Author Archives: Megan Stephenson

Molokai Harvest

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Attendees of this year’s Food and Business Expo sampled sirloin medallions rubbed with Molokai coffee, sweet prawns marinated with fresh Molokai herbs, spicy tuna adorned by Molokai sweet potato chips, and candied Molokai pumpkin and papaya salad along side cheesecake.

The seventh annual event featured many Molokai products – a first for some of the featured chefs. Michael Gallagher, former executive chef of Na Pili Kai Resort on Maui, has been a contributing chef at the expo for the past five years.

“I love the people here,” he said. “Its fun, laid back, and a relaxed place to come to.”

Gallagher said he especially liked being able to promote local farmers.

“Chefs have a bond with farmers and fishermen,” he explained.

Emanuela Vinciguerra, better known as Manu, is the sales and marketing director for Kumu Farms, which donated produce to the Expo for the first time this year.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for Molokai to be known for produce in the islands,” Vinciguerra said. She said the Expo is an opportunity to promote the culture of Molokai as well as its produce. Businesses like Kumu Farms and Pu`u O Hoku Ranch keep jobs on Molokai by providing produce for the island.

The same produce used by the chefs in their displays was sold at the new Country Store, a booth featuring Molokai-grown produce, along side the vendors. Local arts and crafts businesses, entrepreneurs and a fundraising booth for Molokai High school were among other vendors that participated.

Ameron-John K. Madela, shell jeweler of Lohikai O Molokai, normally participates in the Saturday Farmer’s Market, and decided to try out the Expo for the first time. Every booth has to have a demonstration, he explained, as he showed off wooden bowls full of different colored shells.

One bowl was full of rocks and broken shells to show how difficult it is to find his specific shells. He said many people were surprised to see the bowls were full of naturally-colored shells, in pink, red and beige, and were not artificially stained beads.

Robert Stephenson, president of the Molokai Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the annual event, said this year’s event was the most highly attended in the Expo’s history.

“The goal of the event is to promote and enhance a better quality of life for the people of Molokai as well as keeping in mind its unique lifestyle and diverse cultures,” he said via email.

Residents and visitors to the island were also entertained by Moana’s hula halau, musical group Sixpac and demonstrations by the chefs throughout the day.

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Get Up, Stand Up

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Standup paddling is one of the fastest growing sports in the world today – “faster than anything we’ve ever seen in the water sports industry – ever,” said Jim Hayes, owner of Tropical Blends, a custom surfboard shop in Honolulu.

Standup paddling is known by many names – in Hawaiian, ‘Ku Hoe He`e Nalu,’ meaning to stand, to paddle, to surf a wave; in the industry, the acronym SUP (for Stand Up Paddling); and in the 1960s, the fathers of standup paddling were known as the Beach Boys of Waikiki, and why it became known as Beach Boy surfing. This multi-skilled sport is a combination of paddling and surfing, whose ancient beginnings are Polynesian and have gained attraction within the last five years.

“Really all it takes is some enthusiasm for the water, and some balance skill,” Hayes said.

Many paddle for exercise, which may explain its popularity, Hayes added.. Easier than surfing and more fun that working out in a gym, standup paddling is a whole body workout. A SUP’er can paddle long or short distances, or can just try a new way to surf.

Shane Adolpho, a Molokai local and standup paddling enthusiast, said he has been standup paddling for years, after he saw a co-worker try it. He now standup paddles distance runs with several other devotees of the sport.

Adolpho said he owns so many boards because they’re used for different conditions – the shorter boards, in the nine-foot range, are for wave surfing, while the longer boards, 12 to 14-feet, are for downwind paddling.

“If there’s surf, I’d rather [standup paddle] surf. It keeps me in shape for when I do long distance [paddling],” he said.

Standup paddle boards are different from surfboards in that they are thicker and sturdier. Hayes began manufacturing standup boards with the help of a friend in the wind surfing industry. The more experienced paddler can also use a surfboard to standup paddle surf, Hayes said.

“The first time I caught a wave [while paddling], it was a thrill starting over for something new and fresh,” he said. “It gave me refreshed enthusiasm.”

Who paddles?
Standup paddling has been reported in some unorthodox places. Earlier this year, “Stand Up Paddle Surf Magazine” reported that veteran surfer, Archie Kalepa of Maui, SUP’ed a record 187 miles through the Colorado River.

Paddlers have formed clubs on the east and west coasts of the U.S., in Japan, Australia, Brazil, Tahiti, and the UK.

“Lakes, rivers, streams – it’s everywhere,” Hayes said. There are also competitive racing circuits starting up.

