… It’s eight days to Christmas and everyone I meet laments — “I haven’t sent any cards!” “I haven’t bought presents!” “I can’t believe Santa is about to arrive!”…

… Well, he arrived the weekend before last under the Banyan Tree — the lighting of the tree was a huge success. The afternoon was accompanied by squeals of laughter as the keiki played in the snow, made snowballs, got photographed next to the eight-foot snowman and sat on Santa’s knee. And when the park went dark at 6:30 p.m., the tree’s Christmas lights came on after the countdown, the LAHAINALUNA HIGH SCHOOL band struck up and the huge crowd clapped and cheered…

… Congratulations to LAHAINATOWN ACTION COMMITTEE for a great event, and mahalo to all the volunteers who contributed — there is still a chance to be included. The monetary donations for the event are just a little shy of the needed amount, and LAC would appreciate any contributions to reach their goal to cover costs. We know times are tough, but that beautiful tree lit at night is a magnet to get folks into the town and we all benefit. Those businesses who have not contributed, please help out. And those who have helped, mahalo nui loa!…

… and over in Denmark, the battle rages with the pros and cons on global warming. Now it’s the scientists catching flack for supposedly pulling the wool over our eyes, but it’s pretty hard to hide all that snow disappearing from the top and bottom of the world. And if you’ve flown over cities in the Orient and seen from the air the thick blanket of SMOG — not VOG, but SMOG — you’d tend to agree that something must be done…

… Sydney, Australia became a virtual dust bowl for days with dust from the worst drought on record. If we can send a man to the moon and a machine to Mars, surely we can come up with a way to create clouds and seed them…

… and the new tourism catchwords are: “Think Chinese!” The Hawaii Tourism Authority says that 50,000 visitors come from China each year. Well, I don’t know where they’re hiding them, but I sure haven’t seen too many on Maui! And the fact that they don’t spend money could be because almost everything available to buy comes from China anyway — AUWE!!…

… a friend just returned from a trip to Australia and New Zealand and reported that the fiscal problems we are facing here and on the Mainland don’t seem to have affected these countries at all, but he predicted that the bank meltdown in Dubai certainly would — big time. But the Australian government already announced that they would bail out any banks hit by the Dubai meltdown. Meanwhile, our banks here have become more and more tightfisted and unwilling to help small businesses. As a result, more and more are having to close their doors. Where is all that “stimulus” money supposedly available for distribution to homeowners and businesses in trouble? Nobody I know has seen any of it!…

… and looks like the President will be spending Christmas in Hawaii again. How can we get him to Maui for a day or two? Our West Maui beaches will beat White Sands Beach on Oahu any day!…

… and the accidental disappearance of longtime Hana residents CARL AND RAE LINDQUIST was a shock to all their friends and the community as a whole. I have known Carl and Rae since Honolulu days over 40 years ago and always kept in touch on trips to Hana (and on their rare trips to the West Side). Traversing that waterway two to four times a day, nothing should have surprised them, but a flash flood did — many of us know how treacherous they are! Aloha ‘oe, Rae and Carl — you have left your mark on Hana…

Up Front Lahaina is a twice monthly feature. To protect his innocence, the writer chooses to remain anonymous. The views expressed in this column belong to the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Lahaina News staff and owners.