Soroptimist International to meet
Soroptimist International of Kona will meet from 5:30-7 p.m. on Tuesday at West Hawaii Community Health Center conference room.
The Kona Soroptimist club, established in 1971, is a service club working locally and globally to make a difference in the lives of women and children through projects and programs. Nonmembers are welcome.
Info/RSVP: Contact Paula at 329-3403.
Cancer support group meets Tuesday
The Kona Community Hospital Cancer Support Group holds its monthly meeting from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday at Kona Community Hospital’s Administration Building in the first floor conference room 2.
Guest speaker Maxima Forslund will be discussing “Stress and Stress Management.”
The community-based support group helps patients cope with the emotional aspects of cancer by providing a safe place to share feelings and challenges.
Info: Kona Community Hospital Cancer Center, 322-6957.
Learn how to build a biodigester
South Kona Farmer Doug Pittman will lead participants in making a biodigester to create fuel from green waste on their farms on Wednesday in South Kona.
Pittman will demonstrate how to construct the digester, feed it with vegetable matter, inoculate the slurry, and use the resulting methane gas and fertilizer. This 9 a.m.-noon workshop is sponsored by the Hawaii Organic Farmers’ Association and costs $25 ($20 for HOFA members).
Attendees will meet at 8 a.m. at the south end of the Kealakekua Ranch Center parking lot in Captain Cook and carpool to Pittman’s farm in the Milolii area.
Info/register: Contact Una Greenaway at 328-8888 or visit www.hawaiiorganic.org.
Group to get update on neurotrauma registry project
The Brain Injury Support group meets from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday at Hawaiian Rehab Services on Hualalai Road in Kailua-Kona. The event will also mark the 23rd anniversary of the organization holding group meetings. Heavy pupu will be served.
This meeting’s speakers will be Violet Horvath and Dylan Arrieta, who will discuss “Traumatic Brain Injury in Hawaii: What we have learned from the Hawaii Neurotrauma Registry.” Horvath is the director of Pacific Disabilities Center and principal investigator on the Hawaii Neurotrauma Registry Project. Arrieta is the Hawaii Neurotrauma Registry Project coordinator.
The Hawaii Neurotrauma Registry Project was launched in March 2013. Since, staff members have traveled to all islands to better understand the post-injury needs of Hawaii residents of all ages who have had neurotrauma injuries (traumatic brain injury, stroke, and spinal cord injuries).
Hawaii Neurotrauma Registry Project staff members Horvath and Arrieta will present on the findings from four years of data gathered during Wednesday’s gathering. They will provide updates on legislation pertaining to traumatic brain injuries and highlights from the Department of Health’s Neurotrauma Supports Strategic Plan for 2018-20. Horvath and Arrieta will also discuss how they have utilized feedback provided by members of the Pacific Head Injury Support Group.
The Pacific Disabilities Center, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, is contracted by the state to conduct the project. Its main goal is to collect voluntary, confidential information from Hawaii’s residents who have had a neurotrauma injury. Information gathered assists the Department of Health in identifying the community supports and services needed by neurotrauma injury survivors, helps to educate service providers, and helps to develop safety and prevention plans and policies.
All are invited.
Info: Hawaiian Rehab at 329-0591 or Karen Klemme’s cell phone at 896-2962.
Oliveros shares commercial orchid practices
The Kona Daifukuji Orchid Club offers a presentation by Ben Oliveros, of Orchid Eros in Mountain View, on Wednesday.
Open to those interested in orchids, the gathering is at 7 p.m. at the Daifukuji Soto Mission Hall. A potluck starts off the meeting and guests are invited to participate.
Oliveros, an American Orchid Society judge, will discuss “Hawaiian-Grown Orchids,” sharing commercial practices that work for and against orchid consumers. It will include a myriad of orchid tips from Oliveros’ 25 years in the orchid industry.
The Kona Daifukuji Orchid Club is West Hawaii’s oldest orchidaceae organization with a mission to learn and foster orchid culture and promote fellowship among orchid collectors. The club meets the second Wednesday of every month at the Daifukuji Soto Mission Hall located off Highway 11, near mile marker 114, just north of Kainaliu.
Info: Call 328-8375.
2-day craft fair opens Wednesday
The 35th annual Hawaii Kupuna Hula Festival will be holding its craft fair in conjunction with the evening competition on Wednesday and Thursday at Sheraton Kona Resort.
The craft fair is free and will take place in the foyer of the Sheraton ballroom and the adjacent conference rooms from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. both days. Vendors will be selling fresh lei, jewelry, Hawaiian wood carvings, Hawaiian clothing and bags, baked goods and lauhala jewelry.
Tickets for the evening performances of the hula festival are $15 each night and can be reserved in advance by calling 323-4340.