KAPAA — Three Kauai High freshmen girls stood above the soccer fields at the bike path in Lydgate Park near Nalu Road Saturday. Their task was simple: to make a 4-foot hole flat enough for an incoming beach heliotrope tree.
KAPAA — Three Kauai High freshmen girls stood above the soccer fields at the bike path in Lydgate Park near Nalu Road Saturday.
Their task was simple: to make a 4-foot hole flat enough for an incoming beach heliotrope tree. Once planted, it would be among seven other new heliotropes planted along the bike path to provide shade.
Two of the girls, Kelli Okayama and Alezza Benting — both dripping with sweat from the hot and unforgiving sun — hopped in the hole and giggled. They stomped the ground, trying to flatten the dirt.
“Hey, don’t get dirt in my shoes!” Benting said to Okayama, laughing.
Okayama sat down and began shoveling dirt with her fingertips, pushing it out of the hole.
“There goes my new gloves,” she said with a sigh.
Harlee Fujimoto stood above them, directing.
“I’m learning how to garden right now,” she said.
Okayama, Benting and Fujimoto were all part of a tree-planting project at Lydgate Park put together by Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Parks to celebrate National Make a Difference Day.
Nearly 200 volunteers showed up at Lydgate Park to mark the 11th anniversary of the event and to observe this national day on Kauai by showing support and care by clearing away debris, planting trees, cutting shrubs and picking up trash along the beach. Seven teams scattered across Lydgate Park, assigned to various tasks.
Once the hole was flat and wide enough, Kauai Nursery & Landscaping’s Dan Ingersoll moved in. He and Nathaniel Smith, the group leader, picked up the tree.
“They got the hole perfect for us,” he said as he lifted one side of the tree and began dragging it toward the hole.
The girls eagerly watched, wiping their brows as their hard work was acknowledged. Fifteen minutes later, the 15-foot tree was erected and the girls stood tall and proud with sweaty and happy faces.
Okayama said one of the reasons she got involved with National Make a Difference Day was because she loves the environment and she wants to protect it. This is her way of giving back.
“We take resources from the island and we need to give back to it,” Okayama said. “We need to make sure that our island doesn’t turn into something that no one wants to visit. As we take down trees and put up malls, it takes away from the beauty of the island. We need to replace those trees that are taken down.”
Tree planting coordinator and group coordinator Tommy Noyes, a member of Friends of Kamalani, said people volunteered Saturday for a number of reasons.
“It makes us feel successful. That’s why people come out,” Noyes said. “They get their enjoyment, satisfaction and fulfillment without money involvement. Nobody is here because they have to be here. They are here because they want to be here. They going to make new friends. And have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.”
Across the park, disc golf coordinator Larry LaSota had a handful of volunteers clearing away shrubs and using power tools making way for a tunnel fairway for the disc golf course that could be ready as early as December, he said.
One of his volunteers, personal trainer Stacey Ricciardi, said that about seven years ago, she used to have her exercise classes in the park.
“This park is gorgeous,” she said. “It just feels really good to give back.”
LaSota said he had been planning the disc golf course for more than a year. He had taken it upon himself to start the project and find funding. He had a master designer, Chuck Kennedy, design the course.
“This is basically a new class of disc golf. We’re going all over Lydgate,” LaSota said. “My wife said this morning, ‘Oh it’s your dream come true,’ and I said, ‘We’re not there yet.’ But it’s really close.”
By late in the morning, the regular coffee had run out. But, Beverly Tobias, a volunteer on the food team, said there was still decaf and water and plenty of food for the hundreds of volunteers.
Tobias said she’d seen so many people come through the main pavilion, it made her even happier that she had volunteered Saturday.
A member of the American Association of University Women Kauai Branch, Tobias said she knew that young girls such as Benting, Fujimoto and Okayama would definitely reap the rewards of coming to volunteer on a day like this.
“It’s going to teach them a couple of things,” Tobias said. “Number one, responsibility, because they have to get up early to get here, but more importantly what they do they do on their free time. They are doing something really beneficial for not only to the community, but to each other.”
