Trellis Restaurant, Radisson Prince Kuhio Hotel

The ‘Onipa’a Chapter meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. by Acting President Jo Miguel Segovia.  The Pledge of Allegiance was dispensed with since we did not have a flag.  The  Invocation was led by Jo Miguel Segovia.  There were twenty-two members attending;  our two guests were introduced by Sheila Okamura:  John Antal ( Ressie Darval ) and Faye Chambers (guest speaker).  Jo Miguel Segovia announced that our Vocational Speaker for the evening would be Sharon Elwell.

After a scrumptious and plentiful dinner, our guest speaker was introduced by Joy Barnhart.  Fay Chamber is a member of Imua Chapter and works for the State Department of Defense, Civil Defense Division (State Civil Defense).  Her career in emergency management began over 20 years ago as a police officer.  Due to Health and family issues, she switched gears and began a 16-year adventure in computer graphics and software development.  In late 2000, Faye decided that it was time to return to her chosen career path of emergency management and joined the State Civil Defense as a hazard mitigation planner.  Faye talked about how to prepare for natural disasters, such as hurricanes, what the State (of Hawaii) does, what you as a member of the public can do.  She also talked about terrorism, what the State has done in the past, in terms of preparedness,  what is now being done to prepare, and how we as individuals can prepare ourselves.

Natural Disasters

Hurricanes can happen at anytime:  1982 – Iwa, 1992 – Iniki, 2002 – ??, What to do: Step 1.) Prepare, Step 2.) Prepare, Step 3.)  Prepare.  Businesses prepare by having plans for the safety of their employees, the security of their physical premises, and the secure of their computerized data.  Individuals prepare by planning for 1. )  the safety of their family:  Do you have a plan?  Can you get home safely in the event of an earthquake or a hurricane?  What will your family do if the members are separated?  Do you have a meeting place?  2.)  The security of your possessions:  Do you a place to lock your valuables?  Is your roof secure and your windows strong enough to withstand high winds?  The State has a website to provide information about mitigating damage from Hawaii’s natural disasters:  www.mothernature-hawaii.com .  You should keep certain important documents at home – you insurance policy and a copy of your property deed.  If a natural disaster strikes, the banks with their safety deposits will be closed and Federal aid to you will be delayed if you cannot produce these documents.

Terrorism

The State of Hawaii is pretty well prepared in planning what to do in case of a terrorist event.  It is far ahead of most states in this respect.  It took the event of 9/11 for our Federal government and other state governments to realize the problem.  The State of Hawaii and the Counties have been working together to have a plan in place.  The plan has five Threat Levels:  White (normal condition), Green, Amber, Red, and Black (a major incident has occurred).  The defined levels puts all agencies on the same stage of alert with defined responses for each agency.  Hawaii is prepared with Federal, State, and County formalized plans:  what to do, when to do it, and who is going to do it.

To make preparedness against terrorism not just a government task, but a community task, community teams are being formed with Federal matching funds (75:25).  Funds will be announced on 2 August 2002.

The State Civil Defense needs volunteers!  You can help during times of disaster in the areas of:  office administration (Civil Defense workers will be needed in the field);  emergency operations center support;  technical field assistance (e.g. architects, engineers); disaster field assistance (manning field offices); radio communications (HAM, amateurs radio network – license required); general security support.

What to in case of a disaster:  stay off the roads and telephones; listen to a news network for information. 

Faye distributed State Civil Defense Volunteer Sign-Up Form, a brochure on Disaster Preparedness for Terrorism, a brochure on Anthrax and Mail Bomb Information, and a Hurricane Information and Safety Measurers brochure.  Chapter Member Joy Barnhart presented Faye Chambers with a Certificate of Appreciation.

Vocational Speaker – Sharon Elwell.  Sharon is the Manager of Information Systems for the legal firm of Cade, Shutte, Fleming and Wright.  She started with computers in 1975 at a medical center.  She didn’t know anything about computers but was willing to learn something new.  She went to computer training and now in her present job manages the IS department with four people under her.  The mission is to keep all systems running since all documents are now computerized.

Chapter Member Birthday Celebrations – we celebrated the July birthdays:  Shirley Chang, Helen Kikuchi, Elaine Shimizu, and Rose McIntyre and also the June birthdays since the meeting was our Chapter Fun Day:  Cindy Caswell, Lila Marantz, Sheila Okamura, and Pat Yuen.

Committee Reports:

Hospitality – Ressie Darval announced that our nex t meeting (August) will be held at Restaurant Cocina Filipina on King Street.  A vote was taken whether to have our Christmas Party this year on Thursday, December 12^th or Friday, December 13^th.  The majority voted to have it on Thursday, December 12^th.

Ways & Means – Helen Kikuchi announced that we will be having a Chapter Table at the ABWA Day of Celebration on 28 September.  She needs contributions from our members.  A signup sheet will be available in August.

Program – Lila Marantz announce that our speaker will be from the Salvation Army Treatment Center.  A donation of a canned good or $ will be appreciated.

Membership – Cindy Caswell announced that our first membership drive will be held this November 2002.  Also ‘Onipa’a Chapter dues ($24 given to our Treasurer) are due in August (our birthday month).  We will be selling the Entertainment Book again for a cost of $30 ($6 goes to the Chapter).

Bulletin & Web site – Lila Marantz will still be handling our “Hawaii ABWA” site.  Our contract for that runs until November 2002.  Think about what you want to about continuing.  Ressie also has a web site available and John Antal will be doing our Bulletin.

Education – Sharon Elwell announced that the Scholarship Award check had been sent to the UH Financial Office .

Secretary’s Minutes – distributed in the Bulletin handed out by Ressie.  Approved without any corrections.

Treasurer’s Report – published on the Hawaii ABWA web site and approved, subject to audit.

Announcements – Acting President Jo Miguel Segovia announced the Hawaii ABWA Day of Celebration is this September 28^th.  The sign up will be available at the nex t Chapter meeting.  Make your check payable to ‘Onipa’a Chapter.  Monies will be turned in on 28 August 2002.   [Note:  Speaker will be Connie Lau, CEO of American Savings Bank and Bishop Estate Trustee]    We need donations for door prizes and the “Goody bag”.  Use the “Goody bag” to promote your business.

