Comedian Frank De Lima with the Kona Daifukuji Taiko Drummers. (Hawaii 24/7 photo courtesy of Margaret Masunaga)

Special to Hawaii 24/7 by Margaret Masunaga

The Bay Concert, a celebration of life at Kahaluu Bay, gave special recognition this year to artist, historian and author Herbert Kawainui Kane.

The fundraiser, sponsored by The Kohala Center, was Saturday, Nov. 21 at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa.

Kane, a resident of Honaunau, was honored as a community leader at the very heart of the Hawaiian Renaissance and a celebration of all that is good in life.

Performing at the event were the Kona Daifukuji Taiko Drummers, Na Leo Pilimehana, Hookena, and MC Frank De Lima.

Mayor Billy Kenoi presented Kane with a Proclamation from the County of Hawaii.

The event was to raise awareness and funds to preserve and restore Kahaluu Bay’s coral and educate visitors at Kahaluu Beach about how to take care of the marine environment by not stepping on corals, not feeding the reef fish, and not harassing the turtles.

The County of Hawaii estimates more than 400,000 people visit Kahaluu Beach off Alii Drive in Keauhou each year.

The Kohala Center Public Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator, Cindi Punihaole, can be contacted for more information on the programs to help restore Kahaluu Bay at cpunihaole@kohalacenter.org or 895-1010.

Mayor Billy Kenoi poses with Cindi Punihaole, Kohala Center Public Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator; Herb and Deon Kane; Takako Kenoi, Matt Hamabata, Kohala Center Executive Director; and John DeFries. (Hawaii 24/7 photo courtesy of Margaret Masunaga)

Miss Young Kona Coffee Anela Deaguiar, a Konawaena Middle School student, performing a hula with Na Hoku Award winners Hookena. (Hawaii 24/7 photo courtesy of Margaret Masunaga)

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Herb Kane

The “2009 Bay Concert: A Celebration of Life at Kahaluu Bay” features Na Hoku award winners Na Leo Pilimehana and Hookena along with emcee Frank de Lima and the Daifukuji Taiko Drummers on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort Convention Center.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.; concert is 5-8 p.m.

The annual concert is an evening of music and fun, celebrating the efforts of residents and businesses to preserve Hawaii’s natural environment. The 2009 Bay Concert honors artist and community leader Herb Kawainui Kane, someone at the very heart of the Hawaiian Renaissance and himself a celebration of all that is good in life.

The concert is organized by The Kohala Center, an independent, nonprofit center for research and education about and for our natural environment, which manages the Kahaluu Bay Project.

Purchase tickets at Music Exchange in Kona, Big Island Surf Co. in Hilo and Waimea, at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay concierge desk, online at www.kohalacenter.org/bayconcert09 or call 808-887-6411.

General Admission: $25 advance purchase, $30 at the door, $12 children 12 and under.

VIP with reserved seating: $40 advance purchase, $45 at the door, $20 children 12 and under

— Find out more:

www.KohalaCenter.org

www.sheratonkeauhou.com/bayconcert.htm

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Taiko drummers from the Kona Daifukuji Mission are the first musical performers at The Bay Concert held at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay. Photography by Baron Sekiya for Hawaii 24/7

Join  an evening of music, humor, fun, recognition, and celebration! This year’s Bay Concert is 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21 at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort Convention Center.

Featuring Na Hoku Award winners Na Leo Pilimehana, Hookena, Daifukuji Taiko Drummers, and funnyman Frank De Lima as emcee, the Bay Concert honors all of the volunteers and supporters of the Kahaluu Bay Project.

This year’s guest of honor is Herbert Kawainui Kane, whose work is itself a celebration of life.

To purchase tickets, visit www.kohalacenter.org/bayconcert09. To purchase a table or for information about sponsoring the concert, please contact Cindi Punihaole at cpunihaole@kohalacenter.org or at 895-1010.

