LETTERS for April 15 issue
WHY IS KAHANA BEACH CLOSED OFF?
Another pristine beach/ocean area shut off! Why? For over 30 years, since the development of one of the West Side’s early resorts, there has been a wonderful beach/ocean access for fishing, diving, surfing, paddling, swimming and fun for many of us locals to enjoy — a surf spot we call “Post Card” in the Kahana-Mahinahina area.
Now, six- to 12-foot-high locked gates have risen once again to keep the local people out! It is at the Kuleana Resort at 3959 Lower Honoapiilani Road.
I have owned a condo at the Kuleana for many years. Our ‘ohana and friends have truly enjoyed the aloha feel at this special location.
Many owners, neighbors and I are furious to find that the condo board of directors decided to change the Kuleana Resort into a prison-type setting and cut off ocean/beach access that has been there forever.
Before I purchased this condo, I had enjoyed the kai and beach area for decades, and this was one reason I decided to purchase. There never was any type of notice posted to the neighborhood, owners, etc. The tall prison gates just went up overnight, and they stole another pristine area from the families of Maui Nui.
This is not the aloha way to live. Bring the gates down and share our kai with everyone! E ola ke kai, e ola kakou — as the ocean thrives, so do we.
KENNETH K. MARTINEZ BURGMAIER, Makawao/Hana
HAVE IDEAS FOR MAY DAY?
The May Day Matters Committee, parents and community are on their way to put forth Princess Nahienaena School’s May Day on Thursday, May 6, at 12:30 p.m. on the playground at the school’s campus!
Congratulations to Queen Kelsi Badua and King Kaimi Kanaha and our court members: Princesses Kiana, Jade, Kalena, Magdeleina, Kamauliola, Jamie, Kassandra and Taylor; Ladies in Waiting Jena, Keana, Shania and April; and Princes Rasta, Shiloh, Sydney, Jose and June! (We are still in need for more boys in our court. Please contact us at Maydaymatters@gmail.com if interested.)
Mahalo to our selection committees for your valuable time and effort in this very important — yet tough — selection!
We would also like to ask for any available assistance from our community to be involved or to join us at this special event. Please e-mail us with any ideas and suggestions to make this a successful May Day Celebration!! Mahalo nui loa again to all involved!
MAY DAY MATTERS COMMITTEE
HELP CLEAN UP HONOLUA ON EARTH DAY
Heads up: an Earth Day cleanup will be held at Honolua on Saturday, April 24, at 8 a.m. If you are up early, we will have coffee by the porta-potties at Honolua Stream Bridge (about 7 a.m.), then we will head up to the middle gate on Lipoa about 8 a.m. Pretty much all the groups will be represented: Honolua Advisory Council, Save Honolua Coalition, Surfrider Foundation and Honolua Boyz, assisted by Community Work Day, Aloha Waste and Maui Land and Pine. Westin Hotels will also be sending some people.
Now I usually get scoldings from somebody I forgot to mention, or from someone who did not want to be mentioned, but as a good friend recently told me, “Focus on the initiatives and bag the politics.” If you want to help out, just show up!
LES POTTS, Napili
BOARDERS ARE THE HEART OF LAHAINALUNA HIGH SCHOOL
(The following letter was sent to state lawmakers.)
My name is Art Fillazar, and I have been at Lahainaluna since the fall of 1984. I started as the school’s first teacher for the newly formed Special Motivation Program, then joined the English Department for the next three years. Since the fall of 1988, I have served as the school’s Student Activities Coordinator and yearbook advisor, amongst a host of other committees, projects and events that I have had the pleasure of working. Through these 26 years, I have had close working relationships with our Boarders. For many, I have had an even stronger connection. It was a Boarder who endearingly nicknamed me “Uncle Fill.”
