Winners' Camp celebrates its 25th Anniversary on August 15. Delorese Gregoire is the camp's founder, a person with a ton of positive energy and a great attitude. If you haven't been to Winners' Camp, you might want to take this opportunity to check them out.
If your the parent of a teen, Winners' Camp is offering a discount for their August camp.
"Winners Camp is marking its 25th anniversary this year. To celebrate we are offering students ages 12-16 the original 1985 tuition of $490.00 (our regular tuition is $980.00!) for our August 8-14 Anniversary Camp."
We invite you to celebrate the Winners’ Camp Foundation 25th Anniversary on August 15th from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at Kamehame Ridge.
Our beloved Bill Cordes of YOGOWYPI fame and internationally acclaimed master motivator, joined by his family, will be helping to host the afternoon. We’ll be honoring the Smith Family, the Margenau Family, the Manson Family and the Yukimura Family for their support and dedication over the past 25 years. We’ll also give a nod to our Ohana Mama, Delorese for keeping the doors open against all odds!
We encourage everyone in the family to attend as our guests! The afternoon includes fun for the keiki, ropes and adventures for the teens along with pupu graciously hosted from Roy’s Hawaii Kai, Outback Steakhouse, Gyotaku and more! Plus that great tent by Production Hawaii!
Please join us!
Check out these Winners' Camp photos from Flickr.com
About Winners' Camp (text from their website)
"Winners' Camp is a 7-day residential camp in Hawaii for teens ages 12-16. Each program consists of 60 participants and is supported by a staff of 24 specially trained volunteers and a core staff of highly experienced professional facilitators. The staff to participant ratio is 1:3. The program is held at Kamehame Ridge (the ridge between Hawaii Kai and Waimanalo) at the constantly renovated Winners' Camp Foundation Conference Facility on Oahu. Accelerated learning techniques are utilized extensively.
To date, Winners' Camp has 'graduated' over 12,000 participants and over 1,000 graduate support staff. Participants learn to create a positive sense of self-identity through a safe, supportive environment where they break through self-imposed limitations. By regularly setting, meeting, and achieving goals they have a dramatic experience of the exhilaration of "winning." This is winning where the opponent is one's own fears and self-doubts. By conquering challenging outdoor events such as high ropes courses, teenagers learn to recognize their own courage and self-confidence. By repeatedly going beyond what they thought they could do, they learn the joy of reaching their highest potential.
Winners' Camp Foundation was founded in 1985 by Delorese Malulani Gregoire and a team of committed graduates of Marshall Thurber's "Business and You" Lifeskills Courses. Key players were Vic Quiton, Guy Tucker, Dr.Trinidad Hunt, Michael Wall, Dr.Stephanie Burns, Mick Quenzer, Pam Chambers and Anthony Robbins.
In the year 2000 we were blessed with a license to use Kamehame Ridge Site from the Kamehameha Schools Princess Pauahi Bishop Estate. We named the Site: Hawai'i Leadership Academy and we produce programs for Academic Institutions and Educational Foundations."
Ten years ago I spent a half day at Winners' Camp photographing volunteers fixing up the then newly acquired facility up at Kamehame Ridge. See photos.
Winners' Camp is a non-profit 501(c)3 education organization.
Dr. Panos Prevedouros officially filed for the Mayor's race in the special winner-take-all election coming up on September 18. Now is the time for all opponents of Honolulu's costly $5.5 billion rail project to rally to the candidacy of Dr. Prevedouros. He is our last best hope to stop the insanity of wasteful spending on rail.
I was at a "talk story" coffee hour yesterday for Panos in Waikiki. (photo above)
The following is Panos' official news release on his filing today to be Honolulu's next mayor.
Panos makes it official and files for Mayor today.
Aloha,
This morning I officially filed papers to be a mayoral candidate. This is a new journey for me and for you, too. So I wanted to take this moment to thank you personally for your trust and confidence. Your encouragement inspires me to do my very best to become the best mayor yet for the people of the City & County of Honolulu.
Voters are hungry for renewal and change for the better. I am inspired and humbled by the many people who smile and look me in the eyes to tell me [I’m voting for you, you better win!]
