Molokai’s sandwich shop and sole franchise eatery is closing its doors for the last time on Friday, July 15.
Subway Molokai owner Ohia Aniban said corporate difficulties with the company have made it impossible to continue business, despite the restaurant’s steady stream of customers.
“It was time to stop the bleeding and move on,” Aniban said. “It’s been more than years of fighting and unfortunately, this is the way we have to deal with the problems.”
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Anakala Pilipo Solatorio of Halawa Valley and his brother, Daniel Flores, lost all contact with each other for 32 years. It was a joyous reunion when they finally reconnected about two decades ago. Now, Flores and his family returned to Molokai for a family wedding in the valley where he was born.
“It feels strange but great,” Flores said of being back on Molokai – his last visit to the island was eight years ago. He moved from Molokai 52 years ago, when he joined the Air Force. He was stationed in England, met his wife, June, and has been living there ever since.
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It was only by an unusual twist of fate that Solatorio and Flores were reconnected. Their parents died when they were young, and the children were adopted by several local families, according to older brother Solatorio (which is why they hold different last names). After his brother left for the Air Force, Solatorio said he lost contact for years, never knowing where Flores lived. Solatorio worked for Molokai Ranch at the wildlife park, and one day, a couple from England visited the park.
They said they knew his brother. “And that’s how I found him,” he said.
After they got back in touch, Solatorio traveled to England for Flores’ 50th birthday –the first time they had reunited in 32 years. They made a pact that Flores would visit Molokai the next year to celebrate Solatorio’s 50th birthday, which marked his first trip home since leaving the island.
Solatorio called his family’s visit “beautiful.”
Many of the grandchildren have visited Molokai already, though for their grandson Stuart Goldsmith, this was his first trip.
“I’m learning a lot about the culture,” he said.
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Community Contributed
By Heidi Chang
Hawaii’s journalism community recently turned out to celebrate some of its best work at the annual Excellence in Journalism Awards dinner in Honolulu. The Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter handed out awards for work produced in 2010. Multimedia journalist Heidi Chang, who has Molokai ties, won the two highest honors for radio news and feature reporting. Chang won a first-place award for her story about Father Damien of Molokai: Hawaii’s First Saint, which aired nationally on AARP Radio’s “Prime Time Postscript.”
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You can listen to Heidi’s award-winning stories on her Hawaii Tales blog:
http://heidichang.com/2011/06/heidi-wins-two-spj-hawaii-awards-for-hawaiis-first-saint-and-ukulele-festival/
AARP Radio’s “Prime Time Postscript”
Hawaii’s First Saint (Father of Molokai)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAL9rsxYCd4&feature=player_embedded
Ukulele festival
Public Radio International’s “The World”
http://www.theworld.org/2010/07/ukulele-festival/
Jake Shimabukuro - While My Guitar Gently Weeps - 2010 Hawaii Ukulele Festival
http://youtu.be/xE33l8JrFlQ
Hawaii Ukulele Festival: Photo Gallery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pritheworld/sets/72157624434325193/
Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter
http://www.hawaiispj.org/
See a complete list of the 2010 Excellence in Journalism Award Winners here:
http://www.hawaiispj.org/Awards/2010%20contest%20news%20release%20USE.txt
Molokai Pioneer and Humanitarian: Yun Kee Yuen | Molokai Dispatch
http://themolokaidispatch.com/molokai-pioneer-and-humanitarian-yun-kee-yuen
A Groundbreaking Woman | Molokai Dispatch
http://www.themolokaidispatch.com/groundbreaking-woman
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Monsanto Hawaii’s Molokai farm received the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA (OSHA) top safety designation, the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star.In Hawaii, the VPP is also known as “Hana Po’okela” (excellent work), and is administered by the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations under OSHA.
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Monsanto is the first company on Molokai to become a VPP Star site, and the only agricultural company in the state with a VPP certification. Monsanto Hawaii’s Maui operations received its VPP designation in 2006.
“Gaining the VPP certification is an extremely rigorous and lengthy process that requires everyone to be thoroughly committed to safety in the workplace,” said Ray Foster, Monsanto Molokai’s farm manager. “It’s not easy to become a VPP Star, so I commend all of our employees for this exceptional achievement.”
Achieving the VPP Star designation is a multi-year effort, involving an extensive series of safety audits, inspections, employee training programs, meticulous record-keeping, trends analysis, improvements to the workplace and visits by OSHA inspectors.
