PUHI — People came from all over the United States and even Canada Sunday to celebrate the 100th birthday of Anna Sloggett. “You’re all part of her life,” said David Penhallow, one of Sloggett’s children. “There’s over 450 of you
PUHI — People came from all over the United States and even Canada Sunday to celebrate the 100th birthday of Anna Sloggett.
“You’re all part of her life,” said David Penhallow, one of Sloggett’s children. “There’s over 450 of you here, and for today, you’re ‘Anna’s Children.’ ”
Sloggett was born on Sept. 17, 1906, and during her life here as a teacher, touched many lives who returned the favor by gracing the celebration that closed Gaylord’s for the occasion.
“You like to come here,” said Paige Talvi. “But you didn’t tell me you were going to bring this many guests.”
People trooped into the courtyard to greet the centenarian who sat in a chair sheltered from the noonday sun by a canopy graced with garlands of flowers.
Nearby, Marian Penhallow, another of Sloggett’s children, was mindful of Anna and quickly dispatched lei to a nearby table that overflowed with colorful, sweet-scented floral tribute to the lady.
“Every one was her student,” Penhallow said. “They were all part of her third grade class.”
Danny Hashimoto, one of the guests, had Sloggett as a teacher at Kapa‘a School.
“I’m a year below Janice Bond, whose brother was in my class,” Hashimoto said.
Bond, who was studying some of the family photographs that were enlarged to poster size and hung on panels for the guests to enjoy, said in those days Anna was known as Mrs. Bishop.
Also on hand for the celebration were dignitaries from the University of Hawai‘i, including President David McClain, who was sitting with other dignitaries in the huge tent set up in the back yard of the Kilohana Estate.
“She’s celebrating her 100th birthday and last week she broke 100 in her golf game,” Kaua‘i Mayor Bryan Baptiste said. “She can still whup me.”
The golf game Baptiste referred to was the golf tournament established in honor of Sloggett’s 100th birthday to start an endowment fund for the purpose of providing scholarships for Kaua‘i children.
Contributions to the Sunday birthday celebration were also earmarked for the scholarship coordinated by the University of Hawai‘i Foundation.
“Today we celebrate a legacy whose guiding principle (while she was a teacher) was never dwell on what one cannot do, but rather on what one can do,” Baptiste said.
“She is an award winner, an icon and an inspiration to all. I’m hurt I wasn’t one of her students.”
JoAnn Yukimura represented the Kaua‘i County Council in presenting the centenarian a proclamation.
“One of the keys to Anna’s longevity is to eat everything,” Yukimura said.
“She is revered for her sense of humor and the legacy she created in teaching. Every one had her in the third grade.”
Yukimura said it was not uncommon for Sloggett to share her lunch with students who couldn’t afford their own.
George Costa and Bobby Kubota were two of the guests who had Sloggett as a teacher.
“She opened us up to the world,” Kubota said as he and Costa studied a browned class picture of Kapa‘a School that showed Sloggett in the back of the class seated at a wooden desk.
“I don’t know where I got the blanket, but I was supposed to do a report on Scotland,” Kubota said. “The blanket, I think I must’ve taken it from a horse, became my kilt.”
Similarly, Costa said his assignment was a study on Austria and he remembered having to go to school with shorts and suspenders.
“We tried real hard to read 40 books so we could go to her house,” Kubota said.
He explained that every student in the class who read 40 books earned a trip to Sloggett’s home for a celebratory get-together.
“We couldn’t make it (to 40 books),” Kubota said. “So, she told us ‘Well, you can come to my 100th birthday,’ so here we are.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
