Thanks for supporting the Sophie Swim

We wanted to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers that make this event such a success – we could not do it without your help and assistance.

A heartfelt mahalo to Sheila Murphy, Tara Lynn and Arissa Kahaiali’i, Katie Zimmerman, Pamela & Tori Vera, Debbie Patton, Kitty Shimer, Teresa Nellie, Anita Weber, Carla Gillespie, Harumi & Nino Toscano, Tirza Brue Coe, Eileen Mervis, Nancy Montoya, Debbie Sisson and our beach spotters on the day.

Huge thanks to Lashawna Garnier, Capt Jay and Ian Ponting, who set the course again (in record time!) and provided assistance and guidance to the swimmers during the race.

Our water crew this year really had to work hard with the conditions. Our sincere thanks to Carl Lisk, Steve O’Donnell, Mark Shimer, JP Mihlbauer, Marilyn Anderson, Paulo Simpson, Geoff Bogar and Frank Forbes, who all did an incredible job keeping everyone safe and on course.

Thank you to Tropic Water-Maui, Brandon and Ingrid Arnds, for providing water at our event, and Jason and Ryan at Leilani’s for providing food for the volunteers.

This year we had 163 registered swimmers, and with strong winds and current conditions, it really made it a challenge for some of our swimmers to finish. Congratulations to all our winners and runners-up, and to those of you that won prizes, we have our amazing local businesses and community to thank for all the wonderful donations they gave.

Thank you sincerely to the following: 10 Ya Yoga Instruction; Aloha Mixed Plate; Artistic Nails; Atlantis Submarines Maui; Blue Ginger; Body in Balance Maui; Captain Jack’s/Cool Cats; Captain Steve Rafting Adventures; Costco; Dirty Monkey; Down the Hatch; Duke’s Restaurant; Fleetwood’s; Gemini; Honu & Frida’s; Hula Girl Sailing Charters; Hula Grill; Hyatt Regency; Java Jazz; Kaanapali Golf Courses; Kaanapali Beach Hotel; Kimo’s; Lahaina Fish Co.; Lahaina Grill; Lahaina Music; Lahaina Pizza Co.; Matteo; Maui Nui Golf Club; Maui Stand Up Paddle Board Rentals; Maui Spear Fishing Academy; Merriman’s; Pacific’o; Paia Fish Market; Roy’s Kaanapali; Safeway; Sargent’s Fine Art Gallery; Skyline Zipline Adventure Tour; Teddy’s Bigger Burgers; The Pour House; Three’s Bar & Grill; UFO Parasail; Wal-Mart; Warren and Annabelle’s; and Wash It Hawaii- Car Wash.

Special thanks to Diane Baker, Reta Chin, Bobby McDaniels, Eileen Mervis, Mercy Palmer, Paula Rathbun, Melissa Salvador and Nino Toscano for the donation collecting help.

For more information and results from this year’s swim, check out www.facebook.com/theSophieSwim/ or the website www.sophiedeloria.org.

Stay tuned for next year’s fifth annual Sophie Swim!

SUSAN C. DeLORIA, Lahaina

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It’s time to stop cruelty to animals

Sept. 1 marked 80 years since Hitler invaded Poland and started World War II. Three years later, he launched the Holocaust that murdered six million European Jews.

A key question facing historians is how could an enlightened society that produced our civilization’s greatest philosophers, poets, painters and composers also produce its most notorious mass murderers, along with millions of ordinary upstanding citizens who just went along.

Was the Holocaust a peculiarly German phenomenon, or are other enlightened societies capable? How about our own American society?

Jewish Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer gave a clear answer when he wrote: “To the animals, all people are Nazis.”

Singer’s message is that we are all capable of oppressing the more vulnerable sentient beings in our midst, frequently without even thinking about it.

Our very first step on the long road to end all oppression should be to drop animals from our menus.

LEX NAKAHARA, Lahaina

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Can sticky potatoes catch on here?

Let’s hope Maui grows the greatest potatoes in the world and our farmers prosper!

But I worry, as this is the land of two scoops sticky rice and soy sauce!

Are we going to need sticky potatoes to compete?

JIM KILLETT, Lahaina

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Loss of sugar farming leads to brushfires

I sincerely hope the newcomers who came to Maui that complained about the controlled cane fires are now happy with what has happened to our beautiful island.

We old-timers and locals accepted the cane fires and did not complain. The cane industry provided many jobs for us.

Now we see horrible, destructive and violent fires raging over the fallow cane fields.

We never had fires like this before when we were lush with sugar cane. Are you happy now?

SU CAMPOS, Napili

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Set term limits as a first measure of reform

Conservatives support a Constitutional amendment imposing term limits on Congress, according to a poll conducted by The Conservative Caucus.

Term limits have the strong support of 57 percent, while another 34 percent give the amendment moderate support.

Only 4 percent oppose term limits.

Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Francis Rooney have introduced a constitutional amendment that would limit members to three terms in the House and two in the Senate.

PETER THOMAS, Chairman, Americans for Constitutional Liberty/The Conservative Caucus