Kaua‘i Boy Scouts and Cub scouts learned about old Hawai‘i as they gathered around a table display on taro, the main staple of Native Hawaiians. Other scouts and clubs learned about strength, fitness and balance as they crossed a rope
Kaua‘i Boy Scouts and Cub scouts learned about old Hawai‘i as they gathered around a table display on taro, the main staple of Native Hawaiians.
Other scouts and clubs learned about strength, fitness and balance as they crossed a rope bridge suspended five feet above the ground.
Other scouts learned about teamwork and precision from having assembled a wooden catapult from which they launched water balloons.
The activities were all part of this year’s Kaua‘i District Boy Scouts of America’s Makahiki at Vidinha Stadium. The event has been consecutively on Kaua‘i for 50 years, and is intended to showcase the skills and talents of scouts from the Garden Island.
Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts helped erect tents, tied knots, demonstrated teamwork by putting together the frames of the rope bridge and catapult and competed in games.
“The makahiki is an integral part of the scouting program,” said Tom Shigemoto, district chair for the Kaua‘i District Boys Scouts of America. “It is a way for them to show the community what they have learned and what they have received from the program.”
The event was sponsored by the Aloha Council, which represents Boy Scout troops from Hawai‘i, Guam, Fiji and other Pacific Island nations.
During the Makahiki, scouts competed in various games, including the “Atomic Challenge,” in which participants tossed folded paper planes, some of which measured three feet in length, tied knots, balanced themselves on wooden stumps and pitched tents.
Scouts also competed in an “underwater race,” in which they carried buckets of waters over their heads as they made their way down a course.
Other scouts competed in a “quick change relay” in which participants raced to change their uniforms.
Others scouts tested their balance by walking on boards positioned between old tires, or walked on wooden stilts.
Boy Scouts from Troop 270 from Kalaheo focused their attention on a catapult they assembled with ropes and boards under the guidance of Todd Dorny and Michael Thompson, scout leaders from that troop.
With the apparatus, scouts reveled in how far they could fling water balloons into hoops set away from the catapult on the football field.
Scouts also scanned a 20-foot-long rigid, hull, fast response rescue boat used by the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary on Kaua‘i.
James Jung, an auxiliary member and a retired Public Defender from Kaua‘i, said the boat is kept in Anahola but has been launched from the shorelines of Hanalei and Kapa‘a and from Nawiliwili Harbor and Port Allen Harbor for rescue and patrol missions.
The Makahiki also was the scene of a pinewood derby car show and races. For the first time, the Makahiki featured a “trading post” offering the Aloha Council’s own line of camping equipment for sale at competitive prices, Naganuma said.
Shigemoto, a Boy Scout in the 1950s, said the makahiki allows the public to find out what the Boy Scouts is all about, and promotes the philosophy of the scouting programs on the island.
“Aside from sports, Boy Scouts is one of the best things a youth on Kaua‘i can get into,” Shigemoto said. “It teaches you values, discipline, respect for country and elders. They learn lifelong skills.”
Ray Paler, an assistant scout master with Troop 148 and a Boy Scout in the 1960s, attended the event to show support for his son, Christopher, who is a 15-year-old Boy Scout.
“This (the Makahiki) is very vital to our community. It teaches them basic values,” he said. “Scouting teaches you to be good, contributing citizens in our community.”
Naganuma said the scouting program helps scouts learn about “character building, good citizenship and (the value) of good mental and physical fitness.”
Kaua‘i has more than 1,000 Boy Scout and Cub Scouts, representing 12 Boy Scout troops and 12 Cub Scout packs, respectively, and those from Explorers, Ventures and Varsity program Naganuma said. The latter three programs are for people 18 years and older.
The Boy Scouts program started in Hawai‘i in 1910, and the first makahiki was held a year later.
Also attending yesterday’s Makahiki from off-island was Aaron Kamao, district director of Support Services with the Aloha Council.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
