The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 860 Annual Retirement Dinner

The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 860 held their annual Retirement Dinner at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa on Saturday, July 20, 2013.  The following retired members were present, (photo above bottom l/r) Germaine Miyasato, Downtown Station with 16 years, Bruce McDowell, Waikiki Station with 33 years, Brad Blanck, Waikiki Station with 23 years, Larry (Baba) Fife, Downtown Station with 24 years, Douglas Yamada, Downtown Station with 41 years and George Nakamichi, Downtown Station with 44 years for a total of 181 years.

Howard Komine, NALC President, Branch 860 along with Executive VP Alvin Matsumura presented the Sam Hipa Award to Alvin Yoshikawa who has been the Health Benefit Officer for years and took over the Director of Retirees and have been planning and coordinating Branch 860 Retirement Dinners, and recently stepped down due to medical complications.  The Shop Steward of the Year Award was presented to Opal Piimoku (photo above, back row top right), Kapalama Station.

Honored guests tonight were Ron Watson, Director of Retired Members from National in Washington DC (top photo back row 2nd from left), Bryant Almario, Business Agent from California (top photo back middle), Terry Kaolulo, Hawaii State Association of Letter Carriers, Kevin Nakaoka, Officer in Charge, Manager of Post Office Operations (OIC MPOO), Chuck Lum, NAPS President and guest Laurie Ramelb and Mrs. Jackie Hipa, wife of the late Sam Hipa and guest, daughter Toni Walker.  "Click here" to see the event candid photos. "Click here" to view the video.

2013 Summer Games are coming to an end and college bound for many students

While the 2013 Summer games will be coming to an end shortly, some of these students have been enjoying the summer games such as softball, baseball, soccer etc.  Today, the Kamehameha Kapalama boys soccer team enjoyed a game against Moanalua Na Menehune at Moanalua Football field.

I spoke with Na Menehune Boys Head Coach Spencer Machado (photo left) who has been coaching for the past 25 years.  He said "these summer games were organized by Frank Baumholtz who actually coached the girls soccer team at Pearl City High School; and he formed this thing from way back to coincide with AYSO.  It's a summer league where the kids from high school got something to do after the school season ends and it lets the upcoming eight graders get use to playing with the high school players."

This high school summer soccer league consists of only juniors, sophomores, freshman and upcoming eight graders.  To join this program, each student pays the AYSO registration fees to play.  There is no real practice, just play and getting the kids to work together, and mostly have fun.  Some of the kids played during their earlier years with other soccer clubs and for this season his kids have won some and lost some, but the main thing is they play well with each other and develop the concept of team work.  For game photos "click here."

East China, University of Political Science and Law (ECUPSL) Girls Softball Team

Tonight at the Central Oahu Regional Park (CORP), the softball team from East China, University of Political Science and Law (ECUPSL) (older girls), combined with the Shanghai Sports School (younger girls) to form this team coached by Sun Jie who has been coaching for the past 20 years.  Shanghai Sports School is a highly-respected institution and home to some of China's best athletes.

Chinese Interpreter, Marlin Lee further related that they are here to play 4 games in Hawaii and move on to Los Angeles to play another 5 games, then return back to China.  They would like to thank the Altima Girls Softball team headed by Head Coach John Uekawa for the opportunity to play and gain the experience for their girls, who will be returning to China to play in their September National games which will be held in Liaoning Province More information "click here.".  Present at this event were (l/r, photo left) Head Coach Sun Jie, Team Manager Yang Yi, Head of Delegations Shen Mao and Interpreter Marlin Lee. For photos of this event, please "click here."

Koa Kai 2013 Laulima Regatta Honoring John Matejko and Jack Evans

It was a great day at Ke'ehi Lagoon for the Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a 7th Annual Regatta Race and the Koa Kai Canoe Club for hosting their Laulima Regatta today.  It was a special event honoring two of their own, John Matejko and Jack Evans for their support and commitment to the canoe club.  When the club needed help and were asking around for volunteer officials, John Matejko (photo bottom right) didn't hesitate and stepped in to lend a helping hand at the Officials Stand.

