Waikiki
businesses have united to sponsor the annual Waikiki New Year’s Fireworks
Display, according to Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement
Association.
”We are
extremely grateful to our membership for generously sponsoring this event for
the past 16 years,” said. “Tens of thousands of our local residents and
visitors from around the world look forward to the show each year, so we make
sure it is worthy of a world class destination.”
The aerial
extravaganza will start at the stroke of midnight off Waikiki Beach and continue
for 10 minutes into the New Year, featuring 840 shells and special effects. The
Grand Finale will feature a spectacular 225-shell display of bursting barrages
and a star break of spectacular color that fills the sky.
The barge
providing the platform for the fireworks will be centrally located off Waikiki
Beach for great visibility throughout the area.
Nine Hawaii
writers have been named winners of the Second Annual O’ahu Arts Center (OAC)
Writing Competition. The contest was open to all Hawaii and South Pacific Island
residents and was sponsored by Castle & Cooke Homes, Dr. Phil Bohnert and
Elsha Bohnert.
The first
place winners are Rob Taylor of Honolulu for Fiction: “Migrations”; Timothy
Lee Denevi of Honolulu for Non-Fiction: “The Wolfman in Barry Bonds”; and
Sandra Krawciw of Kailua for Poetry: “Black Cat Cigarettes.”
The Oahu
Arts Center is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization composed of community
members and leaders who share a vision to plan, design, and raise funds to build
a first-class arts education and performance center in Central Oahu to attract
residents of all ages island wide.
• • •
Three Hawaii
teachers have been named state finalists for the 2005 Presidential Awards for
Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST), the nation’s highest
honor for K-12 teaching in these fields. Loren Ayresman, a Mathematics teacher
at King Kekaulike High School in Pukalani; Sandra Nakagawa, a Science teacher at
Moanalua High School in Honolulu, and Jeanine Nakakura, a Science teacher for
the McKinley Complex in Honolulu.
Established
by Congress in 1983, and administered for the White House by the National
Science Foundation, the Presidential Awards allow for each state to select up to
three mathematics and three science teachers as state finalists. Recipients of
the 2005 Awards will be announced in March in Washington, D.C.
• • •
Honolulu
Symphony Maestro Matt Catingub arranged and performed the music, and even wrote
an original song, for the soundtrack of George Clooney’s critically-acclaimed
film “Good Night and Good Luck,” and has been nominated for a GRAMMY award
in Jazz Vocal Album category.
• • •
The Honolulu Board of REALTORS® handed out the
Academy Awards of Oahu’s real estate industry honoring its top professionals
at the Eighth Annual Aloha ‘Aina Awards held last month. Joel Criz of A. Joel
Criz & Associates was honored as the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® 2005
REALTOR® of the Year.
Oahu
high schools had the opportunity to earn a share of $100,000 worth of free
athletic equipment and uniforms from Adidas and Wilson Sporting Goods in the
Times Super Markets and Kraft Hawaii 2005 Shop and Score competition. Rounding
out the top five points earners were Castle High School, Kaimuki High School,
McKinley High School, Kalani High School and Aiea High School.
As
the top points earner, Castle High School will receive more than $10,000 worth
of sports equipments and uniforms.
• • •
Kraft
Foods’ Crystal Light soft drink presented the American Diabetes
Association’s (ADA) Tour de Cure in November. The cycling event, featured 25K,
50K and 85K races, and enabled ADA to further its mission to prevent and cure
diabetes and improve the lives of all those affected by the disease. ADA will
use funds raised by cyclist registration fees, participant pledge collections
and corporate sponsorship to support local programs and services as well as
national research and advocacy initiatives.
The Sisters of Saint Francis,
Syracuse, New York and the Board of Directors of Saint Francis School are
rethinking the concept of a single gender school, Both the Board and the Sisters
have decided that a co-ed school is the best direction for Saint Francis. For an
effective transition, Saint Francis School will open a co-ed Kindergarten in the
2006-2007 school year with the intent of phasing in a new co-ed grade each
succeeding year. All currently enrolled students will graduate as single gender
classes.