HANAMA‘ULU — The Peter Rayno Sr. Park will have a new irrigation system in time for the opening of the Kaua‘i Senior Softball season in February. Members of the Hanama‘ulu Hillsiders, whose home field is the Peter Rayno Sr. Park,
HANAMA‘ULU — The Peter Rayno Sr. Park will have a new irrigation system in time for the opening of the Kaua‘i Senior Softball season in February.
Members of the Hanama‘ulu Hillsiders, whose home field is the Peter Rayno Sr. Park, last week dug up a series of trenches to install an irrigation system in the park, coinciding with the start of the winter break for the neighboring King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School.
The King Kaumuali‘i School uses the park for overflow parking on some of its events, and Peter Rayno Jr. is employed at the Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. The winter break freed him to add his volunteer effort to the massive project.
“If a contractor did this, it would cost $50,000, easy,” said Clifford Lee, whose C. Lee tow truck carried irrigation material for the project instead of a stalled vehicle. “The county and some community businesses supplied the materials for the irrigation system and the Hanama‘ul Hillsiders are providing the labor to install the system.”
When completed, Lee said there will be 3,700 feet of irrigation piping installed along with the controls for 64 sprinkler heads.
The labor involved trenching the park, both the infield and beyond, to accommodate the irrigation piping which lay neatly on the back of the tow truck.
Spearheaded by Angel Madrid and his wife Gloria, Rayno said the effort also got help from East Kaua‘i senior softball players Paul Hurley and Rudy Villon as well as two young students, Makana and Aikane Medeiros, who are on winter break.
Overseeing the effort, Cashim Amorin “supervised” the installation which involved Ernie Domingo riding shepherd on the trenching machine.
Last year, the Hanama‘ulu Hillsiders spearheaded a collaborative effort with the county and the community to provide a complete makeover to the infield and portions of the outfield. The project also prompted the county to complete the bathroom facilities in time for the 2011 senior softball season.
“We’re not done yet,” Lee said. “One day, I want to see the pavilion. Then, we can hang a picture of Peter’s father, Peter Rayno Sr., and a plaque.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
