PRINCEVILLE — Tears were shed and hugs were given and received Sunday at a service to remember the seven who were spirited away in last week’s dam break on the North Shore. Friends of Daniel Arroyo and Christina “Sunny” Macness,
PRINCEVILLE — Tears were shed and hugs were given and received Sunday at a service to remember the seven who were spirited away in last week’s dam break on the North Shore.
Friends of Daniel Arroyo and Christina “Sunny” Macness, — who were to be married on Saturday — Alan Dingwall, Aurora Fehring, Rowan Fehring-Dingwall, Timothy Noonan and Wayne Rotstein, gathered at a church in Princeville.
Millicent Cummings of Kilauea arranged the nondenominational get-together at the Church of the Pacific. She pointed out that it was an informal way for friends to come together as a family to heal and to hear music.
“A lot of us are close to the people who passed away, and we are all suffering,” she said.
She noted that the get-together was an opportunity for people to talk story, and to get whatever they needed to say off their chests.
About 200 people were at the casual gathering that started at 3 p.m.
Thomas Day of Kilauea was at the church with his family to show solidarity with the community.
“It’s a tight-knit community,” he said, of the North Shore.
Day said that he was at home and heard about what had happened while listening to the radio. As more information became available, he said that the impact of what had happened became more and more real, and more difficult and painful to deal with.
“We just stopped doing everything we normally did and spent some time together as a family,” said Day.
He has since sent out prayers and healing thoughts to the families, and hoped that those who are still missing are going be found OK.
Sheila Calcagno of Kilauea was at the church because she knew Macness.
“She was just one of the most beautiful human beings that I had ever encountered,” said Calcagno.
Macness was pregnant, and last Saturday would have been her wedding day to Arroyo, who was also swept away.
“I saw her last week at the market and she was very pregnant and round and beautiful,” said Calcagno.
Calcagno said she met Macness at a Kapa’a restaurant. Conversation ensued, and the two connected.
She noted that Macness had a special fondness for her 4-year-old granddaughter Kahalailani Kanos.
“She loved to hold my grandbaby,” said Calcagno.
Lauren Shaw of Hanapepe was at the church to remember Noonan.
“Tim was always a bright light,” said Shaw.
“He always had a big smile on his face. He was always so happy,” she added.
Shaw said she met Noonan through a friend who was building a house.
“He was a good woodworker — he worked with all kinds of wood,” said Shaw.
While the memorial service was being held, officials announced in Lihu’e that the body of the female that was found in Kilauea Stream last week was identified as that of Aurora Fehring.
The body of Macness was found near the mouth of the Kilauea River.
The body of Alan Dingwall was found a half-mile offshore in Kilauea Bay.
Four people remain missing after the Kaloko dam broke last Tuesday, sending a wall of water and debris down the Wailapa Stream. Two houses were swept off their foundations.
