LIHU‘E — The East Kaua‘i Lions Club has been faithfully meeting remotely on its traditional meeting dates of the first and third Thursday of the month, away from its traditional Lihu‘e Neighborhood Center site because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following nearly a year of this no-contact meeting schedule, a number of events requiring in-person attention forced the Lions to seek out a venue where the East Kaua‘i Lions could distribute its annual scholarships, celebrate the 83rd anniversary of its charter, install Lion Roy Nishida as a monarch for his 50 years of service to Lionism, and install a fresh slate of officers to continue to lead the club out of the pandemic and beyond.
Initially scheduled to take place at the Sheraton Kaua‘i at Coconut Beach in Waipouli, the site was pulled from under the Lions when the island was reduced to Tier 3 because of an outbreak.
Perseverance by EK Lion President-elect Harvey Kinoshita finally landed the Lions an oasis at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center in Lihu‘e that was set up for social distancing and other pandemic health and safety rules by New Hope Lihu‘e, which hosts its services there.
Past District Governor Kelvin Moniz introduced the six scholarship recipients, all from Kaua‘i High. Dylan Calderon, Leonila Fulgencio, Jeremy Herr, Jessica Hreljac, Zoe Santa Maria and Ashtyn Yadao each received $1,000 scholarships for use in pursuit of higher education following their Friday graduation at nearby Vidinha Stadium.
Calderon will be attending the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, majoring in education, hoping to teach children with dyslexia, ADHD and anxiety, and minor in Hawaiian studies.
Fulgencio, a Leo Club member, has been serving in many aspects of the community, school and the underprivileged. Fluent in Tagalog and Spanish, Fulgencio is looking forward to completing her Hawai‘i Pacific Health internship and is planning to study nursing.
Herr is looking at a path in aviation, attending Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, while participating in the Air Force ROTC and following that tenure with pilot training in the U.S. Air Force.
Hreljac plans to major in architectural engineering with a minor in sustainable environment at the California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo.
Santa Maria, already completing the accounting program in the Business Pathway and earning nine college credits, has been accepted by Kaua‘i Community College, where she plans to get her liberal arts degree before transferring to earn her general public accounting license and Quickbooks certification.
Yadao is heading to the Pacific University in Oregon with sights to earn a bachelor’s degree in biology and a doctorate degree in optometry after having shadowed her own eye doctor and experiencing the day-to-day life of an optometrist.
The presentation of the scholarships, done by Past District Governor Roy Nishida, was followed by the remaining protocol of celebrating the 83rd anniversary of the charter that formed by East Kaua‘i Lions Club, the installation of Nishida as a monarch for his 50 years of service to Lionism, and Harvey Kinoshita accepting the gavel from Immediate Past President Janice Bond as the leader of the new slate of officers.
And yes, due to the pandemic, there was no banquet, just slices of the celebratory cake and coffee.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
