Hosts sought for visiting athletes

As October approaches, so does the XTERRA World Championship to be held on Sunday, Oct. 26, in the Kapalua Resort. Race weekend will also feature the XTERRA Kapalua Trail Runs on Saturday, Oct. 25, with 5K and 10K trail runs along with a 1K run for the kids. Please visit the event website at www.xterraplanet.com/maui for more information about all of the festivities. We hope that you will come and experience the XTERRA Adventure either as a participant, spectator or volunteer – you will have a blast! If you would like to offer to volunteer, please send an e-mail to volunteer@xterraplanet.com.

Kapalua Resort welcomes the amazing group of athletes from all over the world, who will be gathering in Kapalua to test themselves against their competitors and the beautiful and challenging terrain. The 2014 World Championship marks the fourth year that the event is being held in Kapalua following a move to West Maui from its former home in South Maui. The Kapalua course has proven to be one that is difficult to master and a worthy adversary to all of the athletes seeking to challenge it. The race showcases Maui to the world, as the race is videotaped and broadcast around the world, with millions of viewers seeing the beauty of our island home.

This year’s field will include over 800 athletes, including XTERRA Professionals who follow the tour around the world, International Triathlon Union professionals who compete primarily in road triathlons but occasionally venture out into the dirt, Olympic and world champions, as well as amateur athletes from the age of 15 up to athletes in their 70s. All of the athletes have qualified to compete at the World Championship by winning one of the XTERRA events around the world or by compiling points totals through various race series. All of the competitors are the top of their class.

While the life of a professional triathlete might seem like it would be glamorous and well-paying, the reality can be mind-numbing endless days of airports and travel as well as barely earning enough to get to the next race. Many of the athletes treasure the opportunity to experience a “home-stay” when arriving at a race destination. Settling into a home, rather than another of a long stream of hotel rooms, can feel like heaven to the traveling athlete.

My family and I have welcomed XTERRA athletes into our home for the last three years and can attest to finding it to be a rewarding experience. Having our children meet athletes from Switzerland, France, England and South Africa has given them a wider view of the world, and they now have friends (and hopefully future travel accommodations) around the world. Some home-stays offer a full family experience by sharing meals and adventures with their visiting athlete, while others simply offer accommodation and a place to cook meals. We have always welcomed the athletes in as members of our family.

If you are interested in offering a home-stay to a visiting athlete or have an inexpensive room for rent, please e-mail me (pbrownmaui@gmail.com) your contact information as well as what type of accommodation you can offer and the dates that it would be available. Some of the professionals arrive a week or so early to prepare for the race and usually depart a day or so after the race.

We look forward to seeing you in Kapalua on race weekend!

PAUL D. BROWN, Director, Kapalua Resort Association and XTERRA Ambassador

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Write tickets to fund

Wainee Street improvements

I would like to add my “two cents” regarding the deplorable condition of Wainee Street.

I use it daily as a bicycle rider. Trust me – with properly filled tires, it is a jolting experience. Then add the SUVs with backup cameras, Bluetooth and “smart-phones” (just like all the ads proclaim) all roaring by at sometimes certainly twice the speed limit, and you are in for quite a ride!

I saw a news article about a place in Florida where they post and enforce the speed limit. They have “raked in” some pretty good income.

Maybe a re-paving job and a speed trap along Wainee Street would easily generate the needed funds for repairs.

TOM WARREN, Lahaina

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Mike Weed will be missed

I sadly regret to inform the community that on Sept. 9, 2014, my longtime friend Mike Weed lost his battle with Leukemia on Oahu. Mike is survived by his sister, Wendy, from Tacoma, Washington; his wonderful wife, Leslie; and his now fully grown son, Richie.

Mike Oliver Weed moved to Maui from Dana Point, California, in 1984 to surf the waves at Honolua Bay. He later met his soon-to-be wife, Leslie, at the Rusty Harpoon in 1986. They were later married in 1991, and their son, Richie, was born in 1994.

Mike was a bartender at the Pioneer Inn for many years. Mike was a humble, soft-spoken man with a great sense of humor and always had a smile on his face. He really enjoyed sports, especially his Raiders and Lakers. Mike was a big help in getting the Lahaina Stakepark, where he volunteered often, He was a great surfer, a great skateboarder and great husband, father and friend.

He will be missed dearly by his friends and family. A celebration of his life will be held at Lahaina Jodo Mission on Sept. 17 at 5 p.m., where some of his favorite waves at Mala will be breaking. Please join us to talk story, reminisce and celebrate his wonderful life.

