• A shout-out to trainers and coaches • Speak up for Lihue Post Office at Wednesday meeting A shout-out to trainers and coaches Although an ambulance and sideline doctors are present at all KIF football games, the reality is that
• A shout-out to trainers and coaches • Speak up for Lihue Post Office at Wednesday meeting
A shout-out to trainers and coaches
Although an ambulance and sideline doctors are present at all KIF football games, the reality is that 90 percent of the contact in this collision sport takes place on the practice fields. Ambulances and doctors aren’t there. Trainers and coaches are.
This last week, a potentially very serious neck injury occurred during a Kapaa football practice. Because our trainers, Samantha Henriques and Chris Ang, are so trained and prepared, plus they have trainings with the coaches so that they too are trained and prepared, the on-field care was perfect — including removing the player’s helmet and pads all the while maintaining meticulous immobilization of the player’s cervical spine. This process requires expert knowledge and skill and training.
Our first-responders and paramedics arrived on-scene and further stabilized the patient, and the young man arrived in the ER safely. The great news is that, ultimately (after X-rays, CT scans and the like), things worked out well for him and there was no permanent damage.
This letter is a shout-out to our trainers and coaches — including Pop Warner and other youth league coaches — who put in incredible amounts of time and take on great responsibility as they provide opportunities for our youth to get better and to learn life lessons about hard work, teamwork, winning, and, sometimes — alas — losing.
In closing: Congratulations to this year’s terrific football champion Kauai High Red Raiders. And mahalo to the Waimea Menehune and to my Kapaa Warriors for a hard-fought and highly entertaining season.
Dr. Monty Downs, Kapaa
Speak up for Lihue Post Office at Wednesday meeting
As a resident of Kauai, I was saddened to learn that the U.S. Postal Service is planning to close the old Lihue Post Office. Then we’ll have to use the new office adjacent to the airport.
The Lihue Post Office building is a classic, old Hawaiian building, reflecting the natural beauty and simplicity of a period that has all but disappeared. Built in 1939, it’s a functional, roomy and well-built structure, having survived several hurricanes. When you walk inside the open-air lobby, the high ceilings and graceful fixtures take you back in time, to a Kauai of 80 years ago.
Aside from the fact that the present building is beautiful and very serviceable, it’s also a traditional meeting place in the center of town, where people gather and connect, or simply run into each other while going about their daily business.
From this perspective, the Lihue Post Office is more than simply a branch post office. It’s an important landmark and architectural gem that helps to connect the community with its past. If this office is closed, it will leave a gaping hole on Kauai that cannot easily be filled.
If you’re concerned about this closure, please attend the public meeting on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall on Hardy Street. Alternatively, send your comments to: U.S. Postal Service, Attn: Greg Shelton, Lihue, HI, 200 E. Kentucky Ave., Denver, CO 80209.
Bart Walton, Kapaa
