About Town | 4-25-15

Park’s BioBlitz needs volunteers

Nearly 100 volunteers are needed to help with the upcoming BioBlitz and Biodiversity and Cultural Festival at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on May 15 and 16.

The BioBlitz is a celebration of biodiversity and Hawaiian culture. It will bring together more than 150 leading scientists and traditional Hawaiian cultural practitioners, more than 750 students and thousands of visitors and residents. Together, they will be dispatched across the park’s 333,086 acres to explore and document the biodiversity that thrives in recent lava flows and native rain forests of Kilauea volcano.

Volunteers are needed to make the two-day event a success, and are encouraged to sign up for one or both days online by May 1. Many volunteer opportunities are available, including festival assistants, set-up and break-down, and data entry. Opportunities that require park knowledge and a bit of advance training include inventory site managers and assistants, and school liaisons to board arriving school buses to excite the keiki and lead the driver to student experiences. Traffic directors are also needed, and require four hours of advance training provided by the park.

For more information, contact Kupono McDaniel at 985-6015 kupono_mcdaniel@nps.gov.

Rotary Clubs announce speakers

David Mattice, district representative of the Public Utilities Commission will address Rotary Club of Kona Mauka during its meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday at Teshima’s. For more information, contact Larry Kniffin at 557-1178 or maukarotary2014@gmail.com.

Rotary Club of Kona Sunrise will hold its weekly meeting from 6:45 to 7:45 a.m. Wednesday on the second floor of Humpy’s in Coconut Grove Marketplace. For more information, contact Bev Fraser at 936-9965 or rotarybev@gmail.com.

Jean Hartley will speak about coping with disability during the Rotary Club of North Hawaii meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Anna Ranch in Waimea. For more information, contact Joyce Riggen at 640-1930 or jmriggen@gmail.com.

Tracey Fosso of West Hawaii Today will speak during the Rotary Club of Kona meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. For more information, contact James Resor at jcresor@yahoo.com.

Visitors are welcome.

Lecture focuses on Kamehameha I

Kona Historical Society’s Hanohano O Kona Lecture Series welcomes David Eyre, who will talk about Kamehameha I, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at West Hawaii Civic Center.

His book, “The Rise of a King: Kamehameha,” honors years of research and biographical data and is geared to a young audience. He served as a high school Hawaiian language teacher at Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama for 23 years.

The lecture is free. For more information, call 323-3222 or visit konahistorical.org.

Keiki story time planned Wednesday

Kona Stories bookstore, with assistance from the American Association of University Women, will host a story time for children ages 3 to 7 at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Keauhou Shopping Center. The theme is “Ducks.” Story time includes crafts and snacks for a $5 participation fee.

Keiki story times are held in the Keauhou Shopping Center courtyard. Space is limited. For more information or to reserve a spot, call 324-0350. Check-in 10 minutes prior to story time at Kona Stories.

Camera workshop offered Thursday

A two-hour photography workshop titled “Level 1: Composition: Learning to See” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at West Hawaii Civic Center in the Liquor Control Board meeting room, Building A.

Presented by Aubrey Hord and hosted by the Kona Camera Club, the class will help attendees to see more creatively. The class is geared toward those who feel comfortable using the manual setting on their cameras.

Seating is limited. Reserve a space by emailing info@kirkshorte.com.