WAIMEA — The aroma of cooking beef and chicken over a bed of kiawe charcoal is one of the unique aspects of a Waimea carnival. “I couldn’t go to the kupuna Valentine’s Day Party because the carnival opened tonight,” said
WAIMEA — The aroma of cooking beef and chicken over a bed of kiawe charcoal is one of the unique aspects of a Waimea carnival.
“I couldn’t go to the kupuna Valentine’s Day Party because the carnival opened tonight,” said Basilio “Bunga” Fuertes, a Waimea High School instructor, while tending to a batch of teriyaki beef Friday night. “There were all of these little things that needed attention before the carnival opened.”
The Waimea High School Alumni and Friends Carnival opened for a two-day run Friday evening and again on Saturday evening from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. each night featuring a host of games, food and entertainment from community groups.
“The Waimea Alumni and Friends Foundation has been around since 1983,” said Janice Nitta, the carnival’s chair. “It was kind of low key until 1995 when the carnival was restarted. The carnival raises funds for various community projects and student scholarships as well as allows the different organizations in the school to raise funds for their projects.”
An example was the dinners being hosted Saturday night to benefit the Project Grad program.
Wendi Russell, Waimea’s art teacher, was manning a table featuring artwork created by the school’s students.
“They were supposed to be here,” Russell, a Waimea alumnus, said. “But I’ll watch the table until they get here.”
Russell said the ceramic pieces were oriented toward Valentine’s which is on Thursday, or Mother’s Day, with prices not to drain anyone’s wallet.
“For those who can’t come to the carnival, they can call the school and ask for the art department,” Russell said. “I have a board set up so people can see what’s available.”
Nitta said one of the unique facets of the Waimea carnival is the heavy involvement of alumni.
“They love to get involved,” Nitta said. “They meet, plan and run several of the different areas of the carnival. The silent auction is run by a class, some of the different food booths are run by other classes.”
Breaking the action between entertainment acts, DuPont Pioneer took advantage of the event to present Waimea High School with a combined $12,600, including $7,000 to the Waimea athletic department and another $5,600 to the Waimea High School media program.
Laurie Yoshida, the DuPont Pioneer communications manager, said the awards were made based on DuPont Pioneer employee advocates, who made the requests on behalf of the school.
Taryn Dizon, the DuPont Pioneer Safety Coordinator and a Waimea alumnus, requested the athletic department funding to replace aging safety equipment.
Gary Kitabayashi, a production technician and former Kaua‘i Complex Area school principal, requested the funding for the Waimea media program, Waimea principal Nely Carberto joking that those funds had already been spent.
Nitta said in addition to funds of school and community projects, the Waimea Alumni and Friends Foundation also provides scholarships to students.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
