Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 12, 1 December 2000 — First impressions [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

First impressions

WOW! MY election as trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on Nov. 7 was awesome. It eame as a complete surprise, and I am still trying to get over the shock of being an OHA trustee. There are no words to express my heartfelt appreciation to all the people who voted for me. I feel truly blessed to have an opportunity to work for the betterment of conditions for us Hawaiians. Remember — my first order of business is make us "one race of people." To do

this, I need your help. My first public appearance was on Nov. 10. 1 was invited to the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs convention at the Hawai'i Naniloa Hotel in Hilo. Before going to the eonference, many thoughts entered my mind. For example, what do I wear? Must I give a speech?

How many people would attend? Who are these people? I almost no go. Well, I went and I'm awfully glad I did because when I entered the Crown Room, I was presented

with a beautiful maile lei. Looking around the room, I suddenly realized I was home. The people there were my family and friends, some I hadn't seen for years. We had a very healthy luneh, lots of vegetables. Good for the senior citizens, so the doctor said. The entertainment brought back memories I kinda forgot. The children's hula and the gorgeous ladies in the beautiful holokūs took me back to my younger years when I danced the hula and sang. This is part of our culture and I say mahalo nui to the kumu hula for keeping

up our traditions. My next appearance was at the Keaukaha Pana'ewa Farmers' Association. I didn't have to be invited, because I am a member of this association, but President Jerryl Mauhili, was so kind to invite me to the meeting. I attended a Hawaiian meeting in Keaukaha this past week-

end. Everyone seemed wellinformed, and a great discussion was going on. Mālama pono (take care), a hui hou (until we meet again), and Aloha. ■

[?]