I’m truly honored to be Mike’s friend for over 25 years. I love you so much and miss you even more, my friend. I thank you, Leslie and Richie, for being so good to Michelle and I. We will surf together again someday in Heaven. Save me a spot in the lineup.

ERIC SALAWICH, Lahaina

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Citizens can accomplish change by voting

The foundational strength of the American people is the church and our Constitution. During the Eisenhower administration, over 85 percent of the American people trusted our government. Today, less than 40 percent of the American people trust our government. I understand why; it is because our leaders are not listening to the people.

I believe by voting we can weed out those that represent the money and not the people. We can’t afford bad politics and policy to influence the people not to participate. Not participating is the major reason we have weak leaders.

A big problem for my district is the amount of apathy. According to CNN news, West Maui District 10 has the lowest voter turnout in America. Too many people no longer believe government works for them. The church – a pillar of liberty – is being challenged, and some want to eliminate their tax-exempt status.

Only 40 percent of all church members voted in the last election. Although clergy encourages their practitioners to participate in elections, few actually do. Those that embrace the Constitution must vote to ensure our rights are not compromised.

In our primary, for every seven voters, only one was a Republican. Many potential voters are just not registered. Before you say that you don’t grumble, so you do not vote, that is just an excuse. I would like for you to know it is more than a responsibility – it is an American duty to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States. Only when we safeguard these rights do we preserve them for the next generation. These liberties were passed on to us from the previous generation. Each new generation must take the baton of freedom and too soon pass it on.

Every time I vote, I say a quick prayer thanking God for all those that paid the ultimate price for freedom. Defending my right to chose our government. By voting, we honor every man and woman who ever put on a uniform to protect us.

Unfortunately, every generation must fight wars to continue preserving freedom. Many take our rights for granted. It’s not until we lose these rights that some will wake up; by then it is too late.

The Civil War, two world wars and many more wars, women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement, along with countless sacrifices made – too much blood spilled on battlefields in foreign lands and on the streets across America. Not even a river of tears can wash away our blood-stained history, all in the name of liberty and freedom.

Some candidates are standing up for our constitutional and religious freedoms. Will you let us stand alone, or will you stand with us? A vote is the instrument of our freedoms – a right we must treasure; an inheritance we must PROTECT.

CHAYNE MARTEN, State House Candidate, West Maui

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Trash collection a political issue

Geevum Mayor! When I started to read The Maui News and got to the story about the trash pickup, I was so happy to hear the mayor being so passionate about the issue. “Mayor stormed out of meeting?” Yeah! I did not know the details, and bad on me for assuming that it was a labor or union type issue not picking up the trash on holidays.

I was thinking that in my life, I worked plenty jobs that you had to work on holidays (or whenever and whatever it took) to get the job done, and you understood that when you were hired.

Sometimes there is a stereotype about county/state workers being lazy. But hearing that the council was not funding these guys to get the job done pissed me off. Excuse my language, but this to me is an essential service. The letter the county sent out is all “shiby” and excuses.

Keep up the good work, county trash guys, and get er done, Mr. Mayor.

RICK HARTMAN

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Most Maui crops are GMO-free

Wow! Talk about mis-information, or dis-information? The upcoming GMO (genetically modified organism) moratorium ballot initiative is to halt the growing of GMO plants, and that is all. No food farmers are affected in Maui County. There are no GMO food farmers here in Maui. There are no GMO tomato farmers anywhere in the world! There are no GMO sugarcane farmers anywhere in the world! Get the story straight – the ballot initiative is absolutely not a farming ban as stated by the Monsanto and Dow Chemical giants on the TV. Do not fall for it.

The reality is 94 percent of our Maui croplands are GMO-free, and only 6 percent have GMO plant testing by giant chemical companies that have created food plants that do not die when sprayed with Roundup and 2,4-D. That’s right, your FOOD is being sprayed with massive amounts of herbicides, so now we are all eating food sprayed with herbicides. Yum, yum?

That’s right, 2,4-D and Roundup are on your food thanks to the chemical giants Monsanto and Dow. “Roundup Ready,” “2,4-D Ready” and “Bt Endotoxin” GMO crops are field corn (no, not sweet corn), soybeans, canola, cotton (rapeseed oil) and alfalfa. So if you eat anything with non-organic corn oil, high fructose corn syrup, corn chips, corn tortillas and any non-organic soy products from America, you are eating food sprayed with Roundup and 2,4-D. Enjoy your poison, as Monsanto enjoys record sales of their herbicide-resistant seeds and herbicide chemicals to spray on your growing food. Be safe; vote yes.

RICHARD ST. GAUDENS, Haiku