The award-winning film “Defensora,” documenting the struggle of Maya Q’eqchi farmers to keep ancestral lands in the face of brutal attacks by nickel mining company Hudbay Minerals, will be shown free to the public at the University of Hawaii Maui College on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 6:30 p.m. in Ka Lama 103. Producer/director Rachel Schmidt will attend to discuss the film’s background and the people’s ongoing legal battles in Canadian courts. PHOTO COURTESY OF RACHEL SCHMIDT.

Meet GOP candidates

WAILUKU – Join the Maui County Republican Party at Maui Waena Intermediate School on Saturday, Sept. 27, as it hosts the “Red, White & Blue Rally 2014” from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

This rally will introduce the candidates running in this year’s November general election, giving them an opportunity to showcase their platforms and pledge their community commitments.

Hear from candidates Elwin Ahu for lieutenant governor, Cam Cavasso for U.S. Senate, Joe Kamaka for State Senate District 5, Cranston K. Kapoi for State Senate District 8, Chayne Marten for State House District 10 and Richard Pohle for State House District 12.

Campaign Manager Ed Gazmen said, “The purpose of this rally is to give the voters an opportunity to meet and greet the candidates running for the state and local races.”

Part of the 44th annual JTB Maui Marathon & Half-Marathon, the Maui Tacos 5K began and ended at Whalers Village on Saturday morning. The overall winners were Maria Castenada with a time of 19:04, and Danny Demartini, who finished in 16:13. PHOTO BY CHRIS TURNER/RIMFIRE PHOTOGRAPHY.

The event is open to the public. Ticket donations of $8 include entertainment, Hawaiian food and a door prize drawing.

Tickets can be purchased from Gazmen at (808) 276-8373, Erin McLaughlin at (808) 205-8450, Rey Acob at (808) 298-4632 and Kalei Cleveland at (808) 298-7498. Tickets can also be purchased the day of the event at the door.

For more information, call Gazmen at 276-8373.

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Maui Calls to benefit the MACC

Maui Nui Botanical Gardens will host a banana workshop led by world-renowned expert Dr. Angela Kay Kepler on Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to noon. Mai‘a (banana) was a staple food and important medicine brought to Hawaii in the voyaging canoes of early Polynesian settlers. Space is limited, and a workshop fee of $25 applies. Call 249-2798 or e-mail info@mnbg.org for reservations.

KAHULUI – Maui Calls, the annual gala fundraiser for the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. in the MACC’s Pavilion and Amphitheater.

Postponed from Aug. 8 due to storm warnings across the islands, the benefit will feature all of the glamorous and fun festivities previously planned for Maui Calls 2014.

The MACC grounds will be transformed into a wonderland of thematic dcor, delighting the attendees who arrive and are greeted with fresh flower lei and Hawaiian music.

“Celebrating the Music of Hawaii” is the theme of the 2014 event, with music flowing throughout the evening from greeting to goodbye – including a concert with a surprise musical guest.

Throughout the evening, guests may eat their fill of gourmet pupus and dessert creations offered by almost 20 of Maui’s finest restaurants, and sample fine wines from a dozen or more vintners and boutique wineries from California, Washington and Oregon.

With Kathy Collins serving as emcee, Kihei’s Fourth Friday Town Party on Sept. 26 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Azeka Shopping Center-Mauka will feature comedy by Da Braddahs (above) from 7:55 to 8:55 p.m., upbeat tunes from HIGroove, Missy Aguilar performing in the Food Court, arts and crafts, great shopping deals, a Keiki/Youth Zone, games, activities, face painting and more. Bring a nonperishable food donation for The Maui Food Bank. Visit www.kiheifridays.com for the full schedule.

Maui Calls also features live and silent auctions. Jaw-dropping items on the block for the live auction include an African safari and stay in an over-water villa in Bora Bora.

The evening ends with dancing – and the dance floor is never empty! Individual tickets $175 for this age 21-and-over event. Call 242-SHOW for tickets.

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Lahaina sign meeting rescheduled to Oct. 2

WAILUKU – The Sept. 4 meeting of the Maui County Cultural Resources Commission was postponed due to a lack of quorum.