And if you haven't already heard, I want to let you know that former City Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz has made the decision not to run for Mayor. As the Councilman for O'ahu's largest geographic area, he has decided that his ability to provide public service to his constituents would be better served if he ran for the seat in the State Senate vacated by Bobby Bunda. Donovan is a dedicated public servant, and he has served our entire community well. I wish him the utmost success in the Hawai`i State Senate.
Thank you for your continued support,
Panos Prevedouros PhD
P.S. I appreciate that you share my concerns and vision for a better future. My winning will be your win as well. Please contact me with questions, concerns and comments.
Email: panos.prevedouros@gmail.com
The above slideshow captures images of some of the Hawaii Repubican candidates running for elective office this year. Among the people are candidates for Governor, James "Duke" Aiona and John Carroll, candidates for Lt. Governor, Adrienne King and Lynn Finnegan, Congressional candidates Charles Djou, Ramsay Wharton, John Willoughby, Cam Cavasso, and John Roco, various State Senate and House candidates including Senator Sam Slom, Chis Baron, Eric B. Marshall, Kim Pine, Tom Berg and many others.
For a complete list of candidates (all parties, all races) go to the Hawaii State elections page:
Download the PDF files labeled "Candidate Report" and 2010 Special elections - 2 senate races, Honolulu mayor, Honolulu City Prosecutor.
The primary election will be on September 18. The general election is November 2. Those are the deadline days for walk-in balloting. Many voters in Hawaii will be doing absentee walk-in voting and mail-in voting this year.
Generally speaking Hawaii Republicans have also been against raising taxes, having government being more accountable and upholding our traditional American values and preserving the freedoms of the United States of America.
The USS Ronald Reagan is a nuclear powered super aircraft carrier that stretches 1,092 feet in length, displaces 97,000 tons with a full load and towers 20 stories high when measured from the waterline. Bearing the name of our 40th president, the USS Ronald Reagan cost $4.5 billion to build, and $1 million a day to operate.
Over 4,500 men and women serve on the USS Ronald Reagan and call it "home" while they are deployed. These people, volunteers to our U.S. Navy, hail from all 50 U.S. States and 40 different countries. They work in unison on their specialized tasks with precision, dedication, enthusiasm and professionalism to make this "city on the sea" work in helping preserve freedom for the United States of America and the world.
This month the USS Ronald Reagan is plying nearby Hawaii waters as the centerpiece of the bi-annual Rim of the Pacific Exercises (known as RIMPAC) commanding a task force consisting of 32 ships, 5 submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Soldiers, and Coast Guardsmen from 14 Pacific Rim countries.
Last Tuesday, July 6, I was part of a media contingent of reporters and photographers from two of the three major TV stations, the daily paper and other publications that were invited to the USS Ronald Reagan to cover their first day at sea for RIMPAC. My assignment was to shoot photos for HawaiiReporter.com. Former State Senator and journalist Bob Hogue covered the main writing duty for Hawaii Reporter.
Our tour started shortly before noon at a Pearl Harbor pier where the supercarrier was tied up. We boarded through one of the main hangar doors going up a 4-floor gantry-like stairway. We entered a beehive of activity in the hangar area where people were working on various aircraft spread throughout the facility. We spent a few minutes in the cavernous hangar before we were taken up to the officer's mess hall by Capt. Ron Flanders of the USS Ronald Reagan's public relations office and our driver, Lt. Terrell for lunch.
My cafeteria-style buffet lunch consisted of Spanish rice, fried chicken, stir-fried beef, broccoli and a nice, cold glass of ice filled water. All of the invited media sat at a long table toward the front wall of the mess hall that was flanked by a hanging flat screen TV and a trophy case filled with some football memorabilia. Long before he became President, Ronald Reagan played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the 1940 film, Knute Rockne, All American. The USS Ronald Reagan's nickname is "Gipper".
Shortly after lunch our group was led up through several stairways until we emerged on the 4.5-acre flight deck on top of the ship. The USS Ronald Reagan was just about ready to depart Pearl Harbor at 1315 (1:15 pm). Before we got under way, the ship's whistle blew and a very short change of the colors ceremony was held. Slowly, but surely, the supercarrier maneuvered away from the pier and made its way out of Pearl Harbor, passing the USS Arizona Memorial and the battleship USS Missouri museum.