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It’s wildfire season and in Kalaupapa, the National Park Service (NPS) is doing everything it can to prevent them. They plan to clear about 20 acres of highly flammable brush in August, targeting invasive species like Christmas berry, lantana and java plum within 100 feet of structures. Native plants and other historical trees will be preserved. The project marks the first brush removal from the settlement in 100 years.
Kalaupapa National Historical Park (KNHP) Superintendent Steve Prokop, Terrestrial Ecologist Paul Hosten and Recycling Supervisor Arthur Ainoa announced the project during the monthly Kalaupapa settlement community meeting last week. Residents responded positively to the proposal, and NPS green-lighted money in its budget for it to move forward, Hosten said.
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Logistics
A vegetation management crew of about 10 to 14 members flew in from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will work alongside KNHP staff to remove the plants with chainsaws, Hosten said. Brush will be chipped on site and used for various purposes throughout the settlement.
Hosten said he expects work to run from August 8 to 19. While he estimates about 20 acres will be cleared, that number could fluctuate and will help determine the total cost of the project.
The need for wildfire prevention activities comes from “a realization that the fuels have just accumulated tremendously across the peninsula and across the settlement” during the past 100 years, Hosten said.
Growth was particularly rapid in the past 20 years, he added. Cattle previously snapped branches and flattened vegetation with their large bodies and heavy hooves. But after a 1980s outbreak of the bacterial disease brucellosis forced an island-wide cattle culling, the animals were never reinstated in Kalaupapa, allowing the plants’ unchecked growth.
The invasive species were mostly brought to Hawaii during territorial times in the early 1900s, according to Garnett. They have no natural enemies here, which further accelerates their takeover.
Preserving the Native and Historical
In addition to NPS’s top priority of protecting residents, Hosten said NPS also wants to prevent fire from destroying the settlement’s historic structures and graves, and protect native plants from being overtaken by the invasive species.
“Not only do these shrubs and trees threaten the lives of residents, they’re also crowding out old plantings of fruit trees and ornamental shrubs, and those help tell the history of … the settlement,” he said.
Marks stressed that it’s important to make sure valued trees are not cut down. NPS staff will work with community members in the field to tag trees with blue trees for removal and orange trees to remain untouched, Hosten said.
Marks added she hopes NPS will adopt the Polynesian tradition of planting new trees in place of ones they remove – something that Hosten said NPS plans to do. To choose the trees, staff consider environmental conditions like rainfall and elevation, availability of irrigation, and maintenance needed for the area, Hosten said; he’s already suggested native species like ohe makai and wili wili because of their ability to thrive in dry places.
Garnett said working toward preventing wildfires is an important step in the right direction, but said he hopes KNHP will look into additional safety procedures like a seawater pump in case a fire starts regardless of these measures. While Kalaupapa has 12 certified wildland fire fighters and maintains a water sprinkler system around the settlement, if they’re forced to use their fire hydrants, “it will be minutes, not hours” before they run out of water, he said.
For now, though, KNHP is focusing on creating the defensible spaces. Hosten said the project, which will include collaboration by several divisions within KNHP, should provide long-term benefits for Kalaupapa, including the creation of several jobs. NPS has been advertising for positions via USAJOBS and throughout top-side to train people alongside Volcanoes National Park workers so they can maintain the low-fuel areas.
“Everybody in the park is really working together on this,” he said.
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The first keiki fishing tournament on Molokai proved a success on July 2, with more than 125 entries. The goal of the shoreline tournament on the island’s east end was to give children the chance to learn how to fish, practice catch and release techniques and most of all, have fun. More than 100 fish were caught, all weighing less than one pound. Entrants were judged on biggest catch or most caught.
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One of the tournament’s organizers, Jr Kalawe, said he has participated in many fishing events himself, and wanted to give his son the same opportunity. He added the event was such a success that they’re already planning it again for next year.
Keiki Fishing Tournament Results
Ages 2 to 5:
1. Olana Phifer
2. David Lima English
3. Tie: Khloe Bicoy, Tyahahua Cuello, Kailani Bicoy
Ages 6 to 9:
1. Taua Lima English
2. CJ Adolpho
3. Maya Lima, Saven Ka`ahanui
Ages 10 to 12:
1. Treyden Kalilikane
2. Kaniela Kaupu
3. Kea Sumarnap
Molokai Culinary Center News Release
Danish pastries for 24 cents? Cookies four cents each? Dinner for about a buck? Don Hill and the Molokai Culinary Center can show you how. Hill, a long-time resident of the island and well-known local chef, has just begun a new non-profit cooking school.
