Chocolate and coffee for all

For “super volunteer” Greg Askew, unanticipated action prompted quick attention on Sunday at the Kauai Chocolate and Coffee Festival.

“He’s our super volunteer,” said event coordinator Amy Hammond. “We’ve been doing this for 10 years, and we couldn’t do this without the help of our volunteers.”

As the gates to the chocolate and coffee extravaganza opened, a strong gust of wind upended one of the quick tents, prompting Askew to get control of the situation as the steady stream of guests flowed through the entrance of the Luau Kalamaku pavilion at Kilohana.

“We have people from all over the state,” Hammond said. “We have vendors from the Big Island; Farm to Fudge from Maui is here; Manoa Chocolate came from Oahu …”

More than 20 vendors on the optional Passport list provided a wide variety of chocolate and coffee related products, including those that offered keiki-friendly treats for the kids who strolled the pavilion’s expanse. The area was filled with specialty craft vendors, the silent auction and demonstrators.

The variety and number of vendors triggered a sellout of the optional Passports within the first hour as entertainer Paul Togioka took over stage duty.

“When is Aldrinne Guerrero going to appear?” a customer wanted to know, while lugging a hard ukulele case through the lines of Passport clients. “I have a signed ukulele at home. I just wanted to see Aldrinne, who like Jake Shimabukuro, plays the ukulele like they’re from a different universe.”

Local chocolate vendor Kauai Chocolate Company had Cindy Kauanui distributing samples of the firm’s highly desired Chocolate Opihi. Kauanui of Kauai Gifts was helping the Kauai Chocolate that recently adopted a hale-style gift box for Kauai Chocolate purchases.

Hammond and helper Mele Heresa — Hammond said Mele was helping from when the Kauai Chocolate and Coffee Festival was held at the Hanapepe Ball Park — maintained a line of event signature wear adjacent to the Kala Foundation table, the event’s beneficiary.

“We brought beach towels on this trip,” said Clint Lleces of the Kala Foundation that has a mission of perpetuating Hawaiian culture. “You can find them near the silent auction. We just thought we would be different.”
Source: The Garden Island