Jack Evans (photo left) was part of the Koa Kai men's 50 crew, but was unable to continue paddling, so he also volunteered to assist on the Officials' Stand.  This is his first year being on the Officials' Stand, but his motivation has been learning about what it takes to run a regatta race.  Both paddlers have spent many hours volunteering their time on Sundays as representatives on the Officials' Stand.  Congratulations to both.  I'm sure the club appreciates your hard work and dedication.  Today's race results "click here."  Photos and video of today's race "click here."

New Zealand National Junior White Sox Team In Hawaii Heading To World Series In Canada

The New Zealand National Girls Junior White Sox Softball team (photo above) stopped over in Honolulu this past week for some friendship games against teams here in Honolulu. I caught up with the team at Sand Island State Recreation Softball field for two of their games, Hawaii Pearls and the Altima Girls Softball team.

I spoke to Head Coach Venita Kokai and she related that "Hawaii is so beautiful and would love to live here.  This is our first visit to Hawaii.  It's a build up for the New Zealand chain as we are on our way to the 19 and under World Series in Canada.  With the two year turn around of the World Series, we were only able to pick our team as of March 2013 because our season had ended and haven't taken the diamond for about three months."

"As for games back home, due to the weather and snow, everyone is out for the regular season and these games here today are our first games after a big break and a good experience for our girls.  The development teams are selected following the SNZ age group tournaments held in January and are made up of players from throughout New Zealand."  At the end of today's game, awards were shared among each team and the the New Zealand girls performed their traditional "Haka" dance (bottom photo) for the crowd.

Transportation Security Administration "Certificate of Appreciation" Presented to Glennard Williams

Frank “Mike” Abreu, (Deputy Federal Security Director) DFSD along with Dana Chong-Tim, AFSD-LE, Cy Okinaka, AFSD, and Stanford Miyamoto, (Federal Security Director) FSD presented Glennard Williams (photo above) with a Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of the Transportation Security Administration along with a beautiful two sided coin (photo below) for his protection of their TSA Officers from an Disorderly passenger at one of their check points; and for his quick actions, outstanding professionalism in the performance of his duties as a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO).

On Monday,  June 10, 2013,  a male passenger going through HNL Inter-Island Aloha TSA check point refused screening procedures, sat on the floor and started yelling and using profanity, becoming overbearing and disrupting government operation. When officer Glennard Williams stepped in to assist, the passenger became disorderly and threw a punch at Officer Williams.  To protect other passengers as well as TSA personnel at the check point, Williams defended himself and with the help of a fellow officer, both had the passenger under control within minutes until help arrived and the male passenger was taken into custody. "Congratulations" to Glennard Williams Law Enforcement Officer (LEO). for a job well done.

The 2013 Girls and Boys Summer Soccer League - Honolulu, Hawaii

The 2013 Girls and Boys Summer Soccer league began with the first game for Moanalua against PAC5 at Moanalua High School Football field last night.  Family and friends watched as both teams enjoyed the competition and basically had fun amongst each other.  The scored ended with PAC5 2-0 over the Na Menehune.

I spoke to Na Menehune Varsity Girls Head Coach, Nikki Dela Pena about the summer games and she related that there are 12 games and basically these games are just for fun.  "It's just to get some of the new faces and our transitional players that are coming over from our middle school interested in the program and also to keep our returning players active, the one that are traveling and not currently playing any club soccer and make sure our program stays intact.  As for the coming year, we have a handful of returning JV players that are coming back and one or two of the varsity players.  At the varsity level right now, there are a lot of kids traveling now over this summer so most of the varsity girls don't participate in this because of their club commitments which is fine, because it's just for fun and to get some exposure."  For more action photos, "click here."