward development of The Cancer Center.

Kona Business and Professional Women president Carol Kirihara and community outreach chairwoman Laura Guluzzy presented the check and a certificate of thanks to foundation vice chairwoman Judi Nakamaru and development officer Stephanie Kinsey. Kirihara’s goal for this year’s Kona Business and Professional Women’s presidency is to do more for the aging population. Her board and membership agreed that The Cancer Center was a good place to focus on with cancer affecting so much of the aging population.