LIHU’E-Sheriff Herb Sweeney was definitely excited as he joined the group of Kaua’i police officers, the men and women of the Lifetime Stand, the Kaua’i Fire Department, guards from the Kaua’i Community Correctional Center, American Medical Response, and enforcement officers
LIHU’E-Sheriff Herb Sweeney was definitely excited as he joined the group of Kaua’i police officers, the men and women of the Lifetime Stand, the Kaua’i Fire Department, guards from the Kaua’i Community Correctional Center, American Medical Response, and enforcement officers from the DLNR (Dept. of Land and Natural Resources) for the start of the Troy Barboza Law Enforcement Torch Run early Saturday in the driveway of First Hawaiian Bank.
“This is our first year,” Sweeney noted as he and Gary Saiki arranged to have one of the sheriff’s vehicles become part of the motorcade that accompanied the Special Olympics torch carried by Kaua’i High School athlete Harrison Rita. Kaua’i Police Department Inspector Clay Arinaga and his wife Althea were part of the walking contingent that included First Hawaiian Bank’s island manager Mike Murakoshi and about a dozen staff members as well as Cathy Agoot of the Mayor’s office who woke up early Saturday for the event that would signal the start of the Kaua’i Special Olympics at Vidinha Stadium.
A pair of Kaua’i Police Department bike patrol officers also weaved between the vehicles and runners, keeping the group in solid formation with the members of the Lifetime Stand providing cadence counts.
Down at Vidinha Stadium, Kaua’i High School athletes Ashley Kawaihalau and Kandace Cummings, on this day representing the Kaua’i High School football team, fidgeted while waiting for the games to start.
Both athletes were on hand because they are managers for the Kaua’i High School football team that filled a section of bleachers with red jerseys. Both athletes also had parents on hand to offer volunteer services.
Their job for this event would be to accompany the winners to the pedestal where they would receive their medals.
Parents, relatives, and friends strained for first sight of the torch that would start the event. The national anthem by Jorey Cantu, an invocation by Rev. Jan Rudinoff of the St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, a greeting from Hawai`i Special Olympics sports director Dan Epstein, and the reciting of the athletes’ oath by Jerry Caineo, another athlete from Kaua’i High School were part of the opening.
Epstein said the show of force from Hyatt Regency volunteers and the other community groups was greatly appreciated due to the ongoing teachers’ strike which had many of the athletes’ coaches obviously absent from the athletic competition.
The approximately 50 athletes vying in 17 different field and running events were undaunted, and first-time volunteers Kawaihalau and Cummings soon discovered that the courage demonstrated by the competitors was something they each shared, creating a keener sense of appreciation for the ability to compete in Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation (KIF) events.
Football players garbed in the red jersey of the Red Raiders, too, watched as competing athletes overcame personal shortcomings to cross the finish line. The courage demonstrated on the field drove the group to silent admiration.
The Special Olympians came from each end of the island, representing the Chiefess Kamakahelei School, Kapa`a Middle School, Kapa`a High School, Kaua’i High School, Waimea High School, the ARC in Hawai`i, and the Arc of Kaua’i.
Volunteers came from the ranks of the Kaua’i High School football team, the Hyatt Regency at Poipu, the Kaua’i Veterans Council, the fire department, American Medical Response, and First Hawaiian Bank. Kaua’i Police Department sergeant Paul Kanoho was the coordinator for the Troy Barboza Run, and Kaua’i Special Olympics area director Jerry Jona served as both the day’s host and coordinator for the track and field events.
TGI Staff Photographer Dennis Fujimoto can be reached at 245-3681, Ext. 253
