In honor of National Parents’ Day, two Kailua-Kona couples were presented with Excellence in Parenting awards Friday night at the Hawaiian Queen Coffee Garden.
In honor of National Parents’ Day, two Kailua-Kona couples were presented with Excellence in Parenting awards Friday night at the Hawaiian Queen Coffee Garden.
Makana and Tammy Delovio and Casey and Dayna Lai were selected for the honors by the Family Federation for World Peace. Representing the organization to present the award was Chuck Frumin, who began the tradition on the Big Island a year ago.
“The idea is to promote family values and showcase that parenting is very important for family and the community,” said Frumin. “The most powerful bonds in the world is between parent and child.”
Parents of seven children, Makana and Tammy Delovio were nominated by Kona Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas for the award. The couple met in the U.S. Marines and were married in 1993. After attending bible college in Texas, the two moved back to the Big Island in 2000.
“Their personal family motto is, ‘House never clean, never quiet, but never lonely,’” said Frumin.
Casey and Dayna Lai were nominated by Mary Ellen Legay, a fellow member of the Salvation Army, where Dayna teaches Sunday school. Legay pointed out a bond between the couple, parents of two children, that remains strong even when the pair can’t be together in person.
“Even if a couple like that isn’t able to physically be together, working together, their heart is connected,” said Legay. “That means everything; that focus on the children.”
National Parents’ Day was established as a national holiday in 1994 as the fourth Sunday in July.