We received a thank you card from the family of Katherine Kam.

The District VI Spring Conference will be held in Reno, Nevada.

Installation of Office rs for the Chapter Year of 2002-2003.  Acting President Jo Miguel Segovia installed: our President, Ressie Darval ; Treasurer, Faye Yamura, Corresponding Secretary Sarah Shiroma, and Recording Secretary Pat Yoseda.  President Ressie Darval installed Vice-President Jo Miguel Segovia.

President Ressie Darval pledged to do her best and asked for all Chapter Member to help.  Our membership has decreased.  Ressie will be going to the ABWA National Convention this year.

The Benediction was led by Jo Miguel Segovia and the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. by President Ressie Darval .

Respectfully Submitted,

Dee Conquest, Recording  Secretary

Fun Day:  Sea Life Park and dinner at Ressie Darval ’s home

The June 2002 meeting of ‘Onipa’a Chapter was designated as our Fun Day Meeting, a time when we enjoy an activity together and get to know one another better.  Our group of nine met at Sea Life Park at around 1:00 p.m.  We enjoyed the dolphins at the Hawaii Ocean Theatre, watched the turtles and sting rays, and enjoyed a snack.  Then it was onward to Dolphin Cove to watch the show.  It was a lively show with audience participation and a lesson that gold and jewels are not the true treasure of our lives.  The beauty of our islands and friendship are what we must treasure.  We finished off our tour in the air conditioned gift shop, helping out the economy. 

Ressie Darval missed the Sea Life Park activity because she, along with John Antal, was busy preparing a feast.  Seventeen Chapter Members and ten guests, including Leslie and David Hallacy from Punahele Chapter, gathered for our dinner meeting. No formal business done as it was designated as a fun night, dedicated to networking among chapter members and guests (potential members) and provided an informal venue to discuss various aspects of the chapter: such as a review of the programs that we had, possible topics for the future, the mission of ABWA, what benefits we could provide to attract new members, ways of attracting new members, calendar for the upcoming chapter year, and above all getting to know one another better!  (We ate a lot too!)

The meeting was informally adjourned at 7:30 and all went home with a feeling of good cheer and camaraderie.

Respectfully submitted,

Dee Conquest, Recording  Secretary

Buzz’s Steak House, Pearl City

Meeting called to order by Vice President Jo Miguel-Segovia at 6:23 p.m.   Kay Ono led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Invocation.  A special Prayer was said for Chapter Members Katherine Kam and Doris Okimoto, who are ill.  There were twenty-one Chapter Members and nine guests.  The guests were introduced: Richard Hernandez (Cindy Caswell), Leslie and David Hallasey (visiting from Punahele Chapter), Thrina Arcamo (Bessie Obra’s sister), Abbi Dayna Dela Cruz and Amanda Lau (scholarship recipients, Melvin Lau (father of Amanda), and Lei Ohama Rol (guest speaker).

We all enjoyed the big salad bar, grilled sourdough bread, and entrees for dinner.

After dinner, Education Chair, Sharon Elwell gave a brief overview of the selection process.  We had 78 applications, 26 of which were incomplete for one reason or another.  There was a wide range of grade-point averages and other scholarships being received was a consideration.  Finally the hard-working committee narrowed it down to fifteen applicants.  Both our winners came out tied for first place. Sharon then introduced our scholarship recipients and mentioned that both of them have finals tomorrow!

Abbi Dayna Dela Cruz was one of our recipients last year.  She expressed her heartfelt thanks and gave us an update of her activities.  She has joined Beta Gamma Sigma and the Mortar Board for the Senior Class, as well as working with handicapped children.  She is also working for a CPA firm, doing taxes and general accounting.  Abbi will graduate in December 2002 with a degree in Finance and high hopes of finding employment.  (Chances of finding a job are much better in December than in June.)  Abbi’s check will be sent to the Financial Aid office at UH.

Amanda Lau a McKinley High School graduate, has just finished her Freshman year, majoring in Management Information Systems.  She has been interested in computers and business since high school.  Amanda gave us a big thank you!  Her check will also be sent to the Financial Aid office at UH.

Program Chair Pat Yuen introduced our guest speaker, Lei Ohama Rol, Fundraising Chairperson for the Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation (HCCF) and also a student at UH in communications.  Lei had a career as a mortgage banker with Bank of Hawaii for twenty years, starting out as a Loan Office r and working her way up to Vice President.  She thought that that’s what she wanted for a career, but found it wasn’t.  She wanted to give back to the community and has been with HCCF for six years.  It has been very rewarding.  When there is a challenge, the right help seems to appear.  “You need to have vision and the goal will carry you along.  You will do whatever it takes to get to your goal!”  Lei is passionate and energetic about her work.  She is also looking for volunteers for nex t year’s Keiki Fun Run (‘Onipa’a members take note.)

Pat Yuen present Lei Ohama Rol with a certificate of appreciation from the chapter.

Just notes from here:

We did birthdays: Cindy Harris and Linda Ridgeway.

Secretaries minutes accepted by motion & vote.

Treasurers report accepted subject to audit.

Ways Means:  Bowling final net profit $2502.86.

Hospitality:  Fun Night Sat. June 22.  $8 Sea Life Park .  $8 dinner at Ressies – please sight up.  Meet SLP at 1 p.m.

Reminder – pay your dues.

Meeting closed

Sheila O. Benediction.

End 8:28 p.m.

Dee Conquest, Recording Secretary

Pacific Beach Hotel

The April 2002 meeting of ‘Onipa’a Chapter was called to order by Vice President Jo Segovia at 6:25 p.m. Lila Marantz led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Invocation. There were twenty “Onipa’a chapter members and five guests.  Sheila Okamura introduced the guests: Leslie Hallacy and David Hallacy (Sharon Elwell), Johan Antal ( Ressie Darval ), Clara Medeiros (Fay Yamura) and speaker Kuuleialoha Chun.

Dee Conquest distributed the minutes of the March 21, 2002 meeting.

