HANALEI — Bill Troutman’s birthday was special Sunday. Hundreds of people from all parts of the island came to enjoy the pancake breakfast and hula at the Hanalei School cafeteria. The event was not for Troutman’s birthday, but Donna Schulze
HANALEI — Bill Troutman’s birthday was special Sunday.
Hundreds of people from all parts of the island came to enjoy the pancake breakfast and hula at the Hanalei School cafeteria.
The event was not for Troutman’s birthday, but Donna Schulze could not help but use the 26th annual North Shore Lions Pancake Breakfast as another way to rib Troutman, a North Shore Lion.
“They sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him yesterday when the North Shore Basketball League opened,” Schulze said. “His birthday is actually the 18th and the 19th, depending on when you want to celebrate. So, today is his birthday.”
Schulze said she’s going to be 85 years old next month and had never played basketball until Saturday when she joined the Kilauea Seniors for a game against the Mini Mites in the league coordinated by Troutman.
“It’s a crack-up, those seniors,” Schulze, a swimming instructor and avid runner, said. “But it just goes to show you the world of opportunity that is open to you. The mayor is even looking for ways I can volunteer with young people.”
Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. was one of the hundreds who took advantage of the Lions’ “Pancakes and Hula” and helped emcee Koko Kaneali‘i draw some of the lucky winners during the entertainment breaks.
The hula came courtesy of dancers from Naomi Yokotake’s hula halau and their performance was spiced with the anecdotes of “coach” Mits Yokotake.
“The mayor was here since 7 a.m. and if you want to sit next to him, seats are $20 each,” Troutman said, trying to figure out how much a seat next to councilwoman Lani Kawahara would cost.
Troutman said there are 40 active members in the North Shore Lions, and this year, Gary Pacheco had to be excused from grill duty because he had an operation.
That prompted the kitchen crew to “promote” Sterling Chisholm from pancake loader to pancake flipper as the Pacheco substitute.
“Wayne Tanji is still the chef,” Chisholm said, forcing the spatula into Pacheco’s hand when the Lion came as a diner.
Caelica Covel, the director of the event, said she hasn’t figured out how many tickets the club sold, but the pancake breakfast is one of the biggest fundraisers the club holds each year.
“We sell chocolates in December, and we have our annual golf tournament, but with the golf course under construction, the tournament might not happen until September, or October,” Covel said.
Proceeds from the breakfast fuel the various North Shore Lions projects that encompass all of the schools in the area, vision and hearing programs for the elderly and more than $13,000 in scholarships presented to graduating high school students in the area, Covel said.
“This is an amazing event. We have hula, the combined talents of the students in our schools and a great Silent Auction that couldn’t happen without the help of our sponsors,” she said.
The major Silent Auction contributors include the Waimea Plantation Cottages, Oceanfront Properties and Jim Saylor Jewelers, Covel said.
“This is a really good event,” said John Kaneholani, director of the ‘ukulele band that has played at the breakfast for three years. “But the kids are tired since this is the third event they’ve performed in three days. On Friday, they played here for the school’s fundraiser, Saturday, they played at the Princeville Library celebration and this morning, they had to be here at 7:30 to perform.”
Troutman said one of things the breakfast is known for is that they never run out of food.
