2018 Annual Meeting Report

Award winners pictured: Roxanna Smith, Tom Reed, Scott Fisher, Kelly King, Robin Knox

 

February 25, 2018 11 am – 3 pm

Pāʻia Community Center

Sierra Club Maui’s Annual Meeting on February 25, 2018 was our best yet, with almost 200 people in attendance to enjoy our presentations and lunch at the Pāʻia Community Center.

The meeting began with a pule by Reverend Tasha Kama, after which Sierra Club Maui’s Executive Committee members Chair Rob Weltman, Lucienne De Naie and Clare Apana, presented on our work over the past year, which included efforts to protect land and water in Mākena, Lāhainā, and Wailea, and campaigns to phase out single-use polystyrene food containers (ban goes into effect at the end of this year!), stop sand mining in Central Maui (the moratorium has gone into effect but thereʻs still more work to be done), and phase out oxybenzone and octinoxate chemical sunscreens (weʻre waiting for County Council to schedule the second and final vote). Sierra Club Maui extended a big mahalo to the other community groups and individuals that lead or partnered on these campaigns, including Mālama Kakanilua (sand mining), Maui Tomorrow (Mākena), and Marge Bonar and many others (polystyrene). We also highlighted the work of our parent Chapter, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, which is working to pass important bills at the state legislature. Updates are available at hawaiicapitolwatch.org

Sierra Club Maui honored five individuals and one group this year: Roxanna Smith and Tom Reed both received the Mālama i ka ʻĀina Award for their work to reduce the impact of waste on our island; Robin Knox received the Mālama Kahakai Award for her tireless efforts to research and protect our ocean water quality; Kelly King received the ʻOnipaʻa Award for her lifelong work to get Hawaiʻi off fossil fuels; Scott Fisher also received the ʻOnipaʻa Award for his lifelong work to protect Hawaiʻiʻs most special and beautiful areas; and the Wailea 670 Trail Crew was honored with the Volunteer of the Year Award for their dedication to clearing the trails and making them accessible to hundreds of people through our outings program (mauisierraclub.org/hikes). The Wailea 670 Trail Crew includes: Buck Joiner, Barbara Kaneshige, Liz Ebner, Amy  Fazzari, Peter Drinkovich, Duane Sparkman, Ashford DeLima, Colleen Curren, Nan & Steve Jackson, Jeanne Schaaf, Amanda Hess, Alexa Deike, Gammy Arenasa, Nio Kindla, and Lucienne De Naie. All of the leis given to awardees were beautifully made by Vernon Kalanikau, Jacob & Stephanie Noury with ti leaves from Lucienne De Naie and Daniel Grantham.

We invited all local politicians running for office in 2018, and sixteen were able to attend. They represented races ranging from Maui County Council to State House to Lieutenant Governor, and our attendees got the chance to talk one-on-one with them all during the amazing lunch, which was generously donated by Mana Foods and Flatbread Co., with coffee donated by Mike Atherton. Mahalo to all attendees who also brought great items for the potluck!

After lunch, our featured presenters, Tara Owens of UH Sea Grant and Matthew Gonser of Honolulu’s new Office of Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency gave fascinating and alarming presentations on the impacts of sea-level rise that we’re already seeing on Maui and how the Office of Climate Change is working on O’ahu to make that island, and all of Hawaiʻi, more resilient in the face of climate change. This incredibly important presentation, along with Sierra Club Maui’s group presentation and awards ceremony, is available now on Facebook at facebook.com/SierraClubMaui (scroll down to find the Annual Meeting videos).

Maui residents: check for screenings of the presentation on Akakū in the coming months.

BIG MAHALO to Tim Wolfe of Akamai Productions for recording the meeting, and to our star volunteers who helped make the day go smoothly – Marta Sweeney, Miranda Camp, Clare Apana, the Toomeys, and Chuck Chimera.