Letters for April 20, 2016

Letters for April 20, 2016

Marina deserved better tribute 

What a sad recognition that was given to the Wailua Marina Restaurant in the Sunday Garden Island. Seven sentences. 

Just barely two small paragraphs to pay tribute to a family-run business of 48 years. 

So many milestones were celebrated there – so many wonderful memories were forged there, so many wonderful years of celebrations, camaraderie, employment and ono food! 

You could dress up or go casual and still be comfortable in the Marina setting. 

The food was consistently delicious and I’m sure everyone had their favorite (mine being the NY — Teri style — oh that famous teriyaki sauce — best in the world – my world anyway) 

From the iconic Kenny Arashiro and his wife, Tome and daughter, Karen, and brother Yone and sister, Gladys and in the end – Darlene and Craig – what a family. 

You could easily have a Wailua Marina reunion of thousands with the employees, customers, tour industry personnel, tourists and vendors that have passed thru the doorways of the restaurant. 

Let’s pay them the proper respect and aloha for giving us such wonderful memories! 

Mahalo Arashiros and Wailua Marina Restaurant. 

The Harold Aiu Ohana 

Kihei 

Country needs new direction 

It is interesting that the author of the letter (April 10, TGI Forum) picks one statistic out of an entire letter and whines about it somehow being inaccurate. There is a much more important point, but nit pickers will be consistent. 

To clarify the point that under President Obama there have been 75 people added to the food stamp program for every one job created one must look at the Senate Budget Committee’s report that, yes is a snapshot in time, but clearly states that “there were 194,000 jobs created between January 2009 and October 2012 and 14.7 million added to the food stamp rolls between January 2009 and July 2012.” A 75-to-1 ratio. 

It’s time for America to make a 180 degree turn and focus on protecting us and helping create jobs. You know, the things government is supposed to do? 

The past seven years have been nothing but divide, regulate, change our population makeup, and control. Any more of that and we will get what we deserve. 

Mediocrity in a mediocre America. It is time to make America great again. No matter who wins in November. 

Gordon Oswald 

Kapaa 

Each voter does indeed make a difference 

It was disheartening for me to read Jack Custer’s rationale for not voting (TGI Forum, April 9). 

We’ve heard it all before, of course. Unquestionably, he has a right to make that choice. But voting is not just a choice, it is a fundamental responsibility of being a citizen of the United States. To blithely and cynically throw that away sends the erroneous message that because you’re only one person, you don’t really matter. 

You might ask Rosa Parks, or Martin Luther King Jr., or Nelson Mandela (and countless others whose names we don’t even know) if one person doesn’t matter. 

Only 51 percent of eligible voters even bothered to vote in the 2000 election, which was so close the Supreme Court had to decide who won. If only a few more complacent voters in Florida had exercised their rights, George Bush wouldn’t have been handed the presidency and we probably would have never entered into that disastrous war in Iraq. 

Regardless of whether you like or dislike a candidate, you have one single, precious vote, Jack. You can choose to have a say. 

You can choose to matter. But if you throw that away, you will not only be letting yourself down, but America, as well. 

Steven McMacken 

Lihue