Ka‘ū News Briefs, Sunday, October 11, 2020

ATTEND ʻIMILOA ASTRONOMY CENTER'S 13TH ANNUAL WAYFINDING event, Hōkūleʻa: The Revival Begins, 1975-1980 on Friday, Oct. 23, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The live, online talk story session, presented by ‘Imiloa and the Ama Olukai Foundation, will focus on the history of the Polynesian Voyaging Society's formative years leading up to the iconic voyaging canoe, Hōkūleʻa. Register to attend this free online event for a chance to ask questions of the presenters at www.imiloahawaii.org. 
    The panel of five presenters are Captain Gordon Piʻianaiʻa, Billy Richards, John Kruse, Snake Ah Hee, and Kālepa Baybayan. Executive Director Dan Mclnerny, of the Ama Olukia Foundation, will introduce and moderate the presentation. 

Ama Olukia Foundation Executive  Director, Dan McInerny

    McInerny says, "The Ama Olukai Foundation has been a proud sponsor of ʻImiloa's annual Wayfinding celebration for the past several years and we are happy to continue our support of this important cause. Our mission is to partner with organizations that honor Hawaiian culture and traditions by preserving the ocean and land, and ʻImiloa is an incredible resource for our community that does just that." The Foundation supports programs that are designed to serve Hawaiian communities, partnering with organizations that promote the Hawaiian culture from its ancestral past to present day. 
    ʻImiloa Executive Director, Kaʻiu Kimura, says, "Keeping our voyaging stories and connections alive is a kuleana that ʻImiloa embraces. We are anxiously excited to be offering our first ever live virtual presentation to share these first-hand experiences and are so very grateful for the continued support of the Ama Olukai Foundation and all of the presenters in making this available to the wider public." 

Gordon Piʻianaiʻa

    The event announcement gives a brief bio of each presenter: 
    Gordon Piʻianaiʻa is a geographer and an educator. He was the director of the Hawaiian Studies Institute at Kamehameha Schools and a retired naval officer. In 1976, 1980, and 1985 he served as captain on board Hōkūleʻa. Piʻianaiʻa has a strong personal and spiritual connection to Hōkūleʻa and hopes that more people become involved with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and deep sea voyaging. Piʻianaiʻa craves nothing while at sea; he only craves being at sea while back on land. 

Billy Richards

    Billy Richards is a community servant who serves as a member of the ‘Aha Kāne, a Native Hawaiian Men's Health Program, the Bishop Museum Association Council, the Friends of Hōkūleʻa and Hawaiʻiloa, Kānehunamoku Voyaging Academy, and Maiden Voyaging Productions. He was elected to the Bishop Museum Board of Directors and also serves as the Hui Nohona administrator for the Partners in Development Foundation, a public not-for-profit company that supports Native Hawaiian communities through social and educational programs. He has been an integral part of Hawaiʻi's voyaging community since 1975 and has voyaged aboard Hōkūleʻa, Hawaiʻiloa, Makaliʻi, Hōkūalakaʻi, and Hikianalia throughout the Pacific and around the world. 

John Kruse

    John Kruse was introduced to Hōkūleʻa when she was only two hulls and cross pieces still being lashed together. Kruse began helping with the construction of Hōkūleʻa under master craftsmen Wright Bowman and Wally Froiseth. He was selected as a crewmember on Hōkūleʻa’s maiden voyage to Tahiti in 1976 and later went on to co-found Kauaʻi's voyaging society Nā Kālai Waʻa o Kauaʻi. His leadership on Kauaʻi led to many helping hands that built and launched the voyaging canoe Nāmāhoe in September of 2016. After many years of sailing, Kruse was invited to participate in the 2014 Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage and reunited with many of his old voyaging friends. 

