Security guard training planned
Prior to employment as a guard, it is a state mandate to meet certain training requirements. These training requirements include successful completion of an eight-hour classroom instruction proceeding the first day of employment and four-hour classroom training annually.
The Office of Continuing Education and Training, Hawaii Community College is offering two security guard training classes in Kona. The first class will be 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today in room 102 at Suite Possibilities in the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce Building, 75-5737 Kuakini Highway. The second class will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 11 at a location to be announced. Participants will receive a certificate upon successful completion of this eight-hour comprehensive training program to meet the state guard requirements.
For application forms, visit the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Professional and Vocational Licensing website at hawaii.gov/dcca/pvl/boards/private/application_publications. For more information or to register for either class, call the Office of Continuing Education and Training at 974-2700.
Cancer support group meets Tuesday
A cancer support group meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Teshima’s Restaurant in Honalo. People newly diagnosed with cancer and cancer survivors are welcome, as well as interested caregivers and supportive family members.
For more information, call Shirley at 323-2732.
Participants sought for Chocolate Festival
Organizers of the third Big Island Chocolate Festival are looking for culinary participants to share sweet and savory tastes at the event’s gala May 3 at The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii. Last year’s event sold out and 500-plus attendees are expected this year.
Participating chefs, chocolatiers and confectioners can also enter the free culinary competition, vying in a variety of judged categories, plus people’s choice. “Mr. Chocolate” Jacques Torres, Food Network celebrity from New York City, will lead the team of celebrity judges. Other celebrity chocolatiers participating in the festival include Vincent Bourdin of Valrhona Chocolates Asia-Pacific and Donald Wressell of Guittard.
The two-day chocolate decadence opens May 2 with farm and factory tours at the Kona Soap Co. in Keauhou and a culinary competition between students from Hawaii, Maui and Oahu. Public culinary and agriculture-themed, hands-on seminars and demonstrations are May 3 at The Fairmont Orchid. The festival culminates from 6 to 10 p.m. May 3 with the festival gala in the Fairmont’s Grand Ballroom.
Also on tap will be fine wines and handcrafted ales, chocolate sculptures, live entertainment, dancing and a silent auction. Presented by the Kona Cacao Association, event proceeds benefit the $150,000 Equip the Kitchens campaign for the future Hawaii Community College at Palamanui and efforts to build a community amphitheater at the Waldorf-inspired Kona Pacific Public Charter School in Kealakekua.
Culinarians interested in participating can sign up at bigislandchocolatefestival.com.
Presale tickets are $75 and will be $100 at the door. New this year is the VIP Fast Wine Pass with early event admission and personalized wine service. Buy tickets and find event details at bigislandchocolatefestival.com. For more information, call 324-6100.
Kupuna singles meeting Tuesday
Kona Kupuna Singles Club meets for a sack supper at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Pahoehoe Park on Alii Drive.
Pulama ia Kona annual meeting set
The nonprofit Pulama ia Kona Heritage Preservation Council will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday at the new Malulani Pavilion at the Holualoa Inn in Holualoa Village. The gathering from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. will feature a progress report on the group’s primary project of the last few years — the 10-mile Mamalahoa Kona Heritage Corridor. The public is invited to attend.
Pulama’s seven-minute YouTube video slideshow of the highway that stretches from Palani Junction to Honalo will be shown. Copies of the Kona Heritage Corridor’s map and historical brochure that was created for the project will be available.
Samples of the new signs being developed for the historic buildings along Mamalahoa Highway will also debut. More than 30 signs are planned, from the Komo Store at the northern end of the Mamalahoa Kona Scenic Byway, to the Keauhou Store near the southern end of the winding country road.
Light pupu will be offered along with membership sign-ups and review of future goals. Those interested in helping preserve Kona’s heritage and history are invited to attend and contribute their ideas and suggestions.
Pulama ia Kona’s mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the special qualities of historic Kona. For more information, visit pulamaiakona.org.
Essay winners feted March 30
The Hawaii County Committee on the Status of Women, with cooperation from the Hawaii District Department of Education, sponsors an annual Real Women Creative Writing Competition during March, which is National Women’s History Month. Through this essay competition, students throughout Hawaii County looked at the lives of women they knew in their family or in their community, saw the many ways in which these women contributed to our shared history and authored their compelling essays.
The winners of the Real Women Creative Writing Competition will be celebrated at a luncheon from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 30 at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for students 5 to 12 years old. The program will feature the students reading their winning essays, recognition of their teachers and surprises. For tickets or more information, contact Roxanne at 934-3345 or rla96720@yahoo.com.
Daugherty receives Civil Air Patrol’s Eaker Award
Cadet Lt. Col. Reid Daugherty of the Civil Air Patrol Hawaii Wing’s Kona Composite Squadron recently pinned on his current rank after earning the General Ira C. Eaker Award. State Sen. Josh Green made the presentation and spoke to cadets and families in attendance.
Daugherty, a Civil Air Patrol member since September 2008, is a senior at Konawaena High School. He has been accepted to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and plans to major in meteorology while looking to the Air Force as a career path.
Daugherty has been the Kona Composite Squadron’s Cadet Commander since August 2012. He has been active in the many phases of the Cadet Program of the Civil Air Patrol. His qualifications in emergency services include serving as mission radio operator, ground team member level 1, and as a skills evaluator. He also serves as the squadron’s cadet aerospace education officer.
He has competed as a member of the squadron’s color guard and graduated from national Civil Air Patrol special activities such as Blue Berets in Oshkosh, Wis., and Cadet Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
Last summer he participated in the International Air Cadet Exchange as a Cadet Ambassador to Canada with 61 other air cadets from around the world. He recently served as commander of the Hawaii Wing 2013 Summer Encampment. Daugherty is also the chairman of the Hawaii Wing Cadet Advisory Council and represents Hawaii with the Pacific Region’s Cadet Advisory Council.
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force, has three missions: aerospace education of the American people, emergency services, and the cadet program. The General Ira C. Eaker Award is the third milestone in the cadet program. Approximately 200 cadets per year nationwide receive this award with the corresponding rank of Cadet Lieutenant Colonel.
The Kona Composite Squadron invites those interested in becoming cadet or adult members to attend the weekly Tuesday evening meetings. For more information, contact squadron commander Lisa Myrick at capkona@gmail.com or 333-9061.