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North Hawai’i’s dedicated first responders whose exceptional performance prevented the loss of life, homes and other structures during the August wildfires, and who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the community literally around the clock 365 days a year, will be honored at a community in-person dinner gathering from 5-7:30 p.m., Wed., Nov. 15, 2023 at Mana Christian ‘Ohana’s Kahilu Town Hall. The gathering will be hosted by WCA with kokua from many community organizations and individuals.
(Note: The dinner gathering is in lieu of WCA’s monthly first Thursday town meeting, and is on a Wednesday to avoid conflicting with the weekly Thursday Community Meal @ St. James.)
Emergency responder honorees will include Waimea County Fire Stations including Waimea station, South Kohala station and Waikoloa station, as well as Kohala and Kona stations. Volunteer teams of Anekona and Waiki’i along with other volunteers from Kona to Kohala, all who made a big difference in the August fires, as well as Waimea County Police will participate. Also from the County are lifeguards from the Ocean Safety program, and County Department of Public Works roads division who have been an immense help during fire events. Pohakuloa Training Area police and fire emergency responders who cover the Daniel K. Inouye Highway in partnership with County police and fire will be on hand as well as State DLNR DOFAW and DOCARE officers, plus the National Park, who assisted with the fire near Spencer Beach Park and members of Waimea’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Queen’s North Hawai’i Community Hospital.
The dinner gathering is free and all are invited. It will begin with a pule by Kimo Ho’opai of Mana Christian ‘Ohana. Dinner – set to music by Waimea musician Ryan Hooley - will be prepared by a number of Waimea restaurants and stores including Earls, Ippys, Pa’ina by Ocean, Big Island Brewhaus, Dom DeLucas, Merrimans, Pau Pizza, Red Water Cafe, Hawaiian Style Cafe, The Fish & The Hog, Moa Kitchen, Tropical Dreams, Puako Store, Two Ladies Kitchen, Starbucks, Foodland and KTA.
“This is the 7th year WCA has honored first responders and this year the spotlight will be on the volunteers across our island, with special focus on our region’s two volunteer fire departments – 9 Alpha and 9 Bravo, who do so much to support our career firefighters and other responders,” said WCA President James Hustace.
“While many of these individuals humbly insist they are just doing a job they get paid for, these men and women deserve recognition more than ever in light of recent wildfires fed by extremely high, hurricane and weather induced winds,” said Nancy Carr Smith, the WCA Director who is coordinating the dinner gathering.
Joining WCA in recognizing the first responders will be Mayor Mitch Roth and Council Members Heather Kimball and Cindy Evans.
The spotlighted not-for-profit for the gathering will the Daniel R. Sayre Foundation with Frank Sayre and Laura Mallery-Sayre, who have led an extraordinary 16+-year fundraising effort to ensure Hawai’i County first responders have the essential equipment and training needed.
For questions, email WaimeaCommunityAssociation@gmail.com, or call James Hustace (808) 464-2570. For questions about the Mahalo First Responders gathering, contact Nancy Carr Smith (808) 896-2239 or email
nancy@alohakohalarealty.com.
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