PO‘IPU — Theri Lazaro was excited about the arriving visitors. Lazaro, an employee at the Embassy Vacation Resort Poipu Point, was anxiously awaiting the arrival of about 40 students from the Kamehameha Preschool in Kaumakani. Parent chaperones had already arrived,
PO‘IPU — Theri Lazaro was excited about the arriving visitors.
Lazaro, an employee at the Embassy Vacation Resort Poipu Point, was anxiously awaiting the arrival of about 40 students from the Kamehameha Preschool in Kaumakani.
Parent chaperones had already arrived, and joined Lazaro in awaiting the arrival of the school bus that transported the preschoolers.
“This is part of getting to know community members,” Lazaro said. The visit to the Po‘ipu resort had been postponed once due to the heavy rains that drenched the island in March.
But, on this April morning, the sun was shining, the winds were blowing, and the staff eagerly awaited the arrival of their visitors.
In addition to the community visit by the preschoolers, Lazaro said the resort is involved in more community events, including the sale of chocolate to help raise funds for the upcoming Visitor Industry Charity Walk. Their goal for this endeavor is approximately $3,000.
The chocolate sale is ongoing, and during the upcoming Koloa Plantation Days Celebration. Lazaro said Embassy will be involved in a craft fair as well.
Lazaro explained that, once the students, many of whom have parents or relatives that are employed by the Embassy, arrive, they would be given a general tour of the property before settling in for a snack in the “Breakfast Room.” During that time, the group would be broken down into three groups to further explore the resort and its operations in special, customized, half-hour sessions.
The first arena involved learning more about the history of the Po‘ipu area where the resort sits. Arts and crafts would occupy most of the time in the second group, and as a finale, the students would try their hand at fishing for tilapia in the resort’s ponds.
Squeals of delight punctuated the serene resort atmosphere as the first of many tilapia latched on to the Spam bait.
“They’re trained for this,” said Jacob Punzal, the Embassy escort for the fishing group. Fish that were caught were unhooked and released back into the ponds to thrill more anglers.
Following the tour, the preschoolers enjoyed lunch at Po‘ipu Beach Park before heading back to their school in Kaumakani.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
