LIHUE — Glenn Craven, the grounds supervisor at the Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club, learned a lot from watching his grandfather. On Saturday, Craven put his green thumb to use, in name of a good cause. “This is important,
LIHUE — Glenn Craven, the grounds supervisor at the Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club, learned a lot from watching his grandfather.
On Saturday, Craven put his green thumb to use, in name of a good cause.
“This is important, and I want the industry to grow,” Craven said. “A lot of what I need to know I learned by working with my grandfather doing all sorts of work, including building koi ponds.”
Craven was one of 25 volunteers who turned out to help refresh and improve the Hawaiian Garden at the Elsie Wilcox Elementary School during Alliance Day cleanup.
“The Alliance event is for education between the Wilcox Elementary School and the Kauai Marriott Community Service,” said Natalie “Hiwahiwa” Joyce-Maeda, the Wilcox Elementary School garden program coordinator. “This is a very recently renewed alliance between the school and the Marriott which started in 1998 when Mr. Craven headed up a group to help start this Hawaiian Garden.”
Ernest Dela Cruz, a retired principal from Wilcox Elementary School, dropped in on the event. He said it was kupuna Arlene Kon who was at the forefront of developing the Hawaiian Garden.
“The Wilcox School fourth grade class uses the garden for their study of Hawaiiana,” Dela Cruz said. “The garden, divided into six sections to represent the different grades, also fits in with the Hawaiian values which are part of the school’s core learning.”
Utilizing the concept of learning by teaching, the group included students from different schools. Maeda-Joyce and Owen “Sparrow” Maeda, a volunteer from the Sheraton Kauai Resort security department, educated the students about the various tasks.
“This is for potash,” said Alicia Hayakawa, a student from Kapaa Middle School. “The lady said if we put the banana stalk strips into the soil, it puts in fertilizer.”
Chuck Brady, the Kauai Marriott Human Resources director who coordinates many of the Marriott community service projects, said in addition to the manpower, Craven coordinated donations from the community which added to the success of the project.