Dinner was served and members caught up on network with members and guests.

Program:  The speaker was introduced by Lila Marantz, who knows Kuuleialoha Chun well; they both are employed at Salomon Smith Barney.  Kuuleialoha Chun is this year’s 53^rd Narcissus Queen.  A Kamehameha School and University of Washington graduate, Kuuleialoha has tried several different vocations before becoming a financial consultant. Her family has always been in the healing profession so she studies biology in college, and tried psychotherapy counseling but found that too much of a mental burden. Accepted as a flight attendant for American Airlines led to a relocation in New York City. There she found big city life very expensive ($1,900/month for a 1 bedroom apt.) and not much aloha. She returned to Hawaii and eventually joined her father in the financial world at Salomon Smith Barney where she has been for 2 ½ years. While waiting for a take-out lunch one day, Kuuleialoha read an announcement for applicants for the Narcissus Queen Festival. Since she qualified, she decided to apply; this being the first time she tried for something without her family’s input. The pageant is so much more that just a beauty contest. Contestants are required to take classes where they learn Chinese culture, history, family values and cooking, as well as poise and speech classes. For Kuulei, it was an eye-opener to what the Narcissus Pageant really was. She became passionate about learning about her culture and the competitiveness of the contest became a minor component. There were three phases to the contest:  1) Talent – where she danced the hula; 2) The  Judges’ interview – where they asked her what it was that made her special; and 3) Poise and Beauty. Preparing for the question “What makes me special/” led to a lot of soul-searching on “Who am I?” In the process she became acquainted with her family’s history and brought her family closer to their Chinese culture. What was the hardest part of the content? – Fitting into that Chinese dress!

The Narcissus Festival no longer requires pure Chinese ancestry, recognizing that we live in a multi-ethnic world.

What she learned from the process is “Be true to yourself and be your own person.”

As the Narcissus Queen, Kuuleialoha represents the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the State of Hawaii. There are many duties, including a three-week trip to China this June. She also spends every Friday speaking to two different elementary schools about her experience and the Chinese culture. For her, it has been an experience of a lifetime, meeting with the Governor of Hawaii, the Mayor of Honolulu, and a Governor of a Chinese province of 45 million people.

It was a very self-empowering experience. Preparation was the key, but she found that if you focus on what you put your mind to, you can do anything!

We all enjoyed learning about this part of Hawaii’s culture from this very vivacious and unassuming young lady.

Pat Yuen presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Kuuleialoha Chun for such an interesting presentation. 

Business Meeting:

Birthdays: The April Birthday of Ressie Darval was celebrated.

Business Associates’ Night: Chairperson Florence Saiki gave the background of Business Associates’ Night. Formerly it was known as “Bosses Night.” However, in this day and age, ABWA National found that many times the women were their own bosses, so it was changed to honoring Business Associates. Florence read an article of Secretaries and Bosses, which concluded that  many times, the only people who know what’s going on are the Secretaries. Florence then asked members to introduce their guests and let us know a little more about them:

Ressie Darval introduced John Antal. He has a perfect attendance as a guest! He personally witnessed the September 11^th attack in New York, which was a life-changing experience.

Fay Yamura introduced Clara Medeiros, a high school classmate. They did not know each other well in school, but have become good friends through class reunions.

Secretary’s Minutes: It was mover, seconded and carried that the March minutes be accepted as distributed and corrected. Fay Yamura’s last name was incorrect in the list of new Chapter officers.

Treasurer’s Report: Fay Yamura reported that the summary was reported on the web. The chapter will accept the report, subject to audit.

Ways & Means: Helen Kikuchi reported that fund raising bowling proceeds so far are estimated to be $1,243.86. She extended a special thanks to Pat Yoseda for taking care of the food, Cindy Caswell for handling the money, and all the members for making it possible. The members all said they had fun!

Hospitality: Chairperson Ressie Darval announced that the nex t meeting will be at Buzz’s in pearl City. Please indicate your menu choice. Cost is $18.50, all inclusive; parking is free.

Program: Chairperson Pat Yuen asked for suggestions for Fun Night in June. This is a meeting where the members relax and enjoy each others company. One suggestion was an afternoon at Sea Life park ($8.00) and then dinner at Ressie Darval ’s house. John volunteered to cook! This meeting was proposed for Saturday, June 22^nd.

For the May program, the speaker is still under discussion and the members will be notified via the web page. Kay Ono, as publicity chairperson indicated that she would like to be notified as soon as possible in order to be able to post the meeting notice.

Membership: Chairperson Cindy Caswell announced that ABWA National Organization sends members little thank-you goodies for bringing in new members. (For the spring membership drive, it was an ABWA key chain.) Cindy Caswell apologized for not being prepared to do an installation for new members at the last meeting. She asked that members notify her in advance when a new member will be attending the meeting.

Cindy also mentioned that we have Networking Tables for Chapter Member’s business at each meeting. This month Florence Saiki has a table displaying her hand sewn products, which were very popular. The tables are available to all members interested in displaying their business.

Education: No report [note: ‘Onipa’a  scholarships will be awarded at the May meeting.]

ABWA Day of Celebration: Our annual Joint Chapter Meeting will be held at the Waikiki Marriott (formerly the Hawaiian Regent Hotel) on Saturday, September 28, 2002. The doors open for vendor set-up at 8:00 a.m. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. The meeting will be a sit-down luncheon, $25.00 and $3.00 for parking. ABWA members can reserve a vendor table to promote their business; cost for ABWA members is $25.00, for non-members, $30.00. Please indicate on your application if you require electrical availability for your table. Applications are available from Jo Segovia.

The question was raised if ‘Onipa’a Chapter is interested in hosting a vendor table. Perhaps Ways & Means can lead the effort.

We need donations for the Silent Auction and Door Prizes.

The Program for the Day of Celebration is as yet undecided. The Imua Chapter President has moved away and the speaker choice is still being decided.

Announcements: Lila Marantz let us know that long-time ABWA member Lily Mishina has passed away. Condolences may be expressed to her husband, Rocky.