At September’s Lahaina Second Friday Town Party, Campbell Park hosted the second annual Draw the Line event. Attendees saw local artists show their work and had blank hats customized with unique illustrations by featured artists Nicole Auletta and Tori Dixon. The main attraction of the event was the 30-foot community art piece. Rotating crowds of adults and keiki alike sat down with one another at the art tables and began to fill the large blank canvas. Some painted, some sketched, some even wrote poetry, and by 7:15 p.m., the whole piece was covered in the artwork of our Lahaina community. The event also featured an Italian food festival, welcoming Lahaina’s three newest Italian restaurants and celebrating the existing local favorites. LahainaTown Action Committee, which coordinated the event, thanked the Lahaina Hawaiian Civic Club, Boys & Girls Club, resident band Maui Jam, artists, volunteers and “all the event comers who came and made the event great!”

The CRC is expected to continue its discussion, and possibly approve, proposed revisions to the design guidelines for signs in the Lahaina Historic Districts at its next meeting on Thursday, Oct. 2, at 10:30 a.m. in the Planning Department Conference Room in the Kalana Pakui building at 250 South High St. in Wailuku.

To view the proposed guidelines, visit www.mauicounty.gov/Planning, then select “Draft Lahaina Sign Design Guidelines” under the “Hot Topics” header.

For more information, call the Department of Planning at 270-7735.

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Benefit supports a legacy of caring for Maui’s kupuna

KAHULUI – Enjoy an evening with live musical performances by Kapena oceanfront and under the stars at Kokua for Kupuna, Hale Makua Health Services’ signature fundraiser. The benefit will be held on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 5:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa in Kaanapali.

Kokua for Kupuna also includes a savory dinner buffet, two hosted drinks, silent auction with over 100 fabulous items from local retailers and restaurants, and door prizes. Plus guests will have a chance to win a chartered fishing trip for ten on Maui Jim Sunglasses’ exclusive boat for a suggested donation of $20. Free roundtrip bus transportation from Kahului is available.

Proceeds will benefit the organization’s nursing home residents who cannot afford the cost of living and care at a nursing home. Tickets are $110 for adults and $1,300 for a reserved table of ten with premium seating, available by calling (808) 871-9283 or visiting www.halemakua.org.

This year’s theme, Vintage Aloha, will celebrate the event’s 26th year and recognize individuals and businesses in the community whose commitment to Hale Makua Health Services has helped the organization to sustain a 68-year legacy of providing care to those who have no one to care for them and no means to pay for care. This year, Hale Makua Health Services will be honoring long-time supporters VIP Foodservice, Cash-N-Carry, and the Roy H. & Lorraine M. Okumura Foundation.

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Lahaina Yacht Club to hold gala dinner

LAHAINA – Lahaina Yacht Club’s Charity Gala Dinner and Silent Auction will be held on Friday, Sept. 26, at 5:30 p.m. at the club.

The event will benefit Hospice Maui, LYC Foundation and the LYC Junior Sailing Program. The public is welcome. Call Stacy Thorlakson at LYC at 667-6212.

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Doggie Dash Maui to support Humane Society

PUUNENE – Maui Humane Society and Doggie Dash Maui LLC will hold the Doggie Dash Maui on Saturday, Oct. 11.

Registration will be held from 7:30 to 8 a.m. The one-and-a-half-mile fun run begins at 9 a.m.

Proceeds benefit the Maui Humane Society. Pre-register by going to www.Mauihumanesociety.org or e-mailing ssisneros1@gmail.com.

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Monsanto awards $10,000 in scholarships to Hawaii students

KIHEI – Ten Hawaii students were selected to receive the Monsanto Hawaii Life Sciences Scholarship, collectively earning a total of $10,000 to further their college educations.

The following Maui County students received $1,000 each: Maile Altier, Jessa Emmerich and Juleen Flory of Lahainaluna High School and Xrystina Bicoy of Molokai High School.

Monsanto’s Life Sciences Scholarship is open to students of all public and private high schools statewide who graduate in good standing and will be attending an accredited college or university to pursue a post-secondary education in a discipline related to the life sciences.

Applications for the Monsanto Hawaii Life Sciences Scholarships can be downloaded online at www.monsantohawaii.com.

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MFSS receives $2.1 million grant

WAILUKU – Maui Family Support Services Inc. has been awarded a three-year, $2.1 million grant from the U.S Department of Education, Native Hawaiian Education Program.

Funding will be used to provide the Positive Impacts for Keiki Outcomes (PIKO) Project, a culture- and evidence-based family strengthening project to improve learning outcomes for children up to age five across Maui and Molokai.

Funding through the PIKO project will be used to identify families of newborns at Maui Memorial Medical Center and expectant mothers on Molokai, provide home visiting services to families with children 0-3 years old on both Maui and Molokai, and to support the H?na Infant and Toddler Center.