Karleen C. Chinen
Commentary
Strike up the band! We made it! This is the Herald’s Second ANNUAL Big Island Edition . . . and it feels great to be sending it to press.
If you remember, after an absence of many years, we decided to revive our neighbor island issues last year, beginning with the Big Island of Hawai‘i. That issue came out last October, and, earlier this year, Kaua‘i and Maui came on board.
I’ve said this before — we are rebuilding these issues as best we can. Gone are the days when we ourselves could spend a few days on an island, meeting people and listening to their stories for our neighbor island specials. Our staffing and financial situation today is a far cry from what it was in the 1980s and ’90s. But that is not a reason for us to not try to find another way.
With the support of talented and knowledgeable contributing writers like Corey Masao Johnson, Dr. William “Pila” Wilson and Frances Kakugawa, we made it to our second annual Big Island edition. We also received contributions from Herald subscribers Walter Tachibana and Michie Kuwaye.
Working with contributing writers means we must work around their schedules. Oftentimes, as much as they would like to contribute a story to the Herald, their own personal and professional commitments prevent them from doing so.
Corey enjoys writing for the Herald, but he is also a Stanford University doctoral student and that has to be his priority, as it is his future.
Pila, who is on the faculty of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, is very supportive of what we do at the Herald. He had a trip to Chicago scheduled, so he did his interviews and cranked out a pretty clean draft before boarding the plane. Once on the ground in the Windy City, he emailed me his final.
Frances was about to begin a speaking tour that would bring her home to the Big Island and O‘ahu, but she emailed her story on her memories of Kapoho before leaving Sacramento.
Walter Tachibana snail-mailed his tribute to the Nisei soldiers and his “Uncle Benty,” and Patsy Adachi mailed Michie Kuwaye’s story on Onomea’s Inouye family a while back. I held on them for possible inclusion in this issue. We are grateful to all of these generous souls.
Building an issue in this manner is unconventional and challenging. There are current news and human interest stories brewing on the Big Island that we would include in this issue if we could find a qualified writer. Just days before the primary election, Tropical Storm Iselle tore through Puna, leaving residents without basic human needs. That was a story, and now, residents of Pähoa, which has a Japanese community that dates back to the area’s sugar plantation days, may lose their homes to Madame Pele.
So, although this has been designated our “Big Island Edition,” rest assured that our efforts to bring you stories from Hawai‘i island — and all the neighbor islands — are an ongoing, year-round effort. That is a promise.
For a little over a year, we have enjoyed a wonderful partnership with KTA Super Stores, which began selling The Hawai‘i Herald in its grocery stores island-wide. This was a totally new experience for us, so I expected to encounter some glitches along the way. Surprise! Surprise! It has been smooth sailing all the way.
Working with KTA president and CEO Barry Taniguchi and members of his team — Craig Hamamoto, Elvis Kimura, Pearl Daimaru and KTA’s various store managers — has been an absolute joy. They do their jobs so well and we are tremendously grateful to them for helping to increase our presence and following on Hawai‘i island. We are still hoping to find partners on Maui and Kaua‘i.
We also want to thank our Big Island subscribers for being such loyal supporters by continuing to renew their subscriptions every year. Your support means the world to us.
Lastly, the publication of this issue was possible because of the support of our many friends on the Big Island. We are very grateful to them. Please support them and their products and services in your daily lives — and when you see their owners or managers on the street, please stop and tell them that you saw their ad in the Herald and thank them for supporting The Hawai‘i Herald.
Amano Fishcake Factory
Alumside Products
Big Island Candies
Big Island Delights
Café 100
Country Samurai Coffee Co.
Dodo Mortuary
Don’s Grill
Dragon Mama
Green Point Nursery
Hawaii Printing
Hilo Bake Company
Hilo Termite & Pest Control
Kadota’s Liquor/K’s Drive-In/Mr. K’s Recycle
Kawamoto Store
Kimura Lauhala Shop
KTA Super Stores
Nori’s Saimin & Snacks
Restaurant Kenichi
S. Tokunaga Store
Suisan Company
Tanimoto Dharma Designs
Two Ladies Kitchen
Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home
