LIHUE – The son of a Minnesota pioneer family, adventure has always been in Craig Saupe’s genes. “My family was farmers and hunters. I was running around the wilderness in Wacouta from the time I was a born,” said the
LIHUE – The son of a Minnesota pioneer family, adventure has always been in Craig Saupe’s genes.
“My family was farmers and hunters. I was running around the wilderness in Wacouta from the time I was a born,” said the Kauai fitness trainer.
So in 1993, when the Red Cross sent a team to Kauai to help to rebuild after Hurricane Iniki, the decision for Saupe was easy. But more than adventure, it was a chance to help people after the devastation.
“I said, ‘I want to go,’” Saupe said.
He was told he would have to live in somebody’s backyard. That didn’t stop him. Roughing it came naturally after working as a forest firefighter in Idaho, a state park ranger in Utah and a trapper on the Iron Range in Minnesota.
Slowly but surely, the island rebuilt itself after the hurricane. It was neighbor helping neighbor, and it had a profound impact on the thrill seeker. After all the adventures climbing mountains and battling forest fires across the West, it’s why he calls the island home today.
“I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. I helped build 11 houses in Anahola and Kekaha,” Saupe said. “Cooperation among people was greater than I’d ever seen before. Tragedies don’t discriminate. They bring people together.”
Saupe also donated his strength to the Lutheran Disaster Relief, raising roofs and framing homes.
From those labor intensive days, Saupe took a break from island living to dig wild ginseng in Red Wing, Minnesota, pick wild huckleberries in Oregon and trap muskrats in Utah. You could say he’s had quite a list of occupations over the years. The 56-year-old ran beaver trap lines on the Iron Range in 35 below zero temperatures to sell beaver pelts that financed his college education. He was caught in a 1979 Idaho wildfire and, while battling the blaze, didn’t think he was going to make it. The fire surrounded him and his partner.
“God was protecting us within this space, this little envelope,” Saupe said of the fire that raged around them. “I sat and ate my lunch cause there’s nothing else you can do. I’ll never ever forget being in that fire storm. That was an adventure.”
But the needs of an elderly Princeville couple brought him back to the island after 11 months on the Mainland. He helped them with repairs prior to them selling their property. From there, he committed to improving the fitness level of more than 200 clients. He estimated he’s logged 400,000 miles driving to clients.
But on Sundays, his commitment is always singing and playing his guitar at Christ Memorial Episcopal Church in Kilauea.
“My favorite hymn is ‘What a friend we have in Jesus,’” Saupe said. “He’s always been there with the things I got to see, the things I got to do, the people I got to meet, the whole shabang.”
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This is an ongoing feature that focuses on everyday people who reflect the spirit that makes Kauai the place it is today. If you know of somebody you’d like to see featured, email Lisa Ann Capozzi at lcapozzi@thegardenisland.com
