Merrie Monarch 2009 Kudos

Now that I’ve recovered from the 2009 Merrie Monarch Festival I thought it would be a good time to appreciate those who were part of the great event.

First thanks to all of the halau who put in many tireless hours of practice. It seems as though the performances get better every year.

Thank you to those who put on the Merrie Monarch Festival. It was great to see founders Aunty Dottie Thompson and Uncle George Naope attend the final night. A big mahalo to Thompson’s daughter Luana who now runs the festival.

The crew behind the scenes that scrambled to put on the broadcast, in HD for the first time. KITV Engineering Director Rodney Shimabukuro was everywhere.

The broadcast talent was great as always, but here is where I really wanted to go. The biggest thanks and my amazement goes to KITV’s Paula Akana. Paula lost her father one week before the Merrie Monarch broadcast started.

She is made of sterner stuff than most. Despite her tragic loss, she managed to finish putting her Best of Merrie Monarch and Backstage at the Merrie Monarch shows together in the days after her father’s death. She then went on to show her professionalism by hosting the festival for six hours plus a night.

Paula has kept her pain private and is obviously still grieving, but she felt she couldn’t let down the public or the station by stepping down from the Merrie Monarch Festival broadcast. Send your thoughts, prayers and aloha.

Friday is Scarf Day

Here at KITV, if you walk through the front door or call the front desk, you are greeted by Lydia, our receptionist.

Like many other businesses, Lydia is so much more than what her job title suggests. She can help turn a person’s day around. She can make sure things happen for us as well. She is one of the brightest lights we have here at the station.

Now, Lydia is battling cancer. There have been fundraisers for her climbing medical expenses.

Since fighting this disease, she started losing her hair and evetually shaved it off. She wears colorful scarfs to cover her head.

One of our employees, Wanda Wehr, suggested that others at the station wear scarves on Fridays. It is now common place to see men such as anchor Gary Sprinkle wearing a scarf (albeit a manly one) around his head as he walks the halls on Friday.

A photographer from the Honolulu Advertiser took photos of Lydia and some of us wearing scarves. Look for it in an upcoming edition. 

She’s What? I Couldn’t Tell

 Many times KITV’s weekend anchor Jill Kuramoto goes out into the public to do a story and many people are shocked to find out that she is PREGNANT.

 That’s right. You might not have been able to tell with the way the studio camera operators creatively shoot Jill.

 My own mother was surprised to see how far along Jill was when she saw her at Easter service.

 Time is ticking. Jill has only 3 weeks left before her due date. She and her husband David are having a baby boy. It is their first child.

 Jill said the baby’s room is ready, but they are still gathering items they still need.

 ”The reality is starting to set in. We are really excited and nervous at the same time, but we are really looking forward to being parents,” Jill said.

 They are still trying to decide on a name.

 We wish Jill a great delivery and good health for her new child.

- Brent Suyama