UPCOMING Events
On Thursday (Jan. 31), Ryan Perroy, director of the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Spatial Data Analysis and Visualization Laboratory, presents drone imagery and video collected by his team during Kilauea’s 2018 eruption and talks about lessons learned.
Perroy’s talk begins at 7 p.m. in University Classroom Building Room 100 on the main UH-Hilo campus, located at 200 W. Kawili St. in Hilo.
The program is free and open to the public. No reservations are required.
Details are posted on the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website at the “HVO News” corner at https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/.
For more information, call 967-7328 or email askHVO@usgs.gov.
The county Department of Parks and Recreation Aquatics Section is offering an American Red Cross lifeguard training course from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. from Friday through Friday, Feb. 4-8, at the Pahala pool. The course fee is $75.
Participants will be required to pass a prerequisite test. Contact the pool at 928-8177 to schedule a test. The course fee and registration forms, which can be obtained at the pool, are due immediately following the completion of the prerequisite test.
The prerequisite test will include:
• 300-yard continuous swim using the front crawl, breaststroke or a combination of both.
• Two minutes of treading water, without using hands.
• Completion of a timed event in 1 minute 40 seconds: Starting in the water, swim 20 yards, retrieve a 10-pound brick from the deep end, return the brick to the starting point and exit the water.
Participants must provide their own supplies, including CPR mask, swim suit, goggles, towel, American Red Cross Lifeguard Manual, etc. The manual can be downloaded for free at www.redcross.org/take-a-class/lifeguarding/lifeguard-preparation/lifeguard-manual.
For more information, contact the nearest county swimming pool or the aquatics specialist at 961-8694.
Hawaii Care Choices, provider of palliative, hospice and bereavement care in East Hawaii, is looking to add to its volunteer team and will conduct a training session in February for those members of the community interested in giving a few hours a week to uplift others.
New volunteers can choose to provide services such as companionship, giving caregivers a break, transportation, errands, cooking, music, light household chores, bereavement support, administrative support, landscaping and assisting with community events. Licensed massage therapists and hairdressers are welcome. Veterans also are encouraged to apply.
For volunteer Richard Blankenfeld, giving a few hours of his time each week sitting with patients, giving caregivers a break or answering phones is a special way to give back to the organization that took care of his daughter when she received hospice care.
When asked what he would tell someone who is thinking about volunteering, but is still unsure, Blankenfeld says, “If you are on the fence, talk to Jeanette; she really helped me. It feels good to help somebody.”
Training will include a 10-hour online course to be completed prior to meeting from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 15 for the final day of instruction.
To hear more about Blankenfeld’s volunteer journey, you can watch his video at www.hawaiicarechoices/volunteer; interested trainees should complete an online application and then call volunteer manager Jeanette Mochida at 969-1733 no later than Friday, Feb. 8, to arrange a quick mandatory pre-training interview.
The Volcano Art Center’s 2019 Hula Voices series continues Wednesday (Feb. 6) with a program featuring kumu hula Keala Ching and moderator Desiree Moana Cruz.
Ching is a Hawaiian cultural educator, composer, songwriter and spiritual adviser to many Hawaiian organizations. He lives and breathes aloha into his Hawaiian heritage with his strong presence and great heart. Under the tutelage of Lehua Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, Ching has spent many years learning and building his knowledge.
He received the ‘uniki rites of kumu hula. He is fluent in the Hawaiian language, which he uses as the foundation for teaching all of his students. Ching currently lives in Kailua-Kona, where he is kumu hula for Ka Pa Hula Na Wai Iwi Ola. As a composer of chants and mele, he travels the world to share hula.
Hula Voices is an oral history project, presenting an engaging, intimate “talk story” session with Hawaii Island’s hula practitioners as they share their hula genealogy, traditions, protocols and experiences.
These free, educational offerings occur regularly on the first Wednesday of each month, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Park entrance fees apply.
For more information, visit www.volcanoartcenter.org.