Leslie Hallacy from Punahele Chapter invited ‘Onipa’a members (‘Onipa’a Chapter was once a part of Punahele) to their birthday celebration on May 2, 2002 at Wisteria.

Ulupono Chapter is holding their annual fundraiser on April 27 & 28, 2002 at Kapiolani Park.

Chapter Award Program: Florence Saiki raised the question that we should have received an award for merging chapters.

Have we been sending in the minutes? Yes, the corresponding secretary has been submitting the required month form (postcard) which outlines the meeting activities.

Update on our Chapter Awards Progress: for the Standard of Achievement Award, ‘Onipa’a Chapter has completed eleven items and needs a few more: for the Education section, needs to either spend $100 on an educational program for the Chapter or contribute $300 to the Stephen Bufton Memorial Education Fund; for the Conference/Convention attendance, we need two members to attend Spring Conference. Kathy Lau indicated that she will fund herself to go to the Michigan Conference if another Chapter member will attend a Spring Conference. The nex t one is in Reno on May 2, 2002, which is coming up quickly. There were no indications that a Chapter member could attend this one. Lila Marantz mover that since we have the convention funds available, we should fully fund a Chapter member to attend a Spring Conference. Daisy Conquest seconded the motion. Discussion: Daisy Conquest reminded the membership that we have a convention fund to assist members to attend Conventions and Conferences. Money has been accumulating there for a number of years. The question was called: to fully fund an ‘Onipa’a Chapter member to attend a Conference.  None were opposed and the motion was carried.

For the membership enrollment, we need one more new member, which will be attained with the enrollment of Irene Chun (Dee Conquest).

Jo Segovia ended the meeting, stating that she will do her best for the Chapter as leader for the rest of this Chapter year.

Kay Ono lead the benediction.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. by Vice President Jo Segovia.

Respectfully submitted,

Dee Conquest, Recording Secretary

Apologies for the delay in the distribution of the minutes.

March 21, 2002 General Chapter Meeting

The March 2002 meeting of ‘Onipa’a Chapter was called to order by President Kathy Lau at the Plaza Club in downtown Honolulu .  This was a joint meeting with Chapter Na Kilohana O Wahine.  There were twenty-one ‘Onipa’a chapter members, nine from Na Kilohana O Wahine Chapter, and five guests.  Vice President Jo Segovia introduced the ‘Onipa’a members’ guests:  Richard Hernandez (Cindy Caswell), Irene Chun (Dee Conquest), John Antal (Ressie Darval), C.P. Lau (Kathy Lau) and speaker Lowell Kalapa.

The Pledge of Allegiance and the Invocation was led by Na Kilohana O Wahine President Lee Ann Matsuda.

Cindy Caswell distributed the minutes of the February 21, 2002 meeting.  Thank you, Cindy!

Membership Chairperson, Cindy Caswell, led off the meeting with the membership event, designed to raise awareness about ABWA and also promote networking between members.  Each member and guest was assigned an answer to pin on his/her back.  He or she would then query another person as to what the question was, leading up to the correct answer.  It promoted a lot of lively networking as people tried to figure out the correct answer and win valuable and wonderful prizes!

The ‘Onipa’a Chapter Women for 2001-2002, Shirley Chang, introduced Sheila Okamura as our incoming CWOY for 2002-2003.  Sheila was presented with a beautiful bouquet of roses and the CWOY statue.  Sheila spoke to us about how she isn’t one usually found standing up in front of a group and speaking, but she is very, very honored to be our Chapter Woman of the Year.  She is dedicated to ABWA, having served as a Vice President, Bulletin Chair, and Membership Chair.  This year she has been serving on the membership committee for the Chapter.  She has worked as an administrative assistant for the Federal government at Hickam AFB, but she also has many other talents.  She does demonstrations for snacks and other foods.  During tax season she becomes a tax preparer.  Her hobbies are baking and hula, performing as a hula halau member at various places including Kapiolani Park .  This woman of the year likes to keep busy.  She said she was honored to be among such great Chapter Women of the Year and all the future ones, too.

A wonderful dinner was served and we all marveled at the view.  (The best part was dessert.)

Program Chairperson, Pat Yuen, introduced the guest speaker for the evening, Lowell Kalapa – President and CEO of the Tax Foundation on Hawaii , and also on many community boards.  The Tax Foundation of Hawaii is a private, non-profit research corporation whose purpose is to inform an educate people about how your government takes money out of your pocket and what they do with it (mainly the Hawaii State government).  The State Legislature is all about money, lots of money and is not being honest with the public on many issues:

Budget Shortfall:  We hear we have a $315 million budget shortfall.  the real issue is how much the real deficit will be on June 30, 2003 .  The Budget and Finance Office projects it will be about $154 million – about half of what the legislature is telling us.  What they haven’t told us is that they added $100 million more in spending to the budget and added 115 new state positions.  They are spending more and asking for more – from us, the taxpayer.  The proposal to use the Hurricane Relief fund is like a tax increase.  The Hurricane Relief fund is capitalized by a 3.5% tax surcharge on every single insurance policy in the state for 8.5 years.  Everyone is paying into it – it belongs to all of us.  We should not raid the Hurricane Relief fund.  Kauai resident know what losses are like due to hurricanes.  For Iniki, F.E.M.A paid 100% of the losses.  NOW, F.E.M.A. only pays ½ of the losses.  We need the fund there for future hurricanes.  But the State Legislative view has been not to spend less, but find more money.  The legislature gives the impression that we will have to cut off important social services and education programs.  The do not look at laying off administration and cutting overhead.  There is room to streamline government, still.  Government is too big.

The types of fixes that the Legislature proposes are small.  Their response to the crisis on September 11^th was to institute a tax credit for all residential and hotel renovation.  This credit is good for any costs incurred after 12/31/2000 . Anything done in the year 2001 counts.

Other topics covered were: the recycled bottle bill (not a workable program which puts a great burden on the store owners and has only been instituted by nine states, the last one adopted in 1982); the long-term care bill – available to anyone with an adjusted gross income of less than $10,000 and collected by your employer (which means that you have to tell your employer your AGI.  If you have a high income and lots of deductions, you qualify).