Ekolu Kalama, Molokai born and raised, is the world’s first professional standup paddle surfer. Soon after he went pro in 2008, Kalama became the first person to paddle surf from Spain to Morocco, across the Straight of Gibraltar. Earlier this year he won the Rainbow Sandals Molokai to Oahu Stand Up Paddle division race.

For standup paddlers who want to get started locally, Adolpho said the best conditions to downwind paddle on Molokai can be found on the south side of the island because of tradewinds – starting in areas like Kawela and traveling downwind to convenient destinations like Hotel Molokai and Kaunakakai Wharf.

“For guys who’ve never surfed before, [they] get a workout, see the ocean, see the reef, fishes – it’s a pretty cool deal,” he said.

Posted in Culture & Art, Sports

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Lego My Robot

Monday, November 16th, 2009

For many, robots conjure up images of the Space Age, the Jetson family cartoon, Japanese inventions and one day, the hope of a robotic servant. They are iconic machines, often featured in film as highly complex machinery or bio-mechanical hybrids. In reality, robots can be constructed by anyone – including students on Molokai.

“A good robot design has to have something to keep it stable…and does the same thing over and over again,” said Kylee Bush, a fifth grader at Kaunakakai Elementary school.

build lots of things, but it’s cool to build robots instead of Lego cities,” Svetin said.

Heidi Jenkins, the group’s leader and third/fourth teacher at Kaunakakai Elementary, was instrumental in bringing the program to Molokai. She attended a Teachers’ Space Camp about five years ago, where she was exposed to the Lego robotic program.

“I thought it was great for the kids to get this real world application,” she said.

Jenkins and fifth grader teacher Kawika Gonzales started a group last January to get their kids interested in robotic technology. They even held a mock tournament for the students. This year they were able to take their students to a real tournament, thanks to grants from the Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB), the Air Force, and 21st Century, a federal grant given to rural and inner-city schools for after-school programs.
Kylee Bush was in the initial group last school year.

“On TV I always hear about Harvard, and it’s a good school. I want to be an inventor, and this will add to a better chance to getting into Harvard,” she said.

The MEDB provided $5,000 from their Women in Technology division. The group’s goal is to see equality in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)-related fields for women, as well as native Hawaiians.

Since one of Molokai’s teams was made of all girls, and about half of all the participants from Molokai are of native Hawaiian ancestry, Jenkins said the Board was excited to support them. All together, Jenkins estimated the program received $7,000 in grants for the tournament.

After December 19, the best Hawaii teams are eligible to compete in the International First Lego League robotics competition in Atlanta, in May 2010.

“I was very proud of them,” Jenkins said of the girls. “You never know as first year teams what to expect, but I was very impressed how the girls handled themselves.”

Jenkins said their next step is to “polish what we have,” as well as figure out how to get to Honolulu financially.

Posted in Education

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Aloha from Iowa

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Although he has lived in Iowa since he was four years old, Chris Keahi has often felt homesick for what he feels is his real home: Hawaii. His father, Leonard Keahi, was born and raised on Molokai, and his mother a native Iowan. To deal with the homesickness of his fatherland , and to keep the aloha spirit alive among other relocated Hawaiians in Iowa, Keahi’s efforts won him the Governor’s Volunteer Award back in July.

heard it was there, they started gravitating,” Keahi said.

Keahi also met another Molokai local, Chef Ephraim Malag, the executive chef of Oak View Restaurant at the Tournament Club of Iowa in Polk City. Malag started a monthly luau, complete with kalua pig, Hawaiian music and hula dancers.

Soon after the hui became active, Kahookele was diagnosed with breast cancer, but did not have insurance. Keahi was asked to spearhead a fundraiser for her. Hawaiians from around the state came together for a luau, where authentic Hawaiian cuisine was served, such as huli huli chicken, kalua pig and guava cake. The fundraiser brought in $10,000 for Kahookele.

In her gratitude, she and Young-Dunn decided to nominate Keahi for the Governor’s Volunteer Award for his fundraising effort as well as networking volunteer work.

Keahi won the Governor’s Volunteer Award under the Des Moines Iowa Department of Human Rights, Asian-Pacific Islander Division. Those nominated are honored and thanked for their commitment and service for the benefit of others with a ceremony.

“I don’t feel like I’ve done anything extraordinary,” he said. “I’ll continue to keep doing those things regardless of if I’m recognized for it.”

His Aunt Martha Nakagawa, who lives in Ho`olehua, said she remembers Keahi visiting his family in Molokai while he was growing up.

“He’s a real neat kid. His heart is in Hawaii,” she said. “I think my brother had a lot to do with it.”