Snake Ah Hee

    Snake Ah Hee was born and raised in Lāhaina, Maui. His family spent much time on the water – fishing, paddling, and surfing – from which he developed his water skills and a familiarity with the ocean. Ah Hee was first introduced to Hōkūleʻa in 1975 and was invited to sail on the return leg of her inaugural voyage to Tahiti. Since then, he has sailed on every Tahiti to Hawai’i voyage and is honored to have been a part of the Hōkūleʻa crew. Ah Hee looks forward to long periods of time at sea. 

Chad Kālepa Baybayan

    Born and raised in Lāhaina, Chad Kālepa Baybayan first sailed on the Hōkūleʻa in 1975 and has been an active member of the voyaging community. He has served as captain on the Hōkūleʻa as well as the voyaging canoes Hawai‘iloa and Hōkūalaka‘i. Baybayan is the former Site Director of Honuakai, the Exploration Sciences Division of the ‘Aha Pūnana Leo, which teaches the Hawaiian Language to participants that crew aboard Hōkūalaka‘i. He currently serves as the Navigator-in-Residence at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i developing wayfinding activities, curriculum materials, and conducting outreach. In 2007, Baybayan and four other Hōkūleʻa navigators were initiated into the order of Pwo (the three-thousand-year-old society of deep-sea navigators in Micronesia) by their teacher, Mau Piailug, on the tiny atoll of Satawal in the Caroline Islands, Micronesia.To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our Fresh Food on The Kaʻū Calendar and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.


AVOID TRADITIONAL DOOR-TO-DOOR TRICK OR TREATING and other higher-risk activities this Halloween, recommends Hawai‘i Department of Health. High-risk activities where treats are handed to children or children take candy from a shared bucket "can result in close contact and crowding among people outside your household," says an announcement from DOH. 

The annual Trunk-or-Treat, as held last year at Kaʻū High & Pāhala  Elementary's Halloween celebration, will be delayed until a safer  time. Photo by Julia Neal

The culinary group at Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary will  wait until next year to show off their cooking skills  for Halloween. Photo by Julia Neal

    Halloween movie night within a household.     Scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with household members in or around the home rather than going house to house. 
    Moderate risk activities 
    Participating in one-way trick-or-treating, where individually wrapped goodie bags are lined up for families to grab and go while continuing to social distance (such as at the end of a driveway or at the edge of a yard). Those preparing goodie bags are urged to wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after preparing the bags. 
    Having a small group, outdoor, open-air costume parade, where people are distanced more than six feet apart. 
    Attending a costume party held outdoors where protective masks are used and people can remain more than six feet apart. A costume mask should not be used unless it is made of two or more layers of breathable fabric that covers the mouth and nose and doesn't leave gaps around the face. 
    Going to an open-air, one-way, walk-through haunted forest where appropriate mask use is enforced, and people can remain more than six feet apart. If screaming will likely occur, greater distancing is advised. The greater the distance, the lower the risk of spreading a respiratory virus. 
    Visiting pumpkin patches or orchards where people use hand sanitizer before touching pumpkins or picking apples, wearing masks is encouraged or enforced, and people are able to maintain social distancing.     Having an outdoor Halloween movie night with local family friends with people spaced at least six feet apart. If screaming will likely occur, greater distancing is advised. 
    Higher risk activities 
    Participating in traditional trick-or-treating, where treats are handed to children who go door to door. 
    Having trunk-or-treat, where treats are handed out from trunks of cars lined up in large parking lots. 
    Attending crowded costume parties held indoors. 
    Going to an indoor haunted house where people may be crowded together and screaming. 
    Going on hayrides or tractor rides with people who are not in the same household. 
    Using alcohol or drugs, which can cloud judgement and increase risky behaviors. 
    Traveling to a rural fall festival that is not in the same community, if in an area with community spread of COVID-19.

