WAILUA — Audrey Molly Rowe took advantage of Monday being Flag Day to wear her American Flag tee-shirt to the AARP Kaua‘i Chapter’s monthly meeting at the main pavilion at Lydgate Park. “Somehow, it just happened that way,” Rowe, the
WAILUA — Audrey Molly Rowe took advantage of Monday being Flag Day to wear her American Flag tee-shirt to the AARP Kaua‘i Chapter’s monthly meeting at the main pavilion at Lydgate Park.
“Somehow, it just happened that way,” Rowe, the vice president of the Kaua‘i chapter said. On a more melancholy note, Rowe was saddened by the fact that around town, the colors were flying at half-staff in mourning over the passing of the late President Ronald Reagan.
“The flags will fly at half-mast until July 5,” Rowe said.
Flag Day is a special day set aside specifically to celebrate the Flag, June 14 coinciding with the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the official banner of the United States of America.
2004 marks the 226th anniversary that the Stars and Stripes has represented the country.
The idea of a “Flag Birthday” was originated in 1885 by BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher in Wisconsin, who arranged for the school’s students to observe the event.
In 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York also planned ceremonies for the children of his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York.
Among the more prominent displays of the Stars and Stripes on Kaua‘i was the flag fluttering outside Pono Market in Kapa‘a. The small food and coffee shop on the main street of Kapa‘a whose owners take advantage of special days to fly the colors.
For the AARP members of Chapter 654, the special day turned out to be a good day to celebrate summer at Lydgate, Dr. Arthur and Dot Loo taking advantage of the occasion to bring their family to enjoy the beach while the organization conducted its monthly meeting.
Rowe said the Kaua‘i chapter is one of the most active club in the state in terms of getting involved with the community, Loo adding that Kaua‘i has earned the Golden Award for three of its eight-year life, the award being part of the state’s “Reach for the Gold” program among Hawai‘i’s chapters.
The information center for AARP members, or potential members, is the heart of the Kaua‘i office located on Rice Street across from the Lihu‘e Fire Station. Rowe, a former president for Kaua‘i, was the spearhead for the information center, and is still active in the organization.
Open daily on weekdays, people can visit the facility between 9 a.m. and noon, and from 1 to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
Dues for the Kaua‘i chapter are $5 per year, but a potential member needs to belong to the national AARP program before becoming eligible to join the Kaua‘i group. Those dues are $27.50 for three years.
Loo pointed out that some of the benefits AARP membership gives people over 50 years old include low cost insurance, a driver instruction and awareness program, as well as tax help at tax time.
Greg Baciano is the current president of the Kaua‘i Chapter, and for more information, people may call 246-4500.
Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) and mailto:dfujimoto@pulitzer.net
