Call to Order
President Tim Hansen called the meeting of June 10th to order at 7:00.
Opening Activities
The meeting opened with Tom Witthans leading the Pledge. This was followed by an inspirational moment from Kevin Reardon: “Be impeccable with your word, speak with integrity. Do not take anything personally, nothing others do is because of you. Do not make assumptions, find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Always do you best, your best is going to change from moment to moment.” Toltec ethical code.
Trivia
How many D 5000 Rotarians are going to Taipei? 57. In 2027, where will the RI Convention be held? Barcelona.
Guests, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Inductions, Special Recognition
- Birthdays: Toby Taniguchi
- Anniversaries: None
- Inductions: None
- Guests: Yu Yok & Mike Pearring on a break from medical treatment
- Paul Harriss Recognition: Lorraine Davis and Patrick Bodell. Virginia Juettner presented them with their new Paul Harriss pins. Lorraine received the PH +1 and Patrick received the Paul Harriss +2 pin. Virginia acknowledged their contributions were helping others and giving back to the world. She applauded their generosity.
Club Announcements P Tim asked if there were any announcements from the members after he reminded everyone that dues were due by June 17th.
- Jan will become P Jan on July 1st. Her installation will be held at the Hilo Woman’s Club. Stay tuned for more information.
- Annual breakfast payments will continue in the new Rotary year. You can prepay a year for $800 or half a year for $400. This expedites the meeting check in process and helps the club’s treasury.
- D 5000 conference is coming up. There is still space in the hotel at the conference rate. See the D 5000 website for details. Make your reservations directly with hotel for the conference rate.
- Benson Medina will our new D 5000 Governor and his installation is on 6/27. See D 5000 website for details and to register.
- Richard Cunningham is hosting a small group lunch. Please see Richard for details.
- Steven Sylvester will be holding an Oktoberfest planning meeting on 6/16 at 5 pm at James Tyrin’s office. If you do not know where that is, contact either Steven or James.
Happy Dollars
Last week we missed Mike Carroll’s Happy Dollars. Sorry Mike.
$50-Mike Carroll returned from a seven week trip to France, Switzerland, and Algeria where he saw many wonderful and disturbing things. Mike wants to acknowledge a debt to the member who always has his back.
$50-Yu Yok was happy to be alive and wishing everyone happiness.
$5-Kim Keahiolalo was visiting the Bay area and happy to see that gay pride was alive and well.
$ -Alan Okinaka provided a lifetime list of the things that make life enjoyable—laughter, music, talk story, writing, enjoying the scenery, singing, using hands, walking, dancing, clowning around, drawing, painting, gardening, quiet moments. These are the healing ingredients for a good life.
$20-Art Taniguchi was happy to see Yu Yok.
$ 3-Steven Sylvester happy to his sons at the meeting and seeing Yu Yok. Happier to see that the State was working on the Saddle Road problems including enforcing the speed limit.
$50-Julie Hugo for an update on Yu Yok and Mike’s family.
$50-Tom Witthans attended his 50th class reunion and recognized a few of them.
Guest Speaker: President Tim asked Julie Hugo to introduce our guest speaker Kim Bass-Pierce of Root2Rise Kalamapi’i PLAY School. Julie acknowledged that love brought Kim to Hilo and keeps her here. Kim has degree in counseling, is married with two children. She runs the Kalamapi’i Play School which now has 60 students.
The push for preschools in Hawaii has created both opportunities and problems. A significant problem is the lack of land and age appropriate facilities. The State’s approach is to use existing school space and property for preschools along with a rigid age group and classroom structure to prepare them for primary school—sit at a desk, do the handouts etc. even though the facilities were not designed for preschoolers
Kim Pierce’s approach is age appropriate. Friends do not group by age but by interest. Sitting at a desk for the school day is not appropriate for high activity, creative children nor are the teacher student ratios promulgated by DOE. You need more teachers if you are going to give children freedom to explore their environments.
The State has modified a number of funding options to provide parents with a choice of preschools. Parents can receive financial aid for private programs and half of the children at Kalamapi’I have state aid.
Door Prize Winner: Kim Keahiolalo was the winner of the pottery piece made by Kevin Reardon
Closing Announcement:
- RI Convention is June 13-20
- D 5000 Conference is Aug. 21-23 in Honolulu
- Travel to Japan to visit our sister club will occur in May 2027
- Check your emails and the club website, www.hilobayrotary.com, for news and updates
Four Way Test: James Tyrin
Door prizes and Inspirations for June
Brian Lindsey June 3
Kevin Reardib June 10
Mike Carroll June 17
Jo B June 24
You can’t be a door prize winner without door prizes. Lorraine is looking for volunteers for door prizes and inspiration. Her calendar is in need of names and commitments.