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Learning from home or on campus, Kaʻū High & Pāhala  Elementary students can receive food through the end of  the 2020-2021 school year. Photo by Julia Neal

SCHOOLS CAN CONTINUE TO OFFER FREE MEALS TO STUDENTS through the end of the 2020-2021 academic year, announced U.S. Department of Agriculture last week, whether students learn at home or on campus.
    USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said, "We want to ensure that children continue to receive the nutritious breakfasts and lunches they count on during the school year wherever they are."
    Sen. Mazie Hirono posted Friday, "UPDATE: After I pushed USDA in August to extend child nutrition waivers, I'm glad to announce more free school meals will be available through the rest of the school year. Whether students are doing distance or blended learning, every child should have access to a healthy meal."
    Recently, Pres. Donald Trump signed a continuing resolution to extend regulatory waivers that grant schools "maximum flexibility" in serving meals and designing menus.
    By extending the Summer Food Service Program and the Seamless Summer Option waivers, as they are officially called, schools can also serve those free meals outside of typical meal hours, and allow parents and guardians to pick up them up.

Food distribution from Nāʻālehu can continue for enrolled students through the 2020-2021 school year  even if in-person classes aren't in session. Photo by Nalani Parlin

    The School Nutrition Association, which represents the nation's nutrition directors, said in a press release that the waivers are needed to ease the challenge of feeding kids during a pandemic, due to "unanticipated school closures" or changes in instruction.
    The group said its members needed regulatory certainty before placing orders for the spring, and to plan menus for the months ahead. The waivers also make their work safer and easier, by allowing for the speedier distribution of grab-and-go meals and reducing in-person monetary transactions.

Hawaiʻi Department of Education is cleared to feed all enrolled students meals through the end of the school year, regardless of distance learning. HIDOE photo

    SNA president Reggie Ross said, "Families struggling to make ends meet can be assured that their students will have access to healthy school meals, whether they are learning at home or in school. School meal programs can remain focused on safely meeting nutritional needs of children in their communities without having to worry about burdensome regulations."
    Before the pandemic, children had to pay for school meals unless their family's household income was at or below 130 percent of the poverty level. But when outbreaks forced classes online, and as unemployment surged, USDA empowered schools to become de facto community feeding centers, allowing grab-and-go distribution and for parents to pick up free food for their children.
    USDA had been reimbursing those meals, which were being given to all children, even if they weren't enrolled in the school. Without waivers, and the per-meal reimbursements, schools were briefly forced to deny food to hungry children, which a Cincinnati nutrition director called "heartbreaking."
    Diane Pratt-Heavner, an SNA spokesperson, said, with the extension of the nationwide waiver for the duration of the year, the "overwhelming majority of schools" are likely to serve free meals to all.

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THE HAWAIʻI NEI ART CONTEST is open to all Hawaiʻi Island residents. All artwork must be registered online by Friday, Oct. 16 at hawaiineiartcontest.org. Initial online screening and jurying will take place Oct. 17.
    The Three Mountain Alliance, the Hawai‘i Island Art Alliance, the Department of Land and Natural Resources Natural Area Reserves System, and the Wailoa Center State Park organize this annual, juried art exhibition, celebrating the native flora and fauna of Hawai‘i Island. All artwork entries must depict a native (endemic or indigenous) species to Hawaiʻi Island.

    Amateur and professional artists of all ages, who are residents of Hawaiʻi Island, are invited to submit original works. Categories are Adult, Elementary school (grades PreK-5), Middle school (grades 6-8), and High school (grades 9-12). Artists may enter more than one piece. A non-refundable fee for each entry will be collected with online submission. Entry fees are $15 per entry for adults. Youth under 18 may enter their artwork for free. Donations in any amount towards youth entry fees ($5 suggested donation) are welcome. Artists are encouraged to explore a variety of media, including the performing arts.
    Artists will be notified by October 19 if their artwork has been selected for the exhibition. Final jurying and selection for awards will occur on Nov. 4 and will be announced at the opening reception on Nov. 6. Artwork may still be juried out despite adhering to all guidelines.
    Learn more at hawaiineiartcontest.org.

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