LIHU‘E – Santa was the center of attention Friday morning when the Lihu‘e Bowling Center lounge was transformed into party central. About 40 students and 20 staff members of the Wilcox Elementary School Special Education program descended on the facility
LIHU‘E – Santa was the center of attention Friday morning when the Lihu‘e Bowling Center lounge was transformed into party central.
About 40 students and 20 staff members of the Wilcox Elementary School Special Education program descended on the facility for the 23rd Annual Giving & Sharing program hosted by the merchants of the Rice Shopping Center.
Among those attending the event was LBC’s Darryl Izumo who noted that the lounge has become quite popular among community residents who recently converted the room into a workshop for the Samaritan’s Purse hosted by the Lihu‘e Baptist Church.
Following the Giving & Sharing party Friday morning, Izumo said the place was already booked up Friday evening for another birthday party.
Judi Murakami, one of the sparkplugs of the annual Giving & Sharing program, said that merchants look forward to being able to share with the students, and her volunteers call her to ask when is the party.
Murakami said that traditionally, the program takes place the second Friday in December. On the first Friday, her time is occupied with the Lights on Rice parade, an event she serves as one of the steering members.
She was pleasantly surprised during the party with a visit by the Young Brothers Community Advisory Board represented by CAB chair Wanda Shibata and Wendall Kam, the Young Brothers Nawiliwili Port Manager. The pair arrived with a grant that will help with parade expenses.
Kam noted that his son eagerly looks forward to this annual event, and this was his first time experiencing the joy and excitement of students who enjoyed personal visits with Santa as well as an offering of juice and cookies served up by volunteers.
Kam said that his son would look at the calendar and count down the number of days before Giving & Sharing, and finally, on Thursday night, he excitedly pointed out that it would take place Friday.
Teresa Koki and Bev Pang, two other parade committee members, also were able to experience the excitement of students and their teachers. Before long, Koki was mingling with the excited students.
The pair noted the learning process in the concentration on the part of the students as they focused on their winning ticket while Pat Finnberg, another perennial volunteer, read out the winning number.
Murakami pointed out that due to the generosity of the shopping center merchants, there were individual prizes for each of the attending students in addition to goodie bags for the attending staff members as well as students.
Goody bag contents included useful items such as loose leaf binders with a supply of paper, pencils, pens, and other necessary school supplies topped off with nutritional snack items like juice, cookies, and chips.
Over the years, the Giving & Sharing program has swelled and ebbed since starting out in the outside area of the bowling alley. During inclement weather conditions, the program was moved inside one of the warehouses, and with the occupancy of the Breath of Life ministries in the building, the program now takes place in the LBC Lounge, a suitable arrangement as students can take their turn on the karaoke setup to welcome the jolly visitor from the North Pole.
For the volunteers, Giving & Sharing takes place a few days before the party date as the goodie bags need to be assembled along with other preparation. Murakami said that following the program, the visitors get their reward in the lunch she hosts for them.
And, for Santa?
It was time to bid adieu to his special guests, check on Rudolph who was waiting outside the LBC, and do his traditional visit to the Blood Bank of Hawai‘i’s annual Holiday Blood Drive that was wrapping up its three-day run on Kaua‘i at the Hyatt Regency in Poi‘pu.
Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) and dfujimoto@pulitzer.net
