Kudos to Kaleo Carvalho, Michelle Rego, Christy Castillo, and all those county hands for coordinating the Career Day field trip for about 130 first-grade students from Elsie Wilcox Elementary School. The students walked over from school and visited the different county departments and buildings to watch the professionals at work. Did you folks see the roofers—that’s a career, too—working on the new roof over the former Big Save Lihue space?
Kudos too to Ocean Safety Bureau Chief Kalani Vierra, Fire Chief Michael Gibson, Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami, the Kauai Lifeguard Association (they got a donation from the East Kauai Lions Foundation for installing rescue tubes at beaches not manned by lifeguards! Mahalo, East Kauai Lions!), the Hawaiian Lifeguard Association (it was a pleasure and honor to meet Executive Director Kirsten Hermstad), and Lt. Kleve Zarbaugh, and all the hands that made it possible for 11 new lifeguards from Okinawa to learn from the one week experience of training with Kauai lifeguards.
The Okinawa lifeguards received their completion certificates before an audience of the Wilcox School students (they’re all very familiar with the ocean) and Sabra Kauka (Ola Ka I, the Olelo Hawaii month activity is coming to Kukui Grove on March 1) who provided the oli for the students and each of the Okinawa lifeguards (there’s one female Kalani named ‘Lei’) who each got a unique Hawaiian name from Kalani, similar to the 47 ronin of Chushingura fame. The group leader, Taishi Otono, is the president of the Okinawa Lifeguard Association.
The Okinawa lifeguards will travel to Oahu for another week of training on water rescue vehicles and equipment.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Source: The Garden Island