WAILUA — Over 550 fifth graders from schools around Kaua‘i converged at the University of Hawai‘i Kauai Agricultural Research Center for the Ninth Annual Agricultural and Environmental Awareness Day recently. Terry Sekioka, county administrator for the UH College of Tropical
WAILUA — Over 550 fifth graders from schools around Kaua‘i converged at the University of Hawai‘i Kauai Agricultural Research Center for the Ninth Annual Agricultural and Environmental Awareness Day recently.
Terry Sekioka, county administrator for the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, said, “Our objectives are to create a greater awareness and understanding of agriculture and the environment among students, teachers, and the public, as well as to introduce students to career opportunities in agriculture and environmental studies.”
Following this theme, 31 participants were broken down into either exhibitor or demonstrator status. Students were issued questionnaires that contained questions that needed answers that were found among the field of vendors. Despite collecting literature and other materials available from many presenters, the questionnaires were never lost, as students pored over display boards and queried representatives at the different stations in search of answers.
Col. Jerald Knudsen of the Kapa‘a High School JROTC program had 34 of his cadets on hand to not only help set up and break down tents, but also to provide chaperones and guides to the various groups of fifth graders that poured out of the gathering herd of school buses parked on the access road to the reservoir.
Knudsen said he felt more students might’ve been able to attend the event had it not been for a competing event vying for the school buses. He said when he tried to order a bus to transport his cadets to the site, he was told all buses were spoken for — either to transport students to the awarenessday program, or the Royal Ballet performance that was taking place at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu‘e.
This prompted Knudsen to press a van into service, while other students volunteered to drive their own vehicles to the event.
Some of the handson activity stations included a tent shared by the Kokee Resource Conservation Program, where students became involved in learning about the Hawaiian ecosystem, and the Kauai Invasive Species Committee, whose representatives had not only a stuffed mongoose specimen on hand, but a special fabricated display demonstrating the length of the root system of an invasive, and potentially dangerous, kiawe plant.
George Mukai of the Kauai Anthurium Association is a veteran of the event, and in his jovial way asked, “How many times a year does the anthurium bloom?” Successfully answering this question filled in yet another line of the questionnaire begging answers.
And, for those who have not yet figured it out, Mukai said the anthurium blooms all year ‘round. Every time a new leaf appears, so does a bud.
Ed Kawamura of the M. Kawamura Farm Enterprises, Ltd. is another veteran of the event, and this year he decided he would graphically demonstrate how things were and how things are, the bottom line of the display being that schoolbooks are merely tools that the more you read, the more you learn.
Some of Kawamura’s before-and-now artifacts included an old-fashioned watering can sitting next to a Maruyama gas-powered pump, a machete and sickle sitting alongside a modern brush-cutter and chain saw.
In keeping with tradition of appearances of Kawamura, he had an answer for a question not on the questionnaire — how to get rid of the pesky hilahila grass that plagues island home lawns.
Armed with a long handle and a strong pewter lever, four prongs dig deep to grasp the invasive weed’s root, and using the handle and opposing lever for leverage, the entire weed is literally lifted out of the ground.
“They’ve been selling this since 1913,” Kawamura boasted as he demonstrated the handy-dandy tool on a plantain. Labeled “Grandpa’s Weeder,” Kawamura said he specifically asked if it was effective against hilahila before approving its appearance in his shop.
Over at the plant-propagation tent, where students had an opportunity for hands-on planting, recent graduates of the Master Gardener program were on hand to guide the students through the planting process.
This was part of their 40-hour volunteerism that comes with the completion of the course, said Richard Ebesu, who heads up the program.
Ebesu said Master Gardener students are taught in home-garden oriented subjects, including tomato growing, orchid growing, pest management, and even horticulture. For more information on the course, please contact Ebesu at 274-3475.
As the ebb of students began to subside, many of the vendors took advantage of the opportunity to visit with other associates in their industry.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
