West Oahu Highlights

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Below are highlights of what’s coming up in West Oahu.

June

* BLOOD DRIVES Hawaii Blood Bank conducts donor drives from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. June 2 at Pali Momi hospital; 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. June 2 at Ihilani Resort, Lurline meeting room, 7 to 10 a.m. June 3 at Hawaii Medical Center West, noon to 3 p.m. June 3 at Kapolei Home Depot, 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 6 at Pearlridge Center Uptown by Tilt, and 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 11 at the Pearl City Home Depot. Call 845-9966.

* TRANSIT WORKSHOP The city conducts a community workshop at 6:30 p.m June 3 at Waipahu Intermediate School on the second rail station design for two proposed Waipahu stations. Call 566-2299.

* GRADUATIONS West Oahu high school graduation ceremonies are scheduled at the following times: Aiea at 6 p.m. June 5 at Aloha Stadium, Kapolei at 6 p.m. June 5 at the school stadium, Campbell at 5 p.m. June 6 at Aloha Stadium and Waipahu at 7 p.m. June 7 at Blaisdell Arena.

* ADULT SCHOOL Registration runs through June 5 for summer classes at the Waipahu and Kapolei Community Schools for Adults. Call 675-0254 (Waipahu) or 692-8210 (Kapolei).

* WONDERLAND Oahu Arts Center presents the musical Alice in Wonderland at 7 p.m. June 5-7 and 1:30 p.m. June 6-7 at the Hawaii Carpenters Union training facility in Kapolei Business Park. Tickets cost $15 for adults, $10 for youths. Call 848-7632.

* BOOK SIGNING Local author Chris McKinney signs copies of his new novel, Mililani Mauka, at noon June 6 at Borders Waikele. Call 676-6699.

* CHARGER FOOTBALL Pearl City Chargers Football registers players for its Mitey Mite, Junior Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Junior Midget, Midget and Cheer divisions from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 6-7 at Pacheco Park in Pearl City. Cheerleading coaches also are welcome. Call 852-8644.

* ON STAGE Pineapple Squeeze performs at Pearlridge Uptown at 1 p.m. June 7, followed by Halau Hula mai ka Pu’uwai a ka Mana’o at 2:30 p.m. Call 488-0981.

* BLOG CLASS Kapolei Library offers a free computer workshop on “Creating a Blog” at 8:30 a.m. June 8 on the second floor. Call 693-7050.

* NEIGHBORS Aiea Neighborhood Board meets at 7:30 p.m. June 8 at Aiea Library; and the Ewa board meets at 7 p.m.June 18 at Ewa Beach Library (date change because of Kamehameha Day). Call 768-3710.

* QUARRY HEARING The city Department of Planning and Permitting holds a hearing for a conditional use permit at 1:30 p.m June 9 on Grace Pacific’s request to expand operations at its quarry in Honouliuli. The hearing is in the City Council committee meeting room at Honolulu Hale. Call 768-8049.

* KARATE Hawaii Shotokan Karate Club is registering students of all ages for its beginner program with classes starting June 12 at Aiea Intermediate School. Fees range from $75 to $125. Call 988-7128.

* SWAP MEET Waipio Center hosts a Community Swap Meet from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. June 20 in the main parking lot across the street from Jack in the Box. Call 288-2590.

Ongoing

* STAR SIGHTINGS Ko Olina hosts weekly astronomical star shows at 8 and 9 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the resort. Appropriate for all ages. Reservations for “Stars Above Hawaii"can be made through Ko Olina Activities at 679-4728. (An incorrect number was listed last week.)

* SOFTBALL SIGNUPS The Kulia 10U Fastpitch Softball team (Ewa-Kapolei) seeks girls ages 7-10 for its ASA 2009 summer softball season.Call Tenny Liu @ 209-9813 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

* JACKRABBIT FOOTBALL The Oahu Youth Sports League registers players and cheerleaders from 10 a.m. to noon every Saturday at Waipahu District Park for the Waipahu Jackrabbits’ Termite and Pee Wee division (ages 9-13). Fee is $140 for football, $25 for cheerleaders. Call Denise at 271-7905.

* CRUSH YOUTH FOOTBALL Nonprofit Ewa Beach Crush Youth Football League registers youth for its Mitymites (ages 5-7) and Termite (ages 8-10) flag football teams and cheerleaders (age 5-12) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Sunday at Ewa Beach Community Park. Call 256-3662.