The school is aimed at several target groups. The first are homemakers and caregivers, especially those on tight budgets, food stamps and WIC. The school will teach them how to get the most nutrition for their money, including how to shop.
Students can also learn from the school. Young children can learn about nutrition, especially the vital role played by fruits and vegetables. Older students will learn to cook, and even to earn a living from this skill.
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“I like chess because it’s fun and I like strategy games,” he said.
QLCC Direct Service Specialist Ebra Silva, who helped organize Saturday’s tournament, said playing chess teaches students and adults “critical thinking, planning, evaluation and analysis of their moves.”
“I think it just helps them to grow more as an individual, and in doing community events like this, it helps to bring the community together,” she said.
Local businesses donated prizes for the adult winners, with first place receiving about $250 to $300 of goods. Organizers purchased backpacks from Molokai Surf and filled them with school supplies for the keiki winners. All contestants received small prizes for participating.
Winners
Adult Division (age 18+)
1. Julian Torres, 5 points
2. Cheesung Stone, 4 points
3. Sam Kealoha , 2.5 points
Middle/High School Division (Grades 7-12)
1. Three-way tie: Ken Brito, Jayven Paleka-Wright and Cody Bocoboc; 4 points each
2. Two-way tie: Hanalei Dudoit-Enos and Logan Kamali`I; 3 points each
3. Two-way tie: Kelson Cabalar and Ray-Jay English; 2 points each
Elementary Division:
1. Clancey Wright, 4.5 points
2. Tehya Almazan, 0.5 points
Donors
Molokai Gifts & Things
Moana’s Florist
Upcountry Market
Hometown
Hotel Molokai
Maka’s Korner
Shop 2 Beauty Salon
Molokai Burger
Kat’s Beauty Salon
Hayaku’s
Kamakana Country Store
Kualapu`u Market
Misaki’s
Molokai Mule Ride
Coffees of Hawaii
Ironwoods Golf Course
Friendly Market Center
Kumu Farms
Rawlins’ Chevron Service
Molokai Drug Store
Mana`e Goods & Grindz
Molokai Surf
Denise’s Furniture
Paddler’s Inn
P & S Refrigeration, LLC.
Imports Gift Shop
Pancho Alcon/Hawaii’s Finest
Molokai Pizza Café
Kualapu`u Cookhouse
Simon & Friends Pet Shoppe
Atlas Hardware
Organizers would like to thank volunteers who donated their time, including Ted Takamiya, Cindy Brito, Anthony Fukuoka and Honey Girl English. Planners included Silva, Tubz Kalipi, Nyree Kang, Lani Ozaki, Barbara Kalipi, Kekama Helm and the support staff of QLCC.
Molokai Veterans Caring for Veterans’ (MVCV) lawsuit against the County of Maui is still moving forward, according to a federal judge’s order last week. The judge heard further amendments to the veterans’ complaints, allowing some to remain in the case, while others were denied.
“It’s not a decision, but a step forward for the veterans,” said the group’s attorney Suki Halevi.
The date for the jury trial has also been set back to March 28, 2012 from the original date scheduled for this October.
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Lights flooded the Kaunakakai Ball Park last Friday night, with fans filling stadium seats ready to cheer the keiki on the field. But there were no strikes or homeruns during this performance – only “moos” and “oinks.”
More than 30 youth involved in the Molokai 4-H Livestock Club showed off the animals they’ve raised within the last six months at the annual Livestock Expo last weekend – a Molokai tradition participants say has been carried on for generations.
“The kids learn a lot… It teaches them all about being sustainable through backyard-raising animals,” said rancher Jimmy Duvauchelle, who served as emcee and whose children, grand-children and great-grandchildren have participated. “Molokai, we don’t got much, but we got plenty backyards.”
Junior and senior participants, ages 9 through 19, were judged with their steers and hogs Friday night. Participants scored in two categories: market, which judged the livestock’s marketability, and showmanship, which was based on keiki’s ability to display animals to the judge.
Six contestants showed hogs, herding them around a circular pen on the field’s diamond. 4-H volunteers followed with spray bottles, squirting the swine to keep them cool. Giggles erupted from young audience members when a hog snorted or made a dash across the dirt.
Jill Eguires, a former 4-H member from Oahu, judged the competition, awarding Rex Kamakana Jr. first place in the market competition for his swine, named Pork Chop. Acey Reyes placed first for her showmanship of Fat Pig.
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