At the 40th
Reunion party at Robin Otagaki's home, an enthusiastic Donna Dyer
Duryea and Christine Welborn Ahia suggested they host a gathering on
the Big Island in Hilo during the summer of '09 when it would be
close to our 60th Birthday. Well on the weekend of July 17-20
they pulled it off without a hitch, and a great time was had by all
that attended. The turnout was sparse (only 14), but for
those that came, it was a blast. Trust me when I tell you that
if you missed this one, you really missed a good one!
On Friday night
the class gathered at Randall and Donna Dyer Duryea's beautiful home
where she and her family hosted the wining and dining for the
evening. Also, Alan Tashima, god bless him, couldn't make it,
but was kind enough to send a $100 contribution for our beer and
wine. Trina Nahm also joined the group and there was a lot of catching up and reminiscing
by all.
The dinner was awesome, and Miles, who is now a school teach in
Honokaa, emceed the post dinner activities. Needless to say,
it was a late night enjoyed by all.
The following
morning, the group gathered at the downtown Hilo B&B Hotel where the
bulk of the group stayed for breakfast. Following breakfast,
many shopped around the open market and quaint shops of downtown
Hilo. The group then gathered in caravan, and headed north out
of Hilo toward Honokaa. With stops along the way at various
scenic venues (with Christine's guided tour) including lunch at
Koloa Park. The group arrived in Honokaa early in the
afternoon and visited Stephanie Ross' gallery showroom where her
works of art are displayed and sold followed by a glass blowing demo
by Stephanie and husband Hugh at their home workshop. They are
both incredibly talented, and they make incredibly beautiful works
of art. Following the glass blowing, the group migrated over
to Stephanie's house where dinner was served. It was so much
fun, and people were in stitches reliving the memories.
After the group
departed Stephanie's house we gathered at the local Bon Dance where
Miles was the emcee for that event as well. He may even
be the Mayor of Honokaa as he seems to be at the forefront of almost
all of the community activities there! We don't know for sure.
Some of the group were even brave enough to try dancing!
The following
morning on Sunday, many of the group broke off and left late morning
for the 4WD trek up to the Mauna Kea Observatory (nearly 14,000 ft.
above sea level). Many of us had never been there, and it was
really an incredible day concluded by the most spectacular sunset
that most of us had ever witnessed. While Teru Morton fell head
over heels (for a few hours anyway) with the Park Ranger that met us
on the summit, Lois Yee Berlin experienced a bit of altitude
sickness. However she was fine at the end of the day when we
descended back to Hilo. Because the events of the day didn't
really enable the picnic dinner we had planned, we all gathered at
the B&B where we were staying for a late dinner together, still in
awe over the spectacular day we had all experienced on the summit.
It was near midnight (later for some) before we crashed to prepare
for the 2:30 am wakeup the next morning for the Lava Boat Tour.
Only 6 of us
went on the Lava Boat tour, but we were treated to a spectacular
pair of lava flows into the ocean. Hard to believe, but that
was even more spectacular than the Summit tour! It was an
event no one regretted since you never really know when the lava
will stop flowing there. The only downside was that I (Rick)
provided a little chum for the fish during the rough ride back to
Pahoa where we launched.
Sadly, we were
all sorry that the weekend's events came to a conclusion even though
by then we were all exhausted. Thanks go to Christine, Donna,
Stephanie and Miles who painstakingly planned the weekend's events,
and to Christine's daughter, Rowena, who helped her mom all weekend with the
logistics. She was super! Check out the photos from the
weekend in the photo gallery.
