The Molokai wrestling team again dominated their latest Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) meet at Maui High last weekend, with three girls and three boys winning first place in their weight classes.
Paul Valdez (125A lbs), Stanley Kamalii (135B) and Jordan Hao (285) won their individual matches, and Lady Farmers Mikayla Pico (98), Rizpah Torres-Umi (120) and Charisse Manley (130) earned first in their matches.
Other Molokai placers at last Saturday’s tournament:
The Molokai High School swim team sent three of their novice swimmers to alst weekend’s meets, all of whom started their swimming career strong.
Michael Onofrio was the only one to have swum at a previous meet, and dropped four seconds off his 100-yard freestyle.
“It’s showing how much he’s learning,” said coach Jessie Ford. “Swimming takes a while to put all the…fine tuning together.”
Kala Helm and Randy Jacobs also swam at the meet, setting their individual “benchmark” times.
“It’s really exciting, [and] fun to see all the work they’ve done this season,” Ford said. “I thought they looked great and raced well.”
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Community Contributed
By G.T. Larson
“We are life that wants to live in the midst of other life that wants to live,” Albert Einstein once said.
Many of us love this island, this land, but the question should be asked: do we love the life of this land? Much of our attention has been given to the interaction between humans and everything else, for we are the only creatures on Earth capable of destroying all the life of the land or protecting any of the life of the land.
The early Hawaiians knew that the natural world was their sole source of food, clothing and shelter, which necessitated a deep since of respect, even reverence for the land. Today, the preservation of the natural world has been somewhat relegated to the realm of being a nice thing to do, a good cause, be green, save the whales and all that. But the true essence of the land, the lessons contained therein, lessons that speak of balance, lessons, that for some of us, speak of the Creator, are being drowned out by the noise of the world.
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Community Contributed
By Olivia Riel
As Kumu Maile Naehu and I waited patiently for families to arrive for our talk story session on Dec. 6, she shared an abundance of information about herself and the literary program she works with under Kamehameha School for Kilohana Elementary. As she softly spoke I found her story to be quite enlightening and wanted to share some of it.
Maile was born in the Ewa Beach area and spent the majority of her early life travelling between Oahu and Maui. Her warm and gentle spirit is truly a reflection of the family values she was brought up with. Such a blessing for the students, staff and families of Kilohana School!
Community Contributed
By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
Memory loss for the 77 million baby boomers can be very worrisome. Remembering friends’ names, or what you did yesterday can put you in a tailspin, but what we eat can definitely help to fend-off memory loss. Serious deficiencies in vitamin B-12 and iron can lead to impaired cognitive functions due to memory and nerve fiber complications. We use our cognitive functions by using simple as well as complex information to meet the challenges of daily living.
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County of Maui News Release
Are you ready for the flood? The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed new flood insurance rate maps, and your home might be now within a flood risk zone.
A public information meeting will be held on Feb. 9 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Kaunakakai Gym conference room.
Property owners are urged to attend these meetings to get the latest information on how the flood map changes will affect them. The changes are scheduled to take effect sometime during the last quarter of 2011. Options that are available to those whose homes are in a flood zone will be discussed.
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As we enter the 60th anniversary year of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, those that witnessed the most widespread war in history are becoming few and far between.
Molokai is lucky enough to still have a number of those heroes in our midst, and they have been gracious to share their stories. Now in their 80s, still with sharp minds and cracking jokes, Molokai WWII veterans come from all branches of the military, and each have stories to inspire us.
“You have to appreciate that throughout history, there is a war every 25 years. That’s generational,” said Padraic “Paddy” Evans, who served in the Army Air Corp from 1942-47. “We’re a small, elite group…becoming smaller every day.”
“It was terrible,” said Ben Munesue, who served in 1943. “I feel fortunate to still be alive.”
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By Ka`ohulani McGuire
Gertrude Roselani “Spitfire” Seabury Kaauwai, known for her determined spirit and “spunk,” died on Dec. 24, 2010 at Straub Hospital. She was 78.
Raised on Maui, Aunty Gertie or “Girlie,” as she was affectionately known, was born on Nov. 26, 1932 at Olowalu. At age 11, Gertrude was sent to Kalaupapa on Sept. 27, 1944 where she was a resident for 66 years. Even though she was free to leave, she chose to remain in the home that she came to love. Known for her mischievous pranks and her spunky attitude, Gertrude earned the nickname of “Spitfire” from one of the Catholic sisters. For Gertrude, being sent to Kalaupapa was a blessing in disguise. There she found new independence and freedom. Eventually she met and married the love of her life, Barney Kaauwai, whom she credited for having made her a better person.
Aunty Gertie learned the art of la`au lapa`au from older Hawaiian residents at Kalaupapa. Her favorite plant was the hauowi from which she made a tea to treat kidney problems. The leaves were also pounded into a poultice and used to heal broken bones or treat skin problems. Many a resident turned to Aunty Gertie to treat their ailments.
Visitors who spent any amount of time at Kalaupapa knew Aunty Gertie as the “cat lady.” Every afternoon at 1:30, Aunty would start preparing and cooking a gourmet meal for her colony of beloved cats, feeding them steak, hamburger and other delicacies mixed in with dry cat food. Even more amazing was that she had names for all of her cats and could tell them apart. At any one time, Gertrude fed anywhere from 25 to 35 cats at her home, not to mention the numerous other feral cats around the settlement. What a comical sight to see her car driving down the road and the cats running from all directions following after her knowing they would get fed.
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Bobby Cooke of Kipu died on Oct. 29, 2010 in Honolulu. He was born in Honolulu on Feb. 12, 1943, and attended Hanahauoli and Punahou schools and Montana State University. He lived and worked in Kipu his entire adult life, raising horses, playing cribbage, reading and doing crosswords. He loved God and Molokai, gave generously to charities, friends and pets. Bobby is survived by his sisters Rie (Bud) Vail and Susie Harrington, son Erick, nieces and nephews Mike, Tim, Robert, Juliette (EJ) Vail Engler, David Harrington and Danielle (Mike) Dixon.
A memorial to celebrate and remember the life of Bobby will be held at the family home in Kipu Jan. 29, 2011 at 2 p.m.
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The healing of Molokai is paramount if Hawaiians and their culture are to survive. The ahupua`a of Kaluakoi needs to be reforested, the uka lands of our south shores from Naiwa to Kamalo need to be watered and planted, our fishponds cleaned and repaired, our reefs saved from soil erosion, and our north shore valleys planted again with kalo. The Healing of Molokai would make it “Aina Momona” once again, and help with food security for all.
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