• Random acts of kindness • A day of thanks and giving • Council’s ‘K3D’ a disappointment • Kaua‘i needs more Peter Deases Random acts of kindness Many here in Hawai‘i are going through some tough times right now and
• Random acts of kindness
• A day of thanks and giving
• Council’s ‘K3D’ a disappointment
• Kaua‘i needs more Peter Deases
Random acts of kindness
Many here in Hawai‘i are going through some tough times right now and this holiday season may not be as joyful as in the past for them.
We need to instill some hope so that people will start believing again and I think that random acts of kindness are as good a place as any to start.
So I have made it my purpose to perform an act of kindness everyday between Dec. 1 and Christmas Eve. I would also like to send out a friendly challenge to everyone who reads this to do the same.
If you can’t do a kind deed everyday, do as many as you can, or do just one. But if you choose to do only one, I ask that you be creative and imaginative and make it extraordinary for someone.
Helping others this holiday season may just be the most rewarding gift that we can receive.
• Matt Smith, Kihei, Hawai‘i
A day of thanks and giving
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday since it is not a religious holiday but an American holiday.
It is a holiday for all religions and ethnic groups that call themselves American. No special church, synagogues or mosques involved, in fact even agnostics and atheists can celebrate Thanksgiving and feel the spirit.
The editorial and letters to the editor pages are usually filled with controversy and arguments about religion, politics and the many things humans vent. Thanksgiving requires no venting, only thanks, I only wish that retailers would wait until after Thanksgiving to start on all the commercialism of Christmas.
Thanksgiving has lost its appeal with the supremacy of Christmas overshadowing one of the most stupendous days of thanks.
Thanksgiving started out as a feast meal between the Native Americans and the pilgrims, opposites coming together to break bread to give and be thankful.
May this Thanksgiving be a lesson. Life is short and although we may have opposing views, one thing is for certain. Thanksgiving is the one day for just that — thanks and giving.
The most wonderful thing about Thanksgiving is that food has no calories on this special American holiday. Enjoy this untroubled tranquil day which comes but only once a year, although it would be romantically utopian having Thanksgiving everyday.
• James “Kimo” Rosen, Kapa‘a
Council’s ‘K3D’ a disappointment
Already the new council brings dishonor to democracy in the 2008-2010 Kaua‘i County Council-elect organizational meeting on Nov. 24 in a process where our interim mayor simultaneously holds council chair pro-tem and our newly-elected, un-sworn council members conduct un-televised council business before befuddled public all capped with an executive session to appoint county clerk and council staff — but that’s beside the point.
TGI reporter Luke Shanahan (“First Council Meeting a Little Rocky,” A1, Nov. 25) gives accurate accounts of events but what’s maybe lost on the reader is that the result of the special meeting was planned in advance, in a time frame at least long enough for Kaipo and the 3Ds (Daryl, Derrick, Dickie), known heretofore as K3D, to scheme to dominate future council agendas with an alliance of foregone conclusion evident by mayor-chair’s insulting, three-page progressing pre-printed “Committee Lineup” sheets delivered at intervals to a perplexed public.
With disdain as to how committees shall be aligned, chaired and membered, K3D literally dictated notice to minority voting members and an awestruck public as to how and whom serves, casting aside open discussion and ethical democratic principle.
Shanahan writes, “The sheet showed that the three council members who were to vote for Furfaro as chair never appear together in any five-vote committee.” This results in ultimate power over all committees by K3D.
In my opinion, there simply wasn’t any point in this so-called public meeting at all, especially considering the public had no say in chambers post-debacle. This disgraceful sham was figuratively mailed-in by a group interested only in ultimate power without regard for honor and dignity of a process designed to best serve the interest of the people. Yet, we can only look to ourselves, the voters, for we put them there. I, for one, am disappointed, not surprised.
* Rolf Bieber, Kapa‘a
Kaua‘i needs more Peter Deases
On Nov. 11, Kaua‘i lost one of its rare human treasures in the passing of Peter Dease of Lawai.
As a boy growing up in Koloa I ran directly past the Waterhouse Family cemetery almost daily to play with Peter and his sisters Dulce and Theane living with grandparents, the AH Waterhouses. Little did I think 70 years ago that my pal would someday be laid to rest among his distinguished kama‘aina forebears.
Mr. Dease was the great-great grandson of Kaua‘i’s first missionary physician, Dr. James Smith (1818-87) of Koloa. Peter’s grandfather Dr. Herbert Waterhouse delivered over 1,000 babies from his Koloa Clinic between 1907 and his death in 1948.
Peter returned to his childhood roots upon retiring from a career representing Hawai‘i Visitors Bureau as director of its Chicago office. During the past 15 years he has served as a volunteer at five of Kaua‘i’s historic and cultural sites.
Locals and visitors alike marveled at Dease’s encyclopedic knowledge and love of Hawaiiana when touring the National Botanical Garden, the Kaua‘i Museum, Lumahili Gardens, the Grove Farm Plantation Museum and Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge.
When standing next to Dr. Smith’s oil portrait in Kaua‘i Museum, Peter in his trademark straw hat with feathered band, was a spitting image of his ancestor.
And like Dr. Smith, Peter was never too busy to help anyone in need, always gracious, thoughtful and generous. This tall friendly man exemplified the Hawaiian hospitality the islands claim as their heritage.
Yes, Kaua‘i needs more Peter Deases.
• Ray Smith, Wheaton, Ill.