One of the main problems in the Hawaii State Legislature is that there are no business people there.  They have no concept of doing business every day, meeting expenses and a payroll.  We need to give our lawmakers feedback on how we don’t want them to throw our money away.  Names and email addresses are available for all our government people at www.hawaii.gov.

Several legislators are trying to accomplish something for the people:  Colleen Hanabusa and Charles Djou.

The Tax Foundation of Hawaii website:  www.tfhawaii.org details the many doings of our legislature that Lowell spoke about during his presentation.  Visit the site and be informed or attend the seminars given by TFHawaii.

Pat Yuen presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Lowell Kalapa for such an enlightening presentation. 

Membership Chair, Cindy  presented the prizes to all those people who proved their knowledge of ABWA.  Cindy also invited the members to view the membership table, which is there at every Chapter meeting, displaying the Chapter scrapbooks and brochures.

The Benediction was said at 8:19 p.m. and we all sang God Bless America .

At this point, the meeting divided into separated Chapter Business Meetings.

‘Onipa’a Chapter Business Meeting: 

Secretary’s Minutes:  It was moved, seconded, and carried that the February Minutes be accepted as distributed.

Nominating Committee:  Daisy Conquest, Pat Yuen and Sharon Elwell presented the slate of Chapter Officers for the Chapter Year 2002-2003:

President – Ressie Darval
Vice President – Pat Yuen
Recording Secretary – Pat Yoseda
Corresponding Secretary – Sarah Shiroma
Treasurer – Fay Yuen

Way & Means Bowling Fundraiser:  donations are still being collected.  Please give them to Cindy Caswell.

Business Associates Night:  Chairperson Florence Saiki asked that Chapter members let her know if they are honoring a business associate.  We can have a certificate printed.

Hospitality:  Ressie Darval announced that the dinner will be at the Pacific Beach Hotel.  Dinner will be $24.00 and validated parking is $3.00.

Program:  Chairperson Pat Yuen announced the speaker will be Lei Ohana Rol.

Election of New Officers:  President Kathy Lau announce that the election would be held tonight.  Nominations from the floor were opened:  None were made for President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, or Treasurer.  Those offices were filled from the slate nominated.  Jo Segovia was nominated and a secret ballot was cast by the Chapter members.  Jo Segovia was elected by the membership for Vice President.  President Kathy Lau then presented the new Chapter Officers to the membership:

President – Ressie Darval
Vice President – Jo Segovia
Recording Secretary – Pat Yoseda
Corresponding Secretary – Sarah Shiroma
Treasurer – Fay Yuen

The new officers will be installed at the July meeting.

New membership installation:  Was proposed by President Kathy Lau to be held tonight.  However, membership was not informed that an installation was going to be held, so asked that it be deferred until April.  It was moved, seconded and carried by the membership that the installation be done in April.  One vote against the motion.  The new member installation of John Antal will be at the April meeting.

The Business Meeting was adjourned by President Kathy Lau at 8:50 p.m.

Other events after adjournment:

March Birthdays were celebrated.

Dee ’s guest, Irene Chun, joined ABWA ‘Onipa’a Chapter.  Irene is a CPA and will be attending the May meeting.

Dee Conquest, Recording Secretary

February 21, 2002 General Chapter Meeting

The Meeting was called to order by President Kathy Lau at 6:11 p.m.  Ressie Darval led the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Invocation was led by Sheila Okamura.  Vice President Jo Segovia introduced the following guests: Florence Yamada (Daisy Conquest), Emi Botelho (Elaine Shimizu), John Antal ( Ressie Darval ), Anna Otholt, Angelique Tepper, and Helen Nahano (Helen Kikuchi).  Guest speaker:  Debra Morishima.

Membership Chairperson, Cindy Caswell, distributed a puzzle game for everyone to work on, including guests.

Guest speaker Debra Morishima was introduced by Program Chair, Pat Yuen.  Pat mentioned that both she and Ms. Morishima worked at Kahe Mohala, just different years.  Ms. Morishima is with the Hawaii Medical Vitrification, Inc.  Ms. Morishima and her company’s mission is its dedication to the elimination of waste in an environmentally responsible way.  A brochure and handout were available.

Birthdays:  Only Florence Saiki of our February babes was in attendance.  We celebrated with her with cake and song.

Lila Marantz passed out the minutes for the January 2002 meeting.  Pat Yuen moved to accept, seconded by Jo Segovia.

Treasurer’s Report by Fay Yamura was accepted, subject to audit.

Bowling Fundraiser:  Helen Kikuchi announced that as of this date, we have thirteen (13) teams registered.  We are shooting for twenty (20) teams.  Sign-up sheets and captain team forms were distributed.  Bowling fundraiser is set for Saturday, March 16^th, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Waialae Bowling Alley.  Mabel Ho will be donating food and prizes again.  Pat Yoseda will be handling the kitchen.  There will be a new t-shirt; the color is to be a surprise.  Cindy Caswell will do the finances for this event.  Please turn all entry fees and fundraising monies to her.  Cindy will then turn over monies to our treasurer, Fay Yamura.

Publicity:  Kay Ono will be announcing the bowling event.  Office rs announced publicly.

Membership:  Cindy Caswell expressed her thanks to everyone participating this evening.  Little flag pins were awards were given out to the first/second correct game papers turned in.  At the March 21, 2002 meeting we will be doing our Spring Membership enrollment drive.  Please bring your guests/prospective members to the March meeting.  We will have a fun time.

Hospitality:  March meeting will be on March 21, 2002 at the Plaza Club, downtown Fort Street Mall.  $25.00 per person.  Please advise Ressie/Daisy of your selection for your meal

Business Associate Night:  April 18,  2002 meeting.  Please call Florence Saiki if you will be inviting an associate/boss to be acknowledged.  Names should be given to Florence by the March meeting.

Website:  Lila Marantz mentioned that we are not tied into a contract with Imua Chapter is we want to change.

President Kathy Lau brought up the idea of a Hawaii Presidents’ Council, a State of Hawaii Council.  This will also tie Hawaii into the ABWA national website.  The $100.00 fee will be divided by the Chapters.  Question as to where the monies would be coming from.  Money to come from the operations budget.  Florence Saiki moved to participate in this.  Motion was seconded and carried.