Since my first year at “the oldest school west of the Rockies,” I have learned to love and appreciate this school. I remember my first year was awful, and I hated being there. My classroom neighbor encouraged me to hang on and wait until graduation to make my final decision about leaving. I followed her advice and sat through graduation that year. It was then, as I heard the Senior Boarders traditionally sing “Yonder Lahaina Mountains,” that a special feeling came over me. I had “chicken-skin” and a smile on my face as tears rolled from my eyes. I truly understood and felt the “mana” of this great school and the meaning of “tradition” through the hearts of the senior men and women as they lovingly sang this endearing school song. I knew then that I was to stay at Lahainaluna. The lyrics below speak of what Lahainaluna is and why the Boarding Program is such an integral part of this outstanding institution.
“YONDER LAHAINA MOUNTAINS”
(Composed by Alice K.K. Banham, Boarding Department dorm matron from 1929-56.)
There I gaze at yonder Lahaina mountains, Where hills are quiet and still,
Surrounded with its beauty and its glory,
To thee this song shall ever be.
CHORUS: Lahainaluna mau a mau, Aloha, aloha, home for all, Thy lovely fragrance of Oleander, To thee this song shall ever be.
Kilakila ku‘u home oia uka,
Ha‘aheo a Maui no e ka oi, Whispering mai poina oe iae, Ka home kaulana o ka aina
(Repeat Chorus).
The beauty and its glory is that of its people, its students. The Boarding Program is so much an integral part of its history and tradition. I’ve learned that this school is rich in its tradition and honors all that have come to make this school what it is today. These students who choose to be boarders represent what school spirit is all about. They come not only to learn from within the walls of the classroom, but also learn to grow as a person. They learn how to take care of the land; how to work together; how to manage their time; but most importantly, they learn how to love each other and their beloved Alma Mater.
Through the years, Boarders have become the epitome of what it means to have pride and spirit. Values that cannot be taught from a textbook. These are taught through their heart. Our Boarders have become the heart of this great school. And those of us, staff members as well as other students, have been inspired and have followed their lead. We know what “Ka home kaulana o ka aina” means: This famous home of the land. Because of my close association with the Boarders, I was inspired in the early 1990s to coin a phrase which is still used today and understood by all who attend Lahainaluna: “Pride and Spirit #1 Since 1831.” The Boarders taught ME what it means to have pride, love and spirit for the rich history, tradition and heritage of this school.
What would Lahainaluna be without Boarders? Taking the program away, and what it has provided for hundreds of students from across the Hawaiian Islands and beyond, will be taking away the spirit and the pride that this school has grown to love and cherish. Boarders are the “heart and soul” of Lahainaluna. “Kilakila ku‘u home oia uka”: Strong is this home on the mountain.
I’m sure you are now being deluged with testimonies from alumni from Hawaii and beyond. Listen to them! What other school has its former students speak so highly of their alma mater, and who can recall what they learned while being part of the school, and especially as a boarder. There is more to learning than just academics. Lahainaluna and its Boarding Program teaches about life and giving back.
As I remember that first graduation as the “L” on Pu‘u Pa‘u Pa‘u was ceremoniously lit, and with each ceremony that I have attended since then, I am truly blessed to have become a part of this ‘ohana, and for the opportunities to have been part of the lives of hundreds of students, but especially our Boarders, who always have a special place in my heart.
“Lahainaluna mau a mau”: Lahainaluna is forever. Please let it be FOREVER. Do not tear our ‘ohana apart by not funding our Boarding Program!
ART FILLAZAR, STUDENT ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR
LAHAINALUNA BOARDING DEPARTMENT A TRADITION
I heard that the Lahainaluna High School Boarding Department is on the list of cuts. No more boarders means no more heart of our school.
Lahainaluna has had a Boarding Department for almost 175 years now. It’s a tradition, and I hope it will always be a tradition.
A lot of people have friends that are boarders who mean a lot to one another. Plus, there is close to 100 boarders, so if they get cut, that will mean less students, some teachers may lose jobs and that will mean bigger classes.
I just hope that the Boarding Department doesn’t get cut, and I ask for help from everyone who thinks it’s wrong. Help tell people how you feel.
TERRA SANAE