Keahi agreed that his dad was a “constant example of a humble servant.”

“When you’re in Hawaii, you grow up taught to give without expecting to get anything in return,” Keahi said.

Keahi now works as the public affairs coordinator for the Iowa Donor Network, the state’s only organ procurement organization, as well as the primary contact for organ, tissue and eye donations.

Keahi looked into moving back to his home island a few years ago, but found the current economy and cost of living to difficult at that moment. However, he still lives in Hawaiian values.

“One of the things I appreciate most about being in Hawaii, especially Molokai, so many people have so little materially, but have so much of generosity,” he said.

Posted in Announcements

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Igniting Worry

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

A few weeks ago, a random fire sparked concern for handicapped rights for one Molokai resident.

Betsy Thompson, who owns a condominium at Kaluakoi Villas, uses a golf cart to maneuver around the condo complex due to health problems – until it was torched. According to witnesses, Thompson’s golf cart was ablaze around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24. Her neighbors Bobby Dacuycuy and Frank Tanner both attempted to extinguish the fire.

Dacuycuy told Thompson he heard a noise, like what a barbeque fire sounds like after gasoline or accelerant is added before it is lighted. Thompson called the Fire Department the next morning, but because the fire was already out, no truck was dispatched.

Molokai Detective Eugene Santiago said damage of the golf cart has been estimated at $2,000, and a nearby car also suffered minor heat damage. He said the police department does not know if the fire was accidental or intentional, and there are no leads to its cause at this time. If the fire was found to be intentional, the perpetrator would be charged with second degree arson, a class B felony, with a maximum 10 years in prison.

Arson is not a common crime on Molokai.
“As far as my experience as a patrol officer or an investigator, [arson incidents are] more of the exception rather than the rule,” Santiago said, who has served Molokai for nearly 26 years.

Thompson has been recently been renting a house in Maunaloa temporarily, due to issues with use of the golf cart. The current rules of the West Molokai Resort AOAO (Association of Apartment Owners) stipulate that only security and maintenance are allowed to use golf carts. Thompson said she believes this rule should be changed, because other residents like her need personal motorized vehicles to get around.

Jeff Kant, president of the West Molokai AOAO, said he were unable to comment due to the ongoing investigation of the incident.

But eventually, “someone’s going to brag,” Thompson believes. She has set up a $750 reward through Bank of Hawaii for information leading to a suspect.

“Whoever did this, it impacts access for all of us, it impacts the handicapped people who live there,” she said. “What they have done is limited my enjoyment. But I refuse to be a victim.”

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Da Kine Film Stay Coming Molokai

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Spoken by more than half the population in Hawaii, pidgin has a unique place in the heart of the state. Begun by plantation workers in the 19th century, pidgin is a mix of English, Hawaiian, with bits of Japanese and Cantonese. It was also known for years as a language of shame, a language of a people left out of their own country.

is the glue that holds Hawaii together,” Booth said.

For example, one of Booth’s favorite pidgin expressions is “small kid time,” because the word ‘childhood’ is so academic and broad, while in pidgin it’s more sensory.

“So much in pidgin is a critique of society in Hawaii,” Booth said.

After the annexation of Hawaii to the United States in 1896, English was declared the official language and Hawaiian swept under the rug – an act not reversed for another hundred years. The Hawaiian language effectively disappeared, Booth said.

“Pidgin emerged in that vacuum,” she explained.

Booth spoke with a lot of native speakers of pidgin, but when asked to film their answers, many told her no. When she asked them why not, they told her “shame, brah” – the stigma many pidgin speakers still feel. Booth heard stories of generations past that would be rapped on the knuckles during school for speaking Hawaiian or pidgin, forcing it underground.

However, many opened up and spoke on camera about why they speak pidgin, when, to whom, how they feel about speaking, and what they perceive others feel when they hear pidgin.

One challenge Booth faced when making the film was how it would speak to an audience both inside and outside Hawaii. Many of her friends in her hometown of Boston had no knowledge of Hawaiian history, she said. That made the complex issues surrounding pidgin difficult to explain.

The film was previously shown at the Hawaii International Film Festival, where it won the audience award for a documentary film. It will also air on PBS Hawaii on November 19th at 8:30 and 11 p.m.

There will be an additional special session for local kupuna at Kalele Bookstore on Friday, November 20th. Booth will present the movie at 8:30 a.m. with a talk story to follow. Seating is limited; for registration contact Teri at the bookstore.

Posted in Culture & Art

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What’s in Your Water?

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Third in a series about the life-giving liquid.

