Happy Camper for Monday, January 8, 2018

After several weekends of holiday activities, life was dumped onto the high school and adult sports arenas (even community events like the Resolution Run — kudos to Brian Curll and Tommy Noyes for keeping people in the know about this inaugural event! — had sporting overtones).

Swim Kauai Aquatics Coach Curt Colby hosted Anthony Ervin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, for a workout and talk story (did Jack Machorek attend?) at the YMCA pool in Puhi. This is the second year Coach Curt has done this, and with the Olympics starting next month, wow! What a treat for Kauai people.

Manny Henriques was trying to figure out which one of the many Kauai Interscholastic Federation events to take in — he was with Coach Todd Fuerte and Anahola Joel Pahukula at the first KIF wrestling match (great job, Coach Mac Pigott!) at Island School, where state Department of Education Kauai Complex Area Superintendent Bill Arakaki stopped by to see the crowd.

Ashlyn Agena was in the midst of all the excitement after finding gold at the Pa‘ani Challenge wrestling tourney on Oahu, coming back to cheer with the Menehune cheer squad, getting top honors at the KIF wrestling match, and getting back to the Clem Gomes Gym to cheer at the boys basketball games (Gary Ellwood from Kauai Community College — who knew he was a basketball coach — was in Waimea to cheer on the kids), all while balancing scholastic work, and getting ready for school, and kudos to Joyce Evens for making sure the live stream (the wayward basketball didn’t even hiccup the feed) was on after her Blue Crew was involved with late holidays.

And, did we have any casualties from those land mines at the KIF paddling regatta?