President Kathy Lau brought up the idea of a President-Elect officer.  Another Hawaii Chapter uses a President-Elect.  This person would learn the “ropes” in advance to move up to the President’s spot the nex t year or year after.  Cindy Caswell  questioned the idea.  Is that not what the Vice-President does in the hope that she will run for President nex t?  Question as to why and/or what the Vice-President’s position would do.  Daisy Conquest asked why not leave it up to the nominating committee.  Daisy moved on this, Jo Segovia seconded the motion, and it was carried.

Nominating Committee:  Kathy Lau nominated Daisy Conquest, Jo Segovia, Pat Yuen, and Sharon Elwell.  The membership voted to accept these members for the nominating committee.

Chapter Woman of the Year 2002.  The 2001 CWOY, Shirley Chang announced that this year of the four nominations, two declined and two nominee applications were completed and returned.  Congratulations to Sheila Okamura, our 2002 Chapter Woman of the Year.

The Benediction was led by Pat Yuen.  The closing song was led by Helen Kukuchi.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

Submitted by Cindy Caswell, Recording Secretary Pro Tem

The ‘Onipa’a Chapter meeting was called to order at 6:19 p.m. by President Kathy Lau.  The Pledge of Allegiance and the Invocation were led by Elaine Shimizu and Ressie Darval, respectively.  There were twenty-three members attending and three guests:  John Antal (Ressie Darval, Monique Yuen (Pat Yuen) and Lindsey Carry (guest speaker).  A sumptuous Chinese dinner was enjoyed by all and afterwards the program commenced.

Lindsey Carry, MEd., works at Queens Medical Center in Patient Stress/Balance Counseling as well as being a private coach for Lifestyle Balance.  Her interest in coaching was brought on by a medical condition which made her SLOW DOWN her overworked, overstressed lifestyle.  She found out it that the overwork and stress was created by her own self, not by her boss.  She went to coaching school in California and now counsels people in life balancing.

In order for you to improve your life, you need four things:  the intention, resolution, an action plan and a support group.  You can improve your life in small steps.  Find out what’s draining you.  Lindsey had all of us go through the “circle of balance” exercise.  We apportioned our waking hours between 1) work, 2) family, 3) significant other/spouse, 4) friends, and 5) self.  It became pretty evident that some circles were out of balance!  She left a list of helpful books that can start you on a path of change.

Business Meeting:

President Kathy Lau gave us a recap of the “Change” seminar sponsored by Na Kilohana O Wahine.  It was based on the book “Who moved my Cheese?”  The moral of the story is “keep your eyes open and don’t get stuck in one place.”

Secretary’s minutes:  October corrections – add “Chapter budget for 2001-2002 was passed.” and under the Education committee report add the words “do so” to the sentence Florence Saiki moved that we “do so.” Under Web site, Lila moved to include ‘Onipa’a web site as part of the Hawaii ABWA web site which is maintained and operated by the Imua Chapter.   October minutes accepted as corrected.  November minutes accepted as submitted.  Still need August and December minutes.

Treasurer’s report:  We have as of 12/31/01 $11,184.61 in the account.  Individual income items:  Table at September Meeting - $191.25, Entertainment books - $78.00, Donation at September Meeting - $30, Christmas Post Office - $19.90, and Christmas Party Auction - $505.00.  The Treasurers Report was accepted, subject to audit.  Fay Yamura, Treasurer, also read a letter from Carolyn Elman thanking ‘Onipa’a Chapter for it’s $100 contribution to the Steven Bufton Memorial Education Fund in memory of Ruth Bufton.  Ruth Bufton was the wife of ABWA founder Hilary Bufton and the Mother of Carolyn Elman. 

Committee Reports:

Web Page – Lila Marantz announced that the treasurer’s reports for September and October 2001 have been posted in the “’Onipa’a Chapter Office ” (members’ only) section of the web page.  The standing rules have also been added.  For the membership directory, Lila needs your information that you are willing to put on the public section of the web page.  Here’s a chance to let people know about your business and how to contact you.  It’s free advertising.  Take a look at the Imua Chapter Directory; it is very professional looking.

Hospitality  - Chairperson Ressie Darval announced that the February 21^st meeting will be at La Cocina Filipina at 1314 N. King Street .  Cost will be $16.00; parking is free.

Ways & Means  - Helen Kikuchi was not able to attend.  No report.

Chapter Woman of the Year (CWOY) – Present CWOY Shirley Chang thanked the Chapter members for the honor as serving as last year’s Woman of the Year.  Nominees for the coming year were:  Ressie Darval, Sheila Okamura, Helen Kikuchi, Kathy Lau (declined), and Lori Yakuma.  It was moved, seconded and carried that the nominations be closed so that the CWOY applications can be sent to the nominees.  Information on the nominees will be available at the next meeting so that the Chapter members can vote on the next Woman of the Year.  A request from Shirley Chang for help in putting together the CWOY information was answered by Lila Marantz and Pat Yuen.

Education:  Chairperson Sharon Elwell not able to attend.  No report.

Membership:  Chairperson Cindy Caswell announced that there will be a Membership Information Table at every meeting with applications, the ‘Onipa’a Chapter brochure and other membership information.  The way to get other to join is ASK them!  There will be a membership drive at the March meeting, at the Plaza Club.

Florence Saiki gave us some insight on how to get new members.  ( Florence has sponsored over twenty members into ABWA.)  She always wore her ABWA “We Care Flag Pin” everywhere she went.  When asked what the pin meant, she would tell them about what ABWA was all about and what the benefits were.  Don’t put a lot of pressure on the person – keep it on the light side.  One of the benefits of ABWA that Florence appreciated was attending the National Conventions in cities which were new to her.

Announcements:

Board Meeting on Wednesday, 23 January 2002 , 6 p.m. at Kathy Lau’s condo recreation center.  $2.00 donation requested to help defray dinner costs.

The Benediction was led by Pat Yuen.  Chapter members and guests all sang “God Bless America .”

