The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said Wednesday that Kilauea volcano is erupting.
At approximately 3:20 p.m. Wednesday, the observatory said it detected a glow in Kilauea summit webcam images indicating that an eruption has commenced within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Kilauea’s summit caldera within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
In our busy lives, we often get caught up in the frenetic pace we’ve set, and don’t know how to slow down. Hualalai offers so many places for us to stop and smell the salt sea breeze. Yesterday morning I got a whole new perspective on life.
I don’t want to be Suzy Sunshine, sending only pictures of the beauty of our Hualalai while ignoring the elephant in the room: COVID, Delta strain. Maybe because we aren’t on state mandated lock down, there seems to be more cases of COVID at Hualalai than at the beginning of the pandemic. The Hawaiian Islands are experiencing a surge. The island of Hawaii is experiencing a surge. Hualalai is feeling the effects. My husband and I are basically on lock down now. It’s back to Hunkering at Hualalai and hoping for the best.
One thing about the environs of Hualalai, there is natural beauty everywhere. I took a walk one night and I honestly didn’t know where to look. In front of me was the glowing sunset, behind me was a breathtaking rainbow. I kept swiveling around like I was watching a tennis match. Then yesterday morning, I sat down to watch the waves until this tree branch caught my eye.
Susie Johns and Others Recognized at 2021 NSBA Honors Banquet
Susie Johns was presented with the prestigious Jack Benson Award at this year’s NSBA Honors Banquet. Check out all the winners here.
NSBA/GoHorseShow
Danielle Long PHOTO
The 2021 NSBA Awards Banquet took place Sunday night after the NSBA World Show classes for the day. The banquet was held in the Ford Truck Arena at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds. Several highlights of the ceremony included the presentation of the Jack Benson Award to past NSBA President Susie Johns of Paradise Valley, Arizona and Grant Mastin of Jackson, Ohio, announced as the NSBA Youth of the Year.
Susie Johns has always seen her service to NSBA as a way to give back to an industry that has given her and her family countless memories. She served as President of NSBA in 2018 and continues to serve as chair of NSBA’s Hall of Fame.
In addition, Johns has served on numerous committees and has aided in the growth and further development of theAll-Around events, including the expansion of trail divisions. With her support and guidance, NSBA has seen exponential growth in participation in these events.
With the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases and community spread within Hawaii County, Kohanaiki will be hosting a vaccine clinic for all interested members, Kohanaiki team members, and their families to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 Rapid Testing Announcement
In addition to Kohanaiki’s team member daily health questionnaire and daily temperature checks upon entry, Kohanaiki will begin administering mandatory bi-weekly COVID-19 rapid testing for all team members. We are in the process of securing an appropriate supply of rapid test kits and will implement as soon as we are able. Additional information will be shared with our team as it becomes available, and testing will remain in place until active cases within Hawaii County significantly decline.
We are closely monitoring potential modifications to Hawaii’s Safe Travels program as Hawaii County Mayor, Mitch Roth has recently requested that Governor David Ige reinstate mandatory pretravel COVID-19 testing requirements for all transpacific passengers regardless of residency or vaccination status. Should Hawaii County cases continue to rise, additional safety measures are being considered at Kohanaiki that may include the possibility of implementing mandatory COVID-19 post arrival rapid testing, administered by the Club, for all members and guests arriving on-island and prior to accessing Club amenities.
The state reported four more Covid deaths on Thursday, and more than 750 new cases. Covid hospitalizations hit a record single-day high at 352, according to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
The highly contagious delta variant now makes up 93% of recent Covid cases in the islands, according to the new variant report released this week. Health officials say community transmission is responsible for the latest surge.
“We are certainly at a critical juncture,” Sarah Kemble, state epidemiologist at the Hawaii Department of Health, told reporters on Thursday.
Hawaii hospitals are struggling to handle a combination of Covid and non-Covid patients, with Straub Medical Center operating at up to 125% of its capacity. Meanwhile, the Hawaii Fire Department ordered three morgue trailers to prepare for a potential increase in casualties, Hawaii News Now reported.
Straub Medical Center: a tent outside the Emergency Room
The Hualālai ‘Ohana Foundation has been busy over the summer. We continue to adapt our programs to serve our Hualālai workforce ‘ohana. How can we help more people? What can we help with? What does our community need? How can we be responsive and supportive partners and help more people? It’s been a time of reflection, transformation, and evolution. Here are a few changes that have taken place over the first half of the year:
Hualālai Summer Program for Keiki
As part of our ongoing efforts to meet the gap for busy moms and dads of Hualālai’s workforce ‘ohana, the Hualālai ‘Ohana Foundation piloted a two-week summer microschool program at Kalaemano Interpretive Center this month. Keiki learned about the different types of coral found in Hawai’i’s waters, the different types of limu (seaweed) and why they are important to ocean health. Four Seasons generously donated all of the snacks and lunches for the keiki. Each child went home with a new backpack, a hydroflask, a portable beach mat, a lot of fun take-home art projects and extra face masks. The program made it easy for working families to have a place for their children to learn, discover, play and engage in place-based education grounded in Hawaiian culture, language, art and STEM.
Scholarship Update
HOF processed 62 Preschool – K-12 Scholarships earlier this month and 55 college scholarships. This is more than we’ve ever done before and we’re excited to see so many applications coming through our doors. We’ve mobilized new systems and processes to simplify and streamline how we serve our Hualālai ‘Ohana and we’re excited to share more of these new developments with you in the months ahead.
We’re seeing a significant increase in requests for scholarships this year and many of them are coming from either first-generation college students or continuing students who are now pursuing graduate degrees. This is extremely exciting for us because it means the ‘ohana is growing and educational dreams are coming true! We’ve seen housekeepers and landscapers bring their kids (home for the summer) to our office to meet our team and say thank you. They are so proud, especially since many of them started out receiving children’s books in the mail from our child literacy programs as toddlers, and now they are college graduates. For the first time in our nearly 20-year history, we have FIVE graduate school scholarship awards this year, and we’re thrilled! Thank you for making it all possible for Hualālai’s workforce ‘ohana!
To get involved or learn more about some of the ways HOF is growing, or if you have some ideas on how we might do more to help more, please call 325-8177 or email nico@HualalaiOhanaFoundation.org
If any of you wondered if your intrepid editor had fallen off the end of a pier, I have not. Instead I’ve been drowning in the monumental task of selling our home of 28 years and clearing it out along with the memories and thousands of photos that have accumulated in that time. I’m beginning to swim to the surface of every day life and will be back reporting to you on the important events of Hualalai very soon.
It certainly is a different world in 2021 versus 2020, when we were hunkering at Hualalai and needed to keep in close contact. Glad those days are behind us!