Nov
30
An oasis in the city
Filed Under Sunrise on KGMB9 | Leave a Comment
Behind downtown Honolulu on Vineyard Drive there is an oasis in the urban desert, quiet, sweet-smelling and beautiful, and admission is only $3. I’m talking about Foster Botanical Garden.
I’ve been going to Foster Garden since 1978 when I first saw the cannonball tree. Back then there was even a garden of poison plants! There is a still a grove of “food trees” — orange, lemon, cocao, vanilla, coffee — and loads of orchids.
The Friends of Honolulu Botanical Gardens and the Honolulu Botanical Gardens this weekend present “The Nutcracker Sweet Festival 2007,” including food, music, silent auctions of art, and sales of plants some of which have never before been offered.
It starts Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with free balloons for keiki, and at 11:15 a.m. the actor Jason Scott Leigh will give a talk on natural farming. Bonsai classes are also scheduled. Garden tours will be given at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
For more information: 537-1708.
Nov
29
Where will Hawaiian fly?
Filed Under Sunrise on KGMB9 | Leave a Comment
Hawaii’s tourism industry has been stunned, in a good way, by the decision of Hawaiian Airlines to commit $4.4 billion over a decade to buying two dozen new jetliners.
Hawaiian, which already had a newer fleet than Aloha, has decided to buy long-range jetliners from Airbus rather than Boeing, extending its potential range on nonstop flights.
With Airbus A300-200s, the first arriving in 2012, Hawaiian can fly to Paris or London, or deeper into Asia.
It can easily fly nonstop to East Coast airports with no nonstop service to Hawaii, such as Logan, JFK, or BWI.
If you were told that Hawaiian wouldn’t disclose its destination choices, that’s wrong — Hawaiian has no idea what cities it will fly to, for the very sensible reason that by 2012 so much can change that any decision made today would have to be rethought then.
But London, Paris, or Rome all sound good if the euro stays as strong as its current record high, since that makes Hawaii a really good deal for Europeans.
Nov
28
Kids who make a difference
Filed Under Sunrise on KGMB9 | Leave a Comment
Thousands of Hawaii schoolchildren entered this year’s “Make a Difference” poster contest, and more than 100 schools were represented.
Some of the winners appeared Wednesday morning on “Sunrise” before heading to an award ceremony at the State Capitol, and we put some of the winning posters on TV.
Castle & Cooke sponsored the contest, which produced 6,866 entries from 101 schools, and funded cash prizes of $100 to $150 to the winners, and additional cash gifts to their chosen charities and to schools with the most participation.
Christopher Valdespino, a kindergarten student at Shafter Elementary, won the K-2 category. He’s the boy who stonewalled me in the interview!
Roxy Gonzalez, a fifth grader at Mililani Mauka Elementary, won the Grades 3-5 category. Her brother Ramil won last year, and this year he got an honorable mention.
Kiana Ringuette, a seventh grader at Kailua Intermediate, and Jan Takamatsu, a senior at Campbell High, won in their categories.
Students chose the Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation, the Hawaii Audubon Society, the St. John Apostle & Episcopal Church Angel Network, and Aloha United Way, as their designated charities.
Castle & Cooke publishes a calendar with the winning posters and several other worthy submissions, and distributes it to every full-time public school teacher in the state.
Full disclosure: when I was a child I won a poster contest sponsored by the Anne Arundel County, Md., public school system. I have no recollection of what the topic was or what I drew but I do remember there was a cash prize. I don’t remember spending it. Hmm… is my father still holding that dough for me?
Posts
