OTE TO RD: two photos—portrait/mug of Dease, kids roping on a parade float. A native son and whole community enjoyed, benefitted from event By DENNIS WILKEN TGI Staff Writer KOLOA—Peter W. Dease had been away from Kaua’i for almost three
OTE TO RD: two photos—portrait/mug of Dease, kids roping on a parade float.
A native son and whole community enjoyed, benefitted from event
By DENNIS WILKEN
TGI Staff Writer
KOLOA—Peter W. Dease had
been away from Kaua’i for almost three decades.
He lived and worked for the
state’s tourism board in Chicago for 28 years until “they closed all the
mainland offices.”
But in the two and half years since he’s been back,
Dease has made himself useful. He’s a docent at the Kaua’i Museum, and a tour
guide at the Botanical Gardens and Grove Farms Museum.
Dease was helping
out another worthy cause at last Saturday’s Plantation Days Parade in Koloa. He
was there selling t-shirts and promoting Koloa Scholarship
Fundraisers.
“What we do is we take students—from mothers who want to go
back to school, to teenagers—and help them further their education,” Dease
explained.
Students are selected from the Greater Koloa area.
“They
don’t necessarily have to be at the top of their class. One fellow with
learning disabilities was a B student, but he worked so hard to do that. The
Phi Beta Kappas receive scholarships from all over. We like to award students
with more of a potential to return to Kaua’i…nursing or teaching, although
they can study anything,” Dease said.
Dease said Koloa Scholarship
Fundraisers has awarded 33 scholarships in the past six years, including five
this May.
The group has tried various fund-raising methods, including a
testimonial dinner for Phyllis Kunimura (Tony Kunimura’s widow) and golf
tournaments.
Dease has ties to old Koloa. His great-great-grandfather, Dr.
A.H. Waterhouse, practiced medicine in Koloa.
Dease, born and raised in
Koloa, was delivered by his own grandfather, James W. Smith, who Dease said was
the only doctor practicing in Koloa for more than 40 years.
The t-shirts
Dease was selling at the parade were designed by another relative, Lorie Dill,
and manufactured by Nite Owl T-shirts in Port Allen, a going Kaua’i concern for
the past 15 years.
Dease said one quarter of everything raised goes
directly into an endowment fund, which keeps growing and pays for two of the
five or six annual scholarships awarded.
People wishing to contribute or
buy a $15 t-shirt can do so by writing Koloa Scholarship Fundraisers, P.O. Box
57, Koloa, HI 96756. Information is also available in the shopping area of The
Garden Island webpage (kaua’iworld.com).
Dease was so busy soliciting funds
for scholarships, he missed the parade honoring Hawai’i (and Kaua’i) medal
winners from World War II. The procession, along with a crafts fair, live
entertainment and surfing contests, were part of the eight-day Plantation Days
celebration that offered fun for all and recognition for many of the islands’
people.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext.
252).