The meeting was adjourned by President Kathy Lau at 8:52 p.m.

The meeting was started at 5:30 p.m. with our first speaker from Wall Street Web pages explaining how a web page worked and what it could do for an organization.  She introduced to concept of banner advertisements and how they can pay for the cost of having the entire web page.   The web page could be structured so that there is a public section for people wanted information on ‘Onipa’a Chapter and ABWA, and a private page for members only with Chapter business.

The regular meeting was called to order at 6:19 p.m. by President Kathy Lau.  Sheila Okamura led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Invocation.  A short prayer was said for our newly departed member, Mew Chu.  There were twenty-one members attending and five guests:  Ana Olsold (Joy Barnhart), Donna Wrath (Dee Conquest), John Antal and Ian Nielsen, (a visiting Winston Churchill Fellow from Australia) ( Ressie Darval ), and Jim Varner (guest speaker).

A delightful buffet dinner was enjoyed by all and then Program Chair Pat Yuen introduced our guest speaker, Jim Varner, President of the Hawaii Dale Carnegie Chapter.  Jim immediately got the members involved in his presentation by playing a game.  Each member was to greet people and touch them on the nose.  This created much gaiety and smiles among everyone.  Jim’s advice:  “Do this (touch a person on the nose) mentally when you greet people, and you will greet them with a genuine smile.”  He listed some of the famous Dale Carnegie graduates – Warren Buffet and Mary Kay.  The key to success is not having a lot of knowledge about your job, but to have a terrific attitude; this make up 85% of what’s needed for success.  Traits of a successful person are:  positive attitude, determination, personality, assertiveness, enthusiasm, and confidence.  Jim Varner mentioned that the State of Hawaii has an Employee Training Fund which is used to send people to classes.  Dale Carnegie is one of the approved vendors for the EFT Program.

Memory was the nex t topic.  There are three memory principles:  Imaging, Repetition and Association.  We went through a memory exercise to show how easy it is to memorize a list of things.  (Does anyone still remember the 13 colonies – in order?)

Jim Varner left us with three thoughts:  “We have more potential than what we’re using.  Make something happen rather than let it happen.  Make a nice day.  That will ensure that you have a nice day.”

November Birthdays were celebrated:  Daisy Conquest, Mildred Okazaki, Stephanie Nishimura, Kay Ono, and Betty Suenaga.

Business Meeting:

President Kathy Lau asked the Chapter membership if they were interested in supporting a Hawaii bid for the 2004 Spring Conference for District VI.  A motion was made and carried to support a bid for the Spring Conference.  Lila Marantz moved that we distribute the Treasurer’s report and the Minutes of the meeting until we can put them in a Members Only page of our web site.  A discussion of the costs of making copies ensued and the motion was not carried (2 for, 12 against).  Another motion was made by Sharon Elwell that we spend the $50 required to add a members only web page.  The motion was seconded by Pat Yuen and carried (11 for, 1 against).

Committee Reports:

Historian:  Sarah Shiroma - pictures are coming out fine and are being added to the Chapter scrapbook.

Hospitality:  Ressie Darval is passing around a sign up sheet for the Christmas Party.  Daisy Conquest announced:  Bring and auction gift of about $8 value, wrapped.  Bring a child’s gift unsex of about $5 value, wrapped.  Santa’s elves will be delivering Christmas cards for 5 cents per card.

Ways & Means:  Helen Kikuchi mention that the entry fee for the Charity Bowling Tournament is $13.

Woman of the Year:  Will have nominations in January.

Publicity:  Kay Ono – sent in our November meeting announcement, but did not see it printed.

Program:  Pay Yuen – we are inviting Dr. Dobelle for the March meeting and inviting other ABWA chapter to attend.  Na Kilohana has proposed that we use the Japanese Chamber of Commerce for the meeting.  Florence Saiki suggested that we save Dr. Dobelle for our scholarship night in May.  Cindy Caswell pointed out that we are combining a lot of activities for the March meeting:  Woman of the Year, Business Associates Night, and our Spring Membership Drive.  It also might be difficult to have a membership drive on the same night that we have a joint meeting with other ABWA chapters.

Education:  Sharon Elwell – no new news.

Service:  Joy Barnhart provided information for the Christmas caroling at the Rehabilitation Hospital.  Meet on 4 December at 5:30.  Bring a small stuffed animal.  It’s a great time with lots of fellowship.

Business Associates Night:  Florence Saiki – nothing new to report.

Membership:  Cindy Caswell conducted an ABWA trivia game.  She also warned us to wear our name tags!

The Benediction was said and the meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.  We all sang God Bless America.

October 18, 2001 General Chapter Meeting

The October Meeting of ‘Onipa’a Chapter was called to order by President Kathy Lau at Restaurant Cocina Filipina.  There were  twenty-one members and six guests:  Speaker Linda Chu-Takayama from the Hawaii Foodbank and the Ready to Learn Campaign, Speaker Duke Bainum, Andy Winer from the Duke Bainum campaign, Liane Darval who will be shortly graduating from UW School of Pharmacy (Ressie Darval); John Antal – just back from a mainland trip (Ressie Darval), Marjean Oyama of Gima Pest Control (Evelyn Fonseca), and Joanie Valentine from Solomon Smith Barney (Lila Marantz).

Prior to having dinner, several announcements were made:

Ways & Means Committee Chair Helen Kikuchi announced that the 2002 Fundraising Bowling Tournament will be held 16 March 2002 starting at 6 p.m. at Waialae Bowl (same venue as last time).  There will be a $13.00 to $15.00 entry fee per person, which will include a tshirt.  We can have twenty lanes – which means every member can have a team!  Gather your team and sign up!  We need the participation of everyone to make this a success.  We also need door prizes donated for the event.  Please donate door prizes.  Also, we need someone to handle the finances for the event.  Please volunteer.

The Emerald Star Award was given to member Daisy Conquest for sponsoring twenty-two members into ABWA.  Congratulations Daisy!

Web Site:  There is an opportunity to have an ‘Onipa’a Chapter web site as part of the Hawaii ABWA website run by Imua Chapter.  Lila Marantz moved that we have a chapter web site as part of the Imua web site.  Motion was seconded by Daisy Conquest and carried unanimously.