Celebrated Hawaii Chef Chai Chaowasaree recently received the Hawaii Book Publishers Association 2009 Ka Palapala Po’okela Award of Excellence for The Island Bistro Cookbook, a collection of more than 90 recipes from his award-winning restaurants.Among the dishes making the list is a Fresh Aloun Farms ‘Ewa Sweet Corn Chowder, no doubt made sweeter with ingredients straight from the Kapolei fields.

To sample this and a few select others, visit Chai’s Island Bistro at Aloha Tower through the month of June and order the special prix fixe menu. You’ll get the soup as well as Chef Chai’s Signature Combination Appetizer Platter, Smoked Duck Breast Carpaccio Salad with Tangerine Vinaigrette, Deconstructed Sterling Silver Beef Tenderloin Wellington and a Crème Brulee Sampler. The five-course dinner costs $55 per person and will include a complimentary copy of Chef Chai’s cookbook as a gift to diners when a party of two or more orders from the menu. Call 585-0011 for reservations.

* Earlier this year, Pearlridge Center presented the Hawaiian Railway Society with a $45,557 thank you for its service to the 25,000-plus riders of the Pearlridge Express over the 2008 holiday season. The funds will go toward the eventual purchase of a rail car that will allow the society to provide rides to small groups along its tracks in Ewa Beach.

Although it will be built with modern materials and technology, the rail car will be designed using historic Oahu Railway & Land Company photos and drawings. The new car also will offer the potential for train rides between locations not currently included on regular tours.

Pearlridge makes annual awards to the Hawaiian Railway Society, which provides engineers and conductors for the holiday train ride each year. Over the past six years, more than $315,000 has been donated to the nonprofit group.

On hand at the presentation ceremony were Pearlridge Center general manager Fred Paine, special projects and promotions manager Lurline Kawainui, and Pearlridge Express operations and volunteer coordinator Kimo Keawe. The Hawaiian Railway Society was represented by president Robert Yatchmenoff and vice president Larry Howard.

* Ko Olina Resort & Marina-based Mokulua Contracting LLC recently announced the establishment of a second operating company, Ho’ala Landscape & Maintenance, which will help to expand the company’s service area to the larger Oahu market.

“Our staff has served more than a dozen Ko Olina Resort residential subdivisions, real estate and property rental offices, and the Ko Olina Community Association while operating as Ko Olina Landscape & Maintenance.

Now we are ready to expand our market to the entire island through Ho’ala Landscape & Maintenance,” said company general manager and CEO Ka’eo Gouveia.

Ho’ala will offer condominiums, commercial buildings and community associations a comprehensive line of services that include grounds maintenance, landscape design and installation, building maintenance and housekeeping services.Clients also can look to benefit from the expertise and resources provided by parent company Jacobsen Labor Services Inc., a building and landscaping contractor that serves U.S.Army facilities and installations such as Tripler Army Medical Center, Schofield Barracks and Helemano Military Reservation.

For more information, call 678-6511.

* ‘Ilima at Leihano’s parent company, Kisco Senior Living, recently was named as a distinguished Eureka Silver leveler award winner by the California Council for Excellence (CCE).

During the annual California Awards for Performance Excellence (CAPE) program, Kisco Senior Living and other companies were acknowledged for achieving world-class results through innovation, customer service and performance excellence.

“It is a special honor to receive this distinguished accolade in recognition of the business practices we employ to continually anticipate and meet the preferences and needs of our residents and stakeholders,” said Andy Kohlbery, president and CEO for the California-based company, which runs 18 senior living communities throughout the U.S.

Its newest community is slated to open in Kapolei in 2011. Nearly 100 future community members have already joined the exclusive ‘Ekahi Club, guaranteeing them pre-construction pricing, priority residence selection and the opportunity to help develop future social activities and services, such as the Identity Theft Prevention seminar next month.

* Waipahu-based Albert C. Kobayashi Inc. and Aiea-based Healy Tibbitts Builders Inc., were named among the safest construction companies in America during the Associated General Contractors of America’s 90th annual convention in San Diego. The two West Oahu companies won first and second place, respectively, in the heavy division of the Construction Safety Excellence Award for the strength of their safety programs as well as overall safety performance in 2008.

“There’s no better measure of strength of a company than its ability to keep its workers safe and healthy. These companies understand that safety is much more than a series of requirements; it is a way of operating that drives every decision on every project, every time,” said Doug Pruitt, incomng president of AGC.