Information boards are part of the ReefTeach marine conservation education program at busy Kahaluu Beach Park. (Photo courtesy of The Kohala Center)

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The bright blue ReefTeach T-shirts will continue to be a familiar sight at Kahaluu Beach Park this year, thanks in part to a state grant for preservation and marine conservation education programs at the bay.

The Kahaluu Bay Project received its third Hawaii Tourism Authority’s (HTA) Natural Resources Program Award, and a share of the $2 million funding,  recognizing its “marine education, marine resource monitoring, environmental restoration, and community engagement activities that aim to preserve and restore the natural environment and special character of the shoreline and coral reef at Kahaluu Bay.” (See www.hawaii247.org/2008/12/24/isle-groups-among-hta-natural-resources-program-awardees.)

“The HTA grant goes toward making Kahaluu Bay a destination for education about marine conservation that merges Western scientific approaches with Hawaiian cultural wisdom about resource management. Working with the community and local businesses, this creates an innovative model of how to engage residents and visitors together in the preservation of Hawaii’s natural resources,” said Cindi Punihaole, project coordinator.

The bright blue T-shirt worn by ReefTeach volunteer Lynn Webber is a familiar sight at Kahaluu Beach Park. ReefTeach and other programs to save Kahaluu are funded in part by a Hawaii Tourism Authority grant. (Photo courtesy of The Kohala Center)

The Kahaluu Bay Project works to preserve the natural environment at Kahaluu Bay, an important fishing, recreation and cultural site for Native Hawaiians for hundreds of years. Now a 4.2 acre county beach park, this premier reef encounter site is being overwhelmed by the number of visitors attracted to this swimming and snorkeling site.

Each year more than 400,000 people use Kahaluu Bay—nearly twice as many users per water acre as at the more protected Hanauma Bay on Oahu. The coral at Kahaluu Bay can be damaged and even killed by human touch and trampling by well-meaning but poorly informed visitors. 

Six years ago, the University of Hawaii Sea Grant extension agent in West Hawaii initiated a program of educational presentations at Kahaluu Bay by volunteer ReefTeachers. The program has been successful in reducing damage caused by bay users standing on living coral.

The Kohala Center, a privately-funded, independent academic institute for environmental studies, stepped forward in 2006 to facilitate the continuing community-driven efforts at protecting Kahaluu Bay.  

A Kahaluu Advisory Group — made up of community members, scientific and cultural advisors, and visitor industry representatives — was formed to oversee project activities and strategic planning.

“Although the project’s early and continued success is heartening, there is much more to be done to save Kahaluu Bay from overuse and to rescue the beach park from disrepair,” Punihaole said.

For example, The Kohala Center plans to re-orient vehicle and pedestrian traffic flow, remove an old pavilion and retaining wall, restore the beach area, and build a cultural-educational facility at the park.

Other long-term plans include: 

* Strengthening and expanding a citizen science water quality monitoring program to systematically sample the waters in the Kahaluu Bay-Keauhou area

* Continued expansion of the ReefTeach program up to 100 regular volunteers. This will allow daily coverage at Kahaluu Beach Park during the peak visitor hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. without straining the capacity of any individual or local business teams.

* Continued educational outreach about coral reef conservation to visitor industry businesses and to the general public, including training of business staff and an expansion of free public talks and events.

* Expansion of a small volunteer ReefWatch program to determine whether conservation efforts are succeeding and what threats might be developing.

* Continued planning and implementation of physical improvements to Kahaluu Beach Park as funds and county and state regulations permit.

* Completion of a study about the feasibility of restoring sand to areas in which it has eroded by the removal of a rock wall along the bay front.

* Consultation, assistance, and sharing of educational materials with other groups working at oceanfront sites around the Big Island and on other islands, as requested.

— Find out more:
The Kohala Center’s Kahaluu Bay Project: www.kohalacenter.org/kahaluubay/about