Bulletin:  Florence Saiki suggested that every chapter member must pay their dues (both local and national) or else they won’t get a bulletin.

A wonderful, tasty buffet dinner was enjoyed by all at the Cocina Filipina on North King Street.  A brand new venue for us – thank you Ressie Darval.  The salmon was delectable and the fresh lumpia rolls were wonderful.  (note:  buffet dinner is served on Friday and Saturday.)

Program:  We had the opportunity of having two different speakers:  Linda Chu-Takayama from the Hawaii Foodbank spoke first, apprising us of the present food crisis at the Foodbank.  For the first time, the shelves are bare – no protein, no rice, no Spam, no tuna.  Normally, 25,000 meals are dispersed per month.  The past month has seen a demand for 36,000 meals.  These people are the working poor, not the homeless.  The Foodbank depends on the community for donations, both food and monetary donations.

Why have a Foodbank?  Why not donate directly to the individual charities?  The Foodbank here acts as a wholesale bank.  It makes it easier for businesses to donate in many ways, pickup and delivery, proper storage of the items and most importantly, accountability  This assures the donating business that the food will be distributed to charities and not resold on the retail market.

Groups are welcome to volunteer on Saturdays.  Cash donations are welcome;  the Foodbank has to pay rent and sometimes buy food.  In October, they bought $10,000 of protein foods because they had run out.  Help your community by helping the Foodbank.

[Note:  November is our annual canned food collection for the Foodbank.  Bring a can to the November 15^th meeting.]

Program II:  Ressie Darval introduced Andy Winer, who is Duke Bainum’s campaign manager.  Andy has know Duke for the last 13 – 14 years through his work as a Neighborhood Board member, State Legislator, City Council member, MD, and Banking executive.  Duke has achieved much through effort and hard work.

Duke Bainum spoke about his background.  His parents were farmers but went into motel business in Ocean City, Maryland.  They worked very hard and kept moving onward and upward to more motels, hotels, pharmacies and banking.  His parents offered to pay his way through medical school if he agreed to always give back to the community.  Part of his residency was a four-month stint in Nepal in a 35 bed hospital in Katmandu.  The conditions were extremely primitive with few medicines and the electricity constantly failing. On his departure, Duke realized that although he was able to improve peoples’ health in the four months that he was there, conditions there would never change and people would still have poor health.  He resolved to get more involved in government and help more people that way.  That has led through the Neighborhood Board, State Legislature and now the City Council.  Next Duke Bainum will be running for the office of Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.

Duke gave an overview of how the City government responding to the present challenging economic times in the short term: retraining workers, keeping the property tax affordable, the Rediscover Oahu program, economic summits on how to same jobs and also provide new opportunities.  In the long-term, we need economic diversity into the high technology industries, biotechnology, diversified agriculture, health centers.

The primary areas where the city needs to focus are:  health and safety, the economy, an effective rapid transit system, improve the aging infrastructure (sewer & water need fixing), continue the Visioning Process of Community input.

He urged the ‘Onipa’a members to continue their community service and get involved in your government through the Neighborhood Board.

[Linda Chu Takayama noted that every year Duke Bainum and his staff have been a great supporters of the “Ready to Learn” program by spending their own time packing the supplies for delivery to the schools.]

Business Meeting:

Chapter Birthdays were celebrated for Doris Okimoto, Fay Yamura and Dawn Yamaguchi.

President Kathy Lau initiated our two newest members, Cindy Harris, sponsored by Rose McIntyre and Tracy Romias, sponsored by Daisy Conquest.

Secretary’s Minutes:  will be distributed at the next meeting.

Treasurer’s Report:  was distributed and accepted by the membership, subject to audit.

Bulletin:  reported at the beginning of the meeting – web site proposal.

Historian:  Sarah Shiroma is our new historian and has already been taking excellent pictures.

Hospitality:  Ressie Darval announced that the November meeting will be at Matters of Taste Restaurant in Gentry Pacific Center.  The December meeting in on WEDNESDAY, December 12^th at the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel.  She also reminded the members that for cancellations, you must call by the Friday before the meeting.  Last minute cancellations will be charged for.

Ways & Means:  Helen Kikuchi reminded us that the Bowling Tournament is on Saturday, March 16, 2002 and needs 1) someone to handle the finances, 2) door prize donations, 3) team sign-ups.  Refreshments are taken care of.  The entry fee is $13-$15 per person.  Safeway has a fundraiser available where they will make a donation when we use our Safeway Club Card designated to ‘Onipa’a Chapter.

Membership:  Chairperson Cindy Caswell said that we will be trying to have vendor tables at the different meetings.  Please bring in you biographies and pictures for the membership book, preferably by the November meeting.  We are selling Entertainment books for $30.

Publicity:  Kay Ono has sent publicity notices to the DownTown Planet and the Honolulu Advertiser.  When we have the meeting information available, give it to Kay so that she can make the publicity deadlines.

Program:  Is setting out the year’s schedule and will publish it shortly.

Education:  Sharon Elwell is getting the applications sent out.  She suggested that we increase the scholarship amount from $750 to $1000.  Sharon asked if the membership would allow the Education committee members to choose the recipients.  Florence Saiki moved that we  Daisy Conquest seconded the motion.  The motion was not carried.  Florence Saiki moved that we allowed the Education committee to choose the two recipients and an alternate.  Daisy Conquest seconded the motion.  There was no discussion and the vote was carried by the majority.

Service committee:  deferred since Ellen Spielvogel was not able to attend the meeting.

Business Associates’ Night:  Florence Saiki.  It will be held in April 2002.

Audit Committee:  deferred.  It needs to be done and we need a volunteer to audit the books.

Announcements:  Ruth Bufton passes away.  It was moved by Helen Kikuchi and seconded by a member that the Chapter donate $100 from the operations budget in memoriam to the Steven Bufton Scholarship Fund.  The motion was carried unanimously.

Katherine Kam send a note thanking the Chapter for their kind words for her recovery.

The Benediction was led by Kay Ono.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. by President Kathy Lau.