Hawaii does not have a carrier based at Pearl Harbor. Spectators at the nearby landmarks, as well as on Ford Island, were treated to a spectacular sight. Hundreds of tourists aboard the Missouri lined to wave at us and take photographs. Our vantage point high up on the flight deck of the moving supercarrier offered us stunning views of the famous monuments and the rest of Oahu. The weather was clear and the skies were blue. It was the perfect day for a sail.
As the Reagan slowly steamed out of Pearl Harbor, a high-tech laden, civilian helicopter buzzed it. The blue chopper had been flying in the area all morning and followed us out to sea. It was obvious that its crew were shooting motion picture footage of the Ronald Reagan. A nearby surface ship speeding along, around and ahead of the carrier turned out to be a very fancy boat that held a giant boom and another camera attached to it. I later found out they were shooting footage for the upcoming movie "Battleship".
We were allowed great access to nearly all points on the flight deck at this early part of the tour. I stayed fairly close to "the island", the tall structure on the starboard side that houses the bridge, flight control center, navigation center, communications tower, mast, flags and more. It is one of the few places on the flight deck that provides some shade.
If there is a center of activity on the ship, the flight deck is it. This is where most of the aircraft assigned to the supercarrier are stored, positioned, land and take-off.
As the USS Ronald Reagan was departing, flight deck personnel were preparing for flight operations that were set to begin later that afternoon at 1700 hours (5 pm). The level of activity was ramped up as deck personnel prepared for a busy afternoon.
Cruising at a speed of about 15 to 20 knots, the USS Ronald Reagan was out to sea on a heading due south. The island of Oahu was a spectacular sight to behold. From the flight deck and later the bridge, the ride on this roving air base presented me with some spectacular and usually unseen views of our island. It was a privilege to be on board.
There are at least two bridges on the carrier, one for ship navigation (which I visited) and the other for air traffic control. Our group was split between the two. The navigation bridge is used to steer and navigate the ship. It is a room filled with computers, electronics and not surprisingly, someone actually steering the ship. You'd almost think everything is automatic, but that is far from the truth. There are many hands on tasks that require a human to do.
Below the two bridge decks, we got to observe the flight deck control room where the status of every aircraft is played out on a big drafting table utilizing tokens that represent each aircraft on board.
After the bridge tour, officers Flanders and Terrell took us back down to the hangar deck for a press conference with Rear Admiral Thomas Rowden and Brigadier General Thomas P. Harwood III. They entertained the journalists with answers to questions on RIMPAC, fleet size, objectives, economic impact to the State of Hawaii, military readiness and cultural considerations.
After the press conference, we were led to the Admiral's quarters where we got a refreshing drink of water and where some took a break to visit "the head". The Admiral's quarters is finely appointed and decorated to resemble the red room in the White House. The carrier's sponsor, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, donated original furnishings and memorabilia. They include books, photographs of President Reagan, his desk from the time when he was Governor of California and other mementos. The Admiral also has a real bedroom and a bathroom that could adorn any decent home.
We were then led to another part of the ship where everyone who wanted to shoot flight operations had to suit up in protective gear. We donned our flack vests and "cranials", - helmets with goggles and earmuffs built in to protect our head, eyes and ears. We were instructed on various aspects of flight deck safety (stay together, no roaming around, obey the officers in charge, do not cross certain lines, remove all loose objects, no flash pictures) and that a violation of any of the safety rules would result in the immediate removal of the person from the flight deck.
Under flight operation conditions, the flight deck became an intense, loud, dangerous and fast moving environment where jet aircraft engines scream way above tolerable hearing levels and where there is no room for error or careless photographers trying to get their best shot. The smell of jet fuel and exhaust also wafted through the windy air. Everyone on the flight deck had a job to do. From what I observed, they did their jobs well with professionalism, intensity and enthusiasm. This is a place where no one can let down his or her guard. Safety is always top of mind.
