Acts Of Generosity All Year Round

I can’t believe the holiday season has descended upon us again. It catches me off-guard every year, as Christmas displays start making their appearance in retail outlets earlier and earlier, with some stores sporting red-and-green paraphernalia before we even have a chance to celebrate Halloween. Sweet, syrupy melodies of Christmas tunes already were wafting through some businesses just one day after trick-or-treaters traversed the neighborhoods in search of sweets.

Hopefully, we don’t lose the true meaning of the holiday spirit as commercialism threatens to override the warm, loving sentiments of the season again this year …

The good news is that generous sentiments prevail year-round on Kauai. Some 70 participants attended last month’s Party in Pink Zumbathon and nearly $3,000 was raised for breast cancer research. Tricia Melendez deemed the event quite a success … Congratulations to Casey Nakamura of Kapaa High School for winning the Hawaii State Judiciary essay contest related to what is meaningful about volunteering. She was one of six high school students around the state recognized by members of the judicial and legal systems Oct. 24 in the Hawaii Supreme Court courtroom. The contest was held in an effort to raise awareness of the increasing need for free legal services. Nakamura received a $500 cash prize …

Kapaa Middle School Choir and Ukulele Band will present a Color Relay Extravaganza Saturday (Nov. 16). The event is being held to help raise funds for the students’ costs to travel to the annual Heritage Music Festival in California. The 3-mile-long run/walk/jog begins at the parking lot near Payless Shoe Source and Kmart. Registration begins at 6 a.m. with the race kicking off at 7. The color relay will be held on the grounds of Puakea Golf Course, and throughout the run there will be stations with nontoxic powder paint. Event applications are available at Chique Boutique, The Shell Factory, Kapaa Middle School or at kmscolorrelay.weebly.com. Call Mary Lardizabal at 821-4470 ext. 136 or email kmschoir123@yahoo.com for more information …

A benefit to raise money for skate parks in Hawaii will be held at Rob’s Good Times Grill in Lihue Saturday (Nov. 16). The musical group Slightly Stoopid will play, as well as Barrington Levy and Makua Rothman. Doors open at 6 p.m. and all ages are invited to attend. Tickets are available at Déjà vu Surf Hawaii (Lihue), Rainbow Gas and Mini Mart (Kapaa), Pono Market (Kapaa), City Liquor (Lihue), Hanalei Surf, Progressive Expressions (Koloa) and Rob’s Good Times Grill. Tickets also can be purchased at groovetickets.com or bampproject.com …

Nadine Nakamura was officially sworn in last month as the county’s new managing director. She is replacing Gary Heu, who is retiring after 11 years of serving the county in the position. Nakamura represented the county as a councilwoman for almost three years and was on her second term when she resigned to take her on her new role. “I’m very excited about the opportunity to carry out the mayor’s priorities to improve county government and the quality of life for all on Kauai,” she says.