PRINCEVILLE — A pair of North Shore woodworkers contributed to the pomp and circumstance surrounding the commissioning of the Navy’s newest destroyer, the USS Daniel Inouye, in Pearl Harbor today.
Husband-and-wife David and Sharlene McCormick of Princeville were approached by the USS Daniel Inouye’s chief engineer to design and create two clockstands commemorating the ship and the late Inouye himself, the second-longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate.
Inouye died in December 2012. In May 2013, the Navy announced it would name its next Atleigh Burke-class destroyer in his honor.
“He was a senator my whole life,” Sharlene McCormick said in a recent interview. “We grew up learning who our senators were, and he was there all the time. He was in the news and a fixture of government to kids growing up here.”
The couple handcrafted the 25-pound clock stands, which include barometers and commemorative coins, out of koa harvested from the Waimea Valley by South Shore business Kaua‘i Forest to Function.
Engravings of the ship’s profile and Inouye’s motto, “Go For Broke!” were made by Wailua Homesteads’ David Schoder, of Island Laser Arts.
The McCormicks logged over 100 hours of labor to complete the project.
“We spent quite a bit of time – probably 20 or 30 hours – just designing it,” David McCormick said. “We even made some prototypes out of pine to verify the process.”
Once shaped, the clock stands were sanded until they reached a glass-like smoothness. The McCormicks then polished them off with oil and wax.
The finished products show off koa’s iconic chatoyancy — that visual effect often described as 3D or holographic.
“If you’re looking at a really curly piece, you’ll swear there are dips and valleys,” David McCormick said. “But yet, when you run your hand over it, it’s totally smooth and level.”
The clock stands were presented to USS Daniel Inouye’s matrons of honor, Inouye’s former Chief of Staff Jennifer Goto Sabas and daughter-in-law Jessica Carroll Inouye, on Saturday.
The McCormicks consider their contribution to the ship’s commissioning ceremony both a privilege and an honor.
“My parents could never really afford koa because it was expensive back then, too,” Sharlene said. “But I think they’d be proud that we participated in a small way to make a lasting impression.”
Sharlene’s parents and grandparents were plantation workers on O‘ahu, but hailed from Koloa and Hanapepe, respectively. Her grandfather was present for the attack on Pearl Harbor, which marked its 80th anniversary yesterday, and hosts the USS Daniel Inouye today.
Sharlene moved to the Garden Isle herself upon retirement from her career as an elementary-school teacher.
But three years ago, she and her husband, a retired software programmer, stepped back into business when they converted their garage into a workshop and launched North Shore Koa Designs.
North Shore Koa Designs has an online-only storefront, northshorekoadesigns.com, but the McCormicks appear at in-person craft fairs throughout Kaua‘i each year.
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