Flight deck operations included fueling, moving planes into and out of position, guiding them in for landing and prepping them for take-off. It was awesome to be standing just a few feet away from rushing F/A 18 fighter jets, EA 6B Prowlers and E2 Hawkeye airbourne early warning (AEW) planes coming and going. While all of this was going on, many other aircraft were flying around and above the USS Ronald Reagan. The skies were just as busy as the flight deck. It's a good thing they have air traffic control on board the ship. Everyone in the media group had some kind of camera snapping photos away or taking video. This was truly "the rush" of the day.
After nearly a half hour on the flight deck, we were instructed to go down below and prepare for the trip back to Honolulu. We met in a ready room below deck, removed our flight deck gear and donned new gear to prepare us for our helicopter ride back to base.
We were required to put on another "cranial" and donned a life vest. The safety officer briefed us on what to do in case the helicopter had a problem and was forced to make a water landing. He told us to quickly unfasten the safety harness and try to get out of the sinking chopper as fast as possible to swim back up to the surface before it sank too deeply.
Huh? Most military personnel go through weeks of practical training for this kind of emergency and they expect us lowly civilians to get this all with a 5-minute briefing? If the worst happened, I surely expected to just drown and die.
Shortly afterwards, our group was split into two. We headed back up to the flight deck and hurriedly made our way in the windy noise to the two Sikorsky SH60 Seahawk helicopters. The Seahawk is the naval services equivalent of the Blackhawk.
My counterpart, Bob Hogue, was whisked with most of the group to the first Seahawk, I into the second with the photographer from Reuters and Lt. Terrell. We were placed in our seats, strapped in, doors slammed shut and waited. The steady whirr of the rotor blades could be easily heard through the protective headgear we were wearing. It was late afternoon at around 1830 hours (6:30 pm). A hazy view of the carrier's deck and island could be seen through the double layered plastic window on the chopper's closed door.
After a few minutes of waiting the sound of the engines revved up and suddenly we lifted off deck and made a sharp banking turn to the left. Away from the Ronald Reagan we went. The chopper rapidly climbed to an altitude of about 500 to 600 feet and for the next 30 minutes, skimmed over the Pacific Ocean at about 150 mph as we made our way back to Oahu. The engine sound was constant, and I knew this $28 million flying machine was performing at peak efficiency. The afternoon helicopter ride was a surprisingly pleasant experience. At this low flight level, the ocean was always near, the weather was clear and there was no turbulence at all. Slowly, on the right side of chopper the sight of approaching land was beautiful.
In a few minutes we landed at Hickam just outside the main runway at Honolulu International Airport and spent another 15 minutes or so taxiing to the VIP terminal where important dignitaries like the President of the United States are dropped off.
Upon disembarking from the Seahawk, we found out that our helicopter was the only one that made it back from the USS Ronald Reagan. The first chopper with Bob Hogue and the rest of the journalists experienced a mechanical emergency and had to return to the carrier for repair. They did not return that day.
It was not until late the next day that the rest of the media contingent returned, not by helicopter but on a freight plane known as the "COD" or C2 "Greyhound". The reason for that was because the carrier had sailed further away from Hawaii and the only way back was to use a plane that had a greater range and flew faster than the chopper.
The trip and tour on board the USS Ronald Reagan will definitely be the highlight of 2010.
This would be like erecting a memorial to the Japanese bomber pilots who attacked Pearl Harbor. How un-American! This should never be built so close to Ground Zero.
The United States turned 234 years old this week. Hawaii celebrated America's Independence Day in the usual way: shopping, picnics, beach, playgrounds, music, gatherings and of course fireworks. Here is video from Ala Moana Center's fireworks finale and pictures from the same show. Hope you all had a great holiday to help celebrate America's freedom.
Photos and video content Copyright 2010 by Melvin Ah Ching Productions
I spent nearly half the month of June on the Big Island of Hawaii mainly in the town of Honokaa visiting and staying over with my parents and sister. Each trip back to my favorite neighbor island is special these days as my Dad is in declining health. It is a special time I take to visit him and Mom. I spent several days taking Dad around to places he wanted to see near Honokaa.
While they are not in most of the photos, they were indeed there during trips to Kalopa State Park, Waipio Valley lookout, Paauilo Mauka, Ookala and Laupahoehoe.
