Veterans Corner: Vietnam era challenges

Friday, September 25th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Jesse Church

Aloha all my fellow veterans and residents of Molokai, old Jesse here with all the veterans news and upcoming events. In the 1960s with the war in Vietnam raging and the Civil Rights movement in full swing, political activism in the U.S. among many young Americans on college campuses was at its highest. Groups like Students for a Democratic Society appeared and activities like burning of draft cards became common place. With the huge opposition to the war, draft-age males fled to Canada and other countries by the thousands in an effort to avoid their obligation to the U.S.…

Tutu’s Memories: Halcyon days at the Sheraton Kaluakoi

Friday, September 25th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Marie Yamashita

“You people here are so lucky,” said my good friend Ethel, who had come from Oahu with her husband and friends to spend another weekend golfing and staying at the Sheraton.   “It’s beautiful here and the course is better than our Mid Pacific Country Club on Oahu.”

That was way back in the early 1980s. Many times I had heard similar words from those who visited our island, not only from those who golfed, but others who came primarily to luxuriate in the hotel’s vacation atmosphere or to dine in the charming dining hall.

The view of Kepuhi beach was breathtaking.…

Krazy for Kolea Kontest Winners

Friday, September 25th, 2015

Krazy for Kolea Kontest Winners

Nene O Molokai press release

Koloma Smith reported the return of the kolea at Kilohana School at 10 a.m. on Aug. 6, marking the beginning of the fall migration of the Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva). Koloma won the 18th annual Krazy for Kolea Kontest and earned a Kolea Research Hawaii T-shirt from the Hawaii Audubon Society and a gift certificate for one scoop of ice cream at Kamoi Snack-N-Go.

The kolea is a swift flying shorebird and has been clocked migrating at 118 miles per hour, although an average of 56 to 60 miles miles per hour is more typical.…

Hikianalia Honors Mel Paoa

Friday, September 25th, 2015

Hikianalia Honors Mel Paoa

The Hikianalia, sister voyaging canoe of the Hokule`a, and its crew docked on Molokai last Saturday to honor Molokai Hokule`a captain Uncle Mel Paoa, who passed away last month. Paoa’s memorial services was held on Sunday, attended by hundreds of residents, friends and members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.…

‘Born Under a Wandering Star’

Friday, September 25th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Father Pat Killilea, St. Francis Church, Kalaupapa

“I was born under a wandrin’ star

I was born under a wandrin’ star

Wheels are made for rolling, mules are made to pack

I’ve never seen a sight that didn’t look better looking back

I was born under a wandrin’ star.”

Recently I watched an Amazon commercial featuring a small white dog with a bandaged hind leg following a kindly young man walking in the park. He picked up the little dog and carried it in his baby pouch, while Lee Marvin’s gravelly voice sang in the background, “I was born under a wandrin’ star.”…

Donations to Support the Library

Friday, September 25th, 2015

FMPL News Release

The Friends of the Molokai Public Library (FMPL) holds a book sale quarterly to raise funds to fill needs the Library has that are not covered by state library funds. We appreciate donations of books by the public for these sales, but are finding that we often receive items that we cannot use or are unsellable.

The following are items we cannot use and will need to be discarded, so we ask that these items not be brought in for the sales: Cassette and VHS tapes; Damaged materials – broken spines, loose pages, hi-lighted or written-in or torn; materials with excessive discoloration; moldy, dirty or infested with insects; textbooks; encyclopedias; medical and law books over five years old; government reports, pamphlets, binders.…

Connecting Culture and a Canoe Race

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015

Connecting Culture and a Canoe Race

Fifty years ago on the evenings before major outrigger canoe races, Molokai residents and paddling crews from Hawaii and around the world camped together on the shores of Hale o Lono Harbor. They shared tents, meals, music and conversation under the stars.

“It was really good for everybody to get together. No matter what club you were in, everybody had fun together,” said local fisherman Mervin Dudoit, who paddled in seven Molokai Hoe races during the 1960s. “… Now most guys don’t talk to the next team [before a race].”

As races got more competitive and a good night’s sleep more valuable, lodging separately in hotels or local homes became commonplace.…

Aloha on the High Seas

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015

Aloha on the High SeasQ&A with Hokulea crewmember Kawika Crivello

A handful of Molokai residents have been honored to be invited as crew on the Hokulea, a double-hulled voyaging canoe whose first journey from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1976 successfully replicated ancient Polynesian travel using traditional navigation techniques. The late Mel Paoa and Penny Martin began a long tradition of Molokai crewmembers, among them Kawika Crivello. He was one four local watermen to complete legs of the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage, a 47,000-mile journey that will conclude in 2017. While not his first voyage, Crivello served as steersman on a leg across the dangerous Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia between April and June of this year.…

Residential Fire Sent Two to the Hospital

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015

Residential Fire Sent Two to the Hospital

A structure fire in Kamiloloa Heights last Saturday night sent two people to the hospital. Fire crews responded to a call just before 9 p.m. on Sept. 19 and found a building fully engulfed in flames. According to a press release from the Maui Fire Department, it was later discovered that the structure was a garage in front of the house.

Three people were in the home behind it — a couple in their late 70s and a female friend who was visiting them, according to the fire department. Emergency responders pulled the female homeowner and the friend out of the house through the bedroom window.…

Farmer Football First to Stop Seabury

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015

Farmer Football First to Stop Seabury

Last Saturday, Molokai’s football team did what no other school in the league had done before: defeat Seabury Hall. In three seasons of MIL eight-player football, the Spartans had yet to lose a game. However, on their home field last Saturday, the Farmers topped their undefeated archrivals 62-7.

“I’m just proud of the boys,” said Head Coach Mike Kahale. “We executed, put up some points. We finally got over that hump.”

Molokai dominated the game from the beginning in front of a big crowd, with Seabury only scoring on a long touchdown run late in the second quarter.

The Farmers started the scoring in the first quarter with a short run by senior fullback Ena Victorino from inside the 10-yard-line.…