— Movers &Shakers —
Parker School Trust Corp. welcomes new member
At a recent meeting of the Parker School Trust Corp. board of directors, new member David D. Higgins, Esq., was welcomed. Higgins joins president Shelby Anne Floyd, Esq., secretary/treasurer Saundra Gulley and director Scott Elliot.
Funded by the Parker Ranch Foundation Trust, Parker School Trust Corp. supports Parker School and supports and administers Waimea Community Education.
HCFCU announces promotions
Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union has promoted Dean Uemura to executive vice president – support services, and Mel Ventura to executive vice president – member services.
Uemura is a graduate of Konawaena High School and earned a business administration degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has been employed with HCFCU for 29 years and has received the Certified Credit Union Executive designation after successfully completing years of intense, high level credit union studies and tests. Uemura also serves on the boards of the ARC of Kona, the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, the Konawaena Foundation and the Kona Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. Uemura will oversee the operations of the accounting, ACH, compliance, information technology, share draft, and support services departments.
Ventura has been employed with HCFCU for 20 years and graduated from the UH-Manoa with a bachelor of business administration in finance degree and a master’s degree in accounting. He also received the Certified Credit Union Executive designation and was recognized as the 2012 Outstanding Professional by the Hawaii Credit Union League. Ventura was also a member of the Kona Jaycees and served as treasurer and president of the Rotary Club of Kona Mauka. Ventura will oversee the operations of the Kailua, Kaloko, Kealakekua, Kohala and Honokaa branches as well as the call center, dealer center, loan adjustment, mortgage, and visa departments.
Lentz named executive chef
Hans Lentz has been appointed executive chef at the Mauna Kear Beach Hotel.
In his new position, Lentz will oversee all of the hotel’s food and beverage operations that include Manta &Pavilion Wine Bar, Number 3, Hau Tree and Kaunaoa Bar &Grill; as well as the twice-weekly luau; Saturday night clambake; and in-room dining.
For the past year and a half, Lentz served as the executive chef at Africa’s leading luxury five-star hotel, the Villa Rosa Kempinski Nairobi. His nearly two decades of culinary experience started in his hometown of Cologne, Germany, where he served as a chef de partie and quickly rose through the kitchen ranks at various international luxury hotels including Hyatt, Sheraton and Hilton, with assignments throughout Egypt, Turkey, Guam and Puerto Rico. In 2005, Lentz accepted the top culinary position at InterContinental Chicago, where he managed day-to-day operations for the hotel’s large-scale banquet and catering departments.
Kona Brewing ale wins another award
Kona Brewing Co.’s Big Wave Golden Ale has once again been decorated with a medal at the 2014 U.S. Open Beer Championship held in Atlanta. Judges at the competition blind sampled more than 3,000 beers in 81 different categories, with Big Wave Golden Ale emerging as the bronze medal winner in the Sessions Beer category.
This award marks the fourth time Kona has medaled at the U.S. Open Beer Championship. Last year, the Hawaiian brewer was awarded a gold medal for Big Wave, and two bronze medals in 2009 for its Longboard Island Lager and Fire Rock Pale Ale in the American Lager/Pilsener and the Pale Ale categories.
Memorabilia sought for 50th celebration
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel will be celebrating its 50th anniversary throughout 2015. As part of the yearlong celebration, quarterly themed displays are being planned for the hotel developed by Laurence S. Rockefeller, which opened in July 1965.
The themed displays will be golf and tennis during the first quarter, beach the second quarter, food and beverage the third quarter and art, architecture and design the fourth quarter.
To add to the displays, the resort is seeking memorabilia and mementos that community members may have that they would be willing to loan. Items might include Mauna Kea dishware, glassware, logo wear and more, particularly items from the 1960s and 1970s.
Anyone who has something the hotel might be interested in should contact Vicky Kometani at 882-5155.
Wells Fargo announces housing grants
Wells Fargo Housing Foundation will grant three Hawaii nonprofit organizations funds to support sustainable homeownership and create affordable housing opportunities for low-income families in Hawaii. These grants will also support homebuyer education counseling and home improvement projects throughout low-income neighborhoods in Kona, Maui and Honolulu.
Habitat for Humanity Hawaii was awarded $15,000 to support their annual statewide Build and Thon to build and refurbish homes. Wells Fargo team members will volunteer hundreds of hours on the build scheduled for July 11 and 12.
Hawaii Community Assets Inc. was awarded $15,000 to support foreclosure counseling and prevention.
Hawaii Homeownership Center was awarded $15,000 to support pre-purchase and homebuyer’s education counseling for first-time homeowners and increase the number of low-and-moderate income families in Hawaii.
Since its inception in 1993, the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation has stewarded more than $284 million and 4.7 million team member volunteer hours in support of creating affordable housing and community revitalization programs.
Home improvement fair coming in August
Community management companies Associa Hawaii and Hawaii First announce its home improvement fair scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Sheraton Kona Resort &Spa at Keauhou Bay. This event is open to the public.
The event is specifically designed to showcase a wide variety of vendors that can enhance a home or community association. Vendors will display their newest products and services and there will be giveaways throughout the event. Live entertainment and radio live remote will help to kick-off the event.
Bring two canned goods or nonperishable food items to the event to be eligible for a grand prize giveaway. Donations will benefit the community through the Hawaii Food Basket.
For more information, contact Kathy Cooley at kathy@associahawaii.com or 443-5966 or Laura Kniffin at ljkniffin@hawaiifirst.com or 443-5976.
Investor group gathering
The Investor Business Daily Meet-Up Group meets at 6:30 p.m. July 21 at Pottery Terrace, Suite 323, 75-5995 Kuakini Highway. Attendees should bring a list of stocks to review. The meeting is for novice and experienced stock investors.
For more information, call Doc Martin at 327-0354.
Airlines wins accolades
Hawaiian Airlines was recently ranked among the top domestic carriers by readers of Travel + Lesiure magazine.
In the top domestic airlines category of the magazine’s 2014 World’s Best Awards, readers who participated in a survey ranked Hawaiian Airlines third overall. Ahead of Hawaiian were Virgin America and JetBlue Airways. Hawaiian beat Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
Hawaiian Airlines has received a ranking among the top domestic carriers to Hawaii for six years now, according to the airline.
The results of the survey, conducted between Dec. 2, 2013, and March 31 were released by the magazine last week.
By local sources