Some of the significant items of note during my stay on the Big Island:
The Kealakaha Stream Bridge:Newly opened, with construction finished on May 12. This new bridge (photo above) had been under construction along Route 19 near Ookala for at least 3 years. It seemed longer. The new 650 foot span replaces the narrow, old bridge that had been in service since about 1935. That bridge still stands to the right of this new bridge.
I like the new bridge. Most motorists will travel over the span in less than 60 seconds. It is nice, wide and feels very safe. The main reason for the bridge replacement was to have a new facility that is able to withstand the shock of a major earthquake. The Big Island is volcanic and residents there are subjected to numerous earthquakes, most of them small.
T. Kaneshiro Store (TKS) Sold: It was with some sadness when I found out that T. Kaneshiro Store (TKS), a long time grocer in Honokaa town will be sold to new owners. The store's last day of operation will be on August 31. Store owners Roland and Gary Kaneshiro are retiring after being in the family business as the town's main grocers for many years.
I worked at Kaneshiro Store for one summer in the 1970s as a stock clerk. Learned some valuable lessons from the retail trade and have applied them to my life as a good consumer. My brother worked there for about 2 years in the mid 1980s.
Kaneshiro Store started off in a small wooden building that still stands at the corner of Mamane and Plumeria streets in Honokaa. In 1976 the store was moved to the bigger, present location just across Plumeria street.
On September 1, the grocers Malama Market will take over T. Kaneshiro Store. It will certainly be the end of an era for Honokaa and Hamakua.
Honokaa's longtime grocery store, TKS will become Malama Market on Sept. 1.
The Honokaa sewer line project took to the side streets in June.
Sewer Line Project: Since my last trip to Honokaa in March, the sewer line project that snaked through most of the town is probably half over with most of the major construction nearly complete along Mamane Street. Crews were still digging on Plumeria Street next to TKS and up at the top of Pikake Street near Tex Drive-In. Motorists have had to put up with detours and metal plates through much of the construction. The traffic pattern on Mamane Street was disrupted for a while, but has since gone back to normal with two way traffic and parallel parking on both sides of the road.
Ookala is a small, former plantation village on the Big Island.
It was nice to take my Dad to visit Ookala last month. He was a bit taken back by some of the changes to the place. The home where he grew up and lived as a boy in the Chinese section of the plantation camp, are long gone. Also gone are the old general store, old post office, old theater, tennis courts and the sugar mill. There is a new post office and some small businesses located in a cluster of new plantation era-like structures. The old Ookala School is overgrown with weeds 8 feet high and the old plantation gymnasium sits abandoned, condemned and in disrepair.
Ookala is one of many former sugar plantation communities along the Hamakua Coast that are passed by motorists traveling along Highway 19. Once in a while it is good to take a detour for a drive back into a quaint, quiet, green past.
The following is a slide show of all of the photos published from my June 2010 Big Island trip. When the set is completed, the slide show will consist of photos from Honokaa, Waipio Valley lookout, Paauilo Mauka, Kalopa Park, Ookala, and Laupahoehoe in addition to shots of my sister's cat Poof, Hilo, flowers, critters and maybe Waimea.
Photos and text are copyright 2010 to Melvin Ah Ching Productions.
I find it rather funny that Apple iPhone users have been duped since 2007 that their hi-tech phones have been giving them strong signal strength when for many, it just was not true.
The company released a statement saying that it discovered (to its surprise) that its algorithm for calculating signal strength for display as one to five bars has been incorrect since 2007. - Tidbits, July 2, 2010
Users of the new iPhone 4 have reported significant loss of signal strength when the devices were held in a certain way. Too funny. You spend all of that money for an expensive, fancy phone and suddenly it does not perform as expected.
I am happy I never bought into the iPhone or any other cellular devices in all the years that cellular have been available to consumers. (Generally I don't like the monthly pricing of all cellular phone plans nor do I like to be bothered by ringing phones when I am away from home or the office.)
This latest technological setback for Apple comes on the heals of recent data bandwidth rollbacks imposed on the iPhone and Apple's iPad by their only cellular vendor, AT & T.