By Ian Walker

How much water should we drink a day for proper hydration? This is a common question. Is it the eight glasses a day, and if so, how big should the glass be? It comes down to a very simple solution that everyone can do without any scientific formula of advice.

The answer lies in the color and odor of your urine and body odor. Concentrated (yellow) and strong odor of urine and is the most obvious indicator that you’re not drinking enough water. Drinking a glass or two of water first thing in the morning helps to kick start your metabolism and flush you kidneys. Drinking water throughout the day keeps you focused and energized.

Posted in Letters

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The Healer’s Heel

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Community welcomes Father Damien’s relic.

Encased within a glass box, within a wooden box, and within a koa box, nestled one of Saint Damien’s heel bones. For the past three weeks, the relic has toured across many of the islands, stopping for mass and prayer at dozens of churches. Finally, last weekend, the relic visited topside Molokai and Kalaupapa – the place closest to Saint Damien’s own heart. Here on Molokai, the people were “enthralled,” in the words of Rev. Christopher Keahi, the provincial superior of the Sacred Hearts congregation in Hawaii.

“[The reaction] gave all the bishops [a sense] how alive faith is here, that all people have Saint Damien in their hearts,” he said.

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Aloha Saint Damien: Following in His Footsteps

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

This is an ongoing blog about Father Damien by Molokai Dispatch reporter Megan Stephenson.

Saint Damien’s relic venerated across Molokai

After weeks of waiting, Molokai residents finally were able to celebrate the momentary return of Saint Damien de Veuster, last Friday evening. Over one hundred worshipers of all faiths on Molokai gathered with 13 bishops and religious delegates from Hawaii, California and Belgium for a special inter-faith Mass at Kaunakakai Ball Field.

Carried by two alter boys of St. Damien Parish, Travine and Ralph Johnson, the relic was followed by bishops from California and the Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium from St. Sophia’s. Several Belgian people had also come to follow the relic tour, including the provincial of the Sacred Hearts congregation in Belgium, Frans Gorissen. He said since the first Belgian priest was sent to Hawaii in 1825, there has been an “indefinable connection” between Belgium and Hawaii.

The crowd stood quietly as the group entered the makeshift aisle on the ball field, heading towards an alter decorated with ti leaves and various tropical flower arrangements. The bishops all wore different colored leis with their standard black clergy shirt, while the Hawaiian delegation wore white cassocks.

Honolulu’s Bishop Larry Silva,leader of the Diocese of Honolulu, led the hour-long service, punctuated by song, prayers from community members, and the Ricky Grorospe’s winning student performance of ‘Damien,’ a play by Aldyth Morris.

“It was wonderful, especially to see the youth. It’s important to see the youth involved in our faith,” said Bishop Silva.

Early the next morning, as the sun rose along the cliffs, a small group of Molokai and Oahu faithful carried the relic down the pali trail to an evocative celebration in Saint Damien’s home of Kalawao on the Kalaupapa peninsula. Rev. Clyde Guerrero, Travine and Ralph Johnson, and Kamalani Bicoy, all of St. Damien Parish on Molokai, as well as two seniors from Damien Memorial High School in Oahu, Jerick Sablan and Jonathan Padron, hiked down the trail with the relic protected in a backpack that the boys shared.

Once at the bottom, the rest of the delegation from the previous night greeted them; they had flown down earlier that morning. After a brief service, the group continued on to the recently renovated St. Philomena’s, Father Damien’s church in Kalawao.

The relic has now been returned to Honolulu, where it will remain in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace – the same cathedral were Saint Damien was ordained a priest nearly 150 years ago.

Posted in Culture & Art

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Off the Bottle

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Meeting to discuss how to combat underage drinking.

Neighborhood Place of Wailuku News Release

Maui County is one of hundreds of communities nationwide that will conduct town hall meetings to discuss and raise awareness of the problem of underage drinking. Parents, teachers, officials, youth and other community members will be educated about the impact that underage drinking has on the community, and they will develop possible ways to address this issue. The Neighborhood Place of Wailuku (NPW), County of Maui – Department Housing & Human Concerns, and the Maui Police Department, in collaboration with the State Alcohol & Drug Abuse Division (ADAD) is sponsoring these meetings.

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Author Archives: Megan Stephenson

Molokai Harvest

Get Up, Stand Up

Lego My Robot

Aloha from Iowa

Igniting Worry

Da Kine Film Stay Coming Molokai

What’s in Your Water?

The Healer’s Heel

Aloha Saint Damien: Following in His Footsteps

Off the Bottle

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Author Archives: Megan Stephenson

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