Jill Briley of a biplane air tour firm said she almost cried Tuesday when she got to sit in the cockpit of the Samartian’s Purse DC-8 plane that touched down at Lihue Airport following a 10-hour, nonstop flight (Kaitlyn Lahm, the Samaritan’s Purse media coordinator, said she got a good sleep out of the trip) from North Carolina.
Jill Briley of a biplane air tour firm said she almost cried Tuesday when she got to sit in the cockpit of the Samartian’s Purse DC-8 plane that touched down at Lihue Airport following a 10-hour, nonstop flight (Kaitlyn Lahm, the Samaritan’s Purse media coordinator, said she got a good sleep out of the trip) from North Carolina.
Not only was the plane loaded with relief supplies and volunteers, Briley said she used to fly on the DC-8s and, in fact, met Ray Smith, who used to fly the aircraft.
Kudos to Taylor Shigemoto (who knew this guy was a body builder?), Terri Kaniho, and all the Gather Federal Credit Union people who turned out to volunteer unloading the DC-8. Terri said one of their Gather people is a member of a church affiliated with Samaritan’s Purse and the credit union has had people in the field since the floods to help with relief and recovery efforts.
Kudos, too, to the Lanai High and Elementary School Pinelasses (their coach said it was raining in Lanai too) for coming over to play softball against Waimea in the DataHouse Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state tournament play-in game, and congratulations to Coach Teddy Perreira and the Menehune for winning the contest to advance to the state games next week on Oahu.
OK, time to go check out the Countdown to Charity Walk, the Okinawa Festival and, hopefully, have enough time for Cinco de Mayo at the National Tropical Botanical Garden Southshore Visitor Center.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
