• Professional, caring people deliver
• Prevent future tragedies
• Kaua‘i rocks!
Professional, caring people deliver
We have been on-island for two years and needed repairs and upgrades done to our home. We’ve hired many contractors with the results ranging from mediocre to the finest workmanship ever. Spencers Masonry was recommended to us and they and others bid on our lanai extension. They presented a no-nonsense, professional bid that was realistic in cost, and specific about what was included in their quote. Jordan Berg, presented the estimate in a knowledgeable, polite, charismatic, honest and patient manner. His presentation won the bid. Then we crossed our fingers as we had many times before. Jordan Berg worked as hard as his men. All of the qualities he exhibited in the beginning were found to be genuine as the job progressed. Joe Morgan, a foreman, was terrific. He was able to work with exact precision, while relating to us his family history — one of the original on the island. We gained new respect for Kaua‘i while listening to tales of the culture and history of people here before us. We applaud Isaac Hamilton and Jestin Morgan, who are young, enthusiastic and committed to be the best they can be. That’s sometimes unusual with today’s youth. Kevin McDermott and Chris Hicks are talented, personable and upbeat laborers. Our concrete slab looked like a work of art when completed. Owen Kawaihalan, the muscle behind the job, is as good as it gets when it comes to a hard-working and non-complaining employee. No job was too big or small. The contract was met, our lanai is a success. It was beautifully built by professional, caring people, willing to share their expertise and their lives over the course of a few weeks. To Spencers Masonry and all the fine men who built our lanai, mahalo. You’re No. 1.
Kathleen and Richard Cooney, Princeville
Prevent future tragedies
With all due respect to Ms. Dotario (“Westside doesn’t need salt in its wounds,” Letters, April 10), she completely ignores the heart of the message I tried to convey in my March 28 letter. I have complete respect and admiration for every student athlete on Kaua‘i and in my 20 years of living here I have done everything within my power to work with these kids and encourage them to be good students, go on to college and pursue their dream of being an athlete at that level if they have the ability. Yes, Ms. Dotario, you are correct that it does take an entire team to be a winning team. Having been in baseball for 63 years as a player, a coach, a manager and a recruiter I also know that a “winning” team needs the catalyst that makes them go — the clutch player who continually makes the key play on defense or gets the hit that puts his team in the win column. Again, Ms. Dotario, you misinterpret my words and put your negative spin on what I said. Waimea, Kaua‘i and Kapa‘a will need the help of every starting and bench member of their teams to be a KIF champion. But they will also need that team leader and the player who can consistently produce in the clutch to take their team from a loss to a win. For me, Max Agor was that type of player. The two points I tried to convey in my letter were: One, Max Agor was a fine young ball player; and two, do no let his tragic death be in vain. Ironically, a fine article written by Dennis Fujimoto “Underage drinking problem highlighted” along with April being alcohol awareness month was headlined in The Garden Island April 10. The tragedy that happened in Waimea was underscored in this article. The other heart-breaking part of Max’s death is that his “friends” not only did not learn from this tragic incident but they placed alcoholic bottles at the memorial site on the road as a tribute to what had happened. Every other TV ad and magazine ad glamorizes alcoholic beverages and the influence it has on our total population along with our “want to be an adult” teens is hard to counteract. But, as Theresa Koki (our county anti-drug coordinator) so wisely said after viewing a MySpace DVD of Kaua‘i’s student-athletes in their school uniforms partying with alcohol and hamming it up for the cameras, “this is a good time to remind parents, coaches, teachers and other adults that they are the role models for our children.” And, no, Ms. Dotario, I do not believe that it was Max’s time. His tragedy was preventable and I only hope that measures will be taken to prevent it from ever happening again. Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a
Kaua‘i rocks!
On behalf of bicycle teams of Hawai‘i On Tandems (HOT), I would like to thank you wonderful folks of Kaua‘i for the true spirit of aloha shown to us during our first (ever) Tandem Rally on your beautiful island. We rode for four days, from March 26-29. People were turning around in their front yards and clapping and shouting encouragement. Kids came running with big smiles on their faces. We must have seen 100 shaka signs. On the road the cars driving in our direction went far around us (no one came within 10 feet of me and my wife). When they couldn’t give wide clearance because of oncoming traffic, they slowed behind us and waited until they could. For the four teams from O‘ahu it seemed there was almost no traffic at all, but on those few occasions when we stopped to make a left turn across oncoming traffic, or when crossing an intersection, someone in the line of cars always stopped for us, and the driver (and the following drivers) always had a big smile on their face. Many of us have visited your island before, but this time we saw it in a new light. Kaua‘i rocks! Mahalo plenty, and warm aloha from HOT.
Barton Cox,President of HOT
