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The 2015 Full Circle and Annual Meeting was consolidated into one full-day event which took place on August 8, 2015 at Honey's Restaurant at the Ko'olau Golf Club. For those who missed it, the following is a report on the programs and discussions that took place.
The Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle participated in the Kailua Fourth of July Parade, with a float depicting their lettuce growing program at WCCC. Volunteer marchers, along with Mr. Mynah and Auntie Litter, passed out 1,000 packets of Manoa Lettuce seeds, with planting instructions, along the parade route. LKOC hopes to motivate people to grow their own lettuce and other vegetables. The seed packets were assembled by the volunteers at the Women’s Community Correctional Center who are in the “Learning to Grow Program” there, a project of LKOC.  The Lani-Kailua Branch Annual meeting, held at Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens, was highlighted by a talk on the historical significance of hibiscus in Hawaii. The featured speaker was Jill Coryell, the "Hibiscus Lady," who has devoted the last few decades to researching and continuing the hybridization of native hibiscus in Hawaii, since early in the last century. Her fascinating, informative, and entertaining lecture gave us all a unique perspective on the hibiscus, incidentally depicted in our original Outdoor Circle logo, and how most hybrid hibiscus everywhere are descendants of the Native Hawaiian hibiscus. Note also that the Hawaiian native white hibiscus is the only one in the the world with fragrance, and is the ancestor of all hybrid hibiscus with fragrance! Jill demonstrated how we could hybridize our own hibiscus in our own back yards, for color, fragrance and other features, and brought numerous examples of her unique specimens.
The 23rd annual “I Love Kailua” Town Party was held April 26 in downtown Kailua. This street fair, put on by the Lani-Kailua Branch of the Outdoor Circle, celebrates the diversity of Kailua, with local crafters and artists, food vendors and plant sales, souvenir t-shirt sales and live local music, and a variety of activities for the whole family to enjoy. This year, thanks to our wonderful sponsors, an enthusiastic crowd, and the hundreds of dedicated LKOC volunteers who make this happen, it was a great success!  Volunteers with the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle mentor female prisoners through gardening and life in the “Learning to Grow” program at the Women’s Community Correctional Center. This hydroponic vegetable and herb garden was one of many projects showcased for visitors from the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (WiPC:E 2014) in May. Conference participants -- indigenous leaders in education from around the world -- were introduced to current program participants, program graduates, and LKOC volunteers who showed them how the inmates raise the nearly 1,000 heads of lettuce, herbs and other vegetables used in prison meals every week. LKOC’s “Learning to Grow” program helped usher in several other food-growing projects at the center including groves of ‘ulu (breadfruit) and mai‘a (banana), and lo‘i (taro patches).
Twice a week, every week of the year, LKOC volunteers visit WCCC bringing soil, seeds, and their know-how to support inmates in the program. Inmates learn to cultivate food crops from seed to harvest and then prepare them for fellow inmates through the culinary program. The Learning to Grow program is supported solely by donations from individuals and the proceeds of an annual plant sale. If you would like to support LKOC’s “Learning to Grow” program, click here to make a donation through our website (before completing your transaction, add “WCCC” or “Learning to Grow” in the notes section).  The 21st Annual "I Love Kailua" Town Party on Sunday was another huge success thanks to the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle. The best of Kailua was on display this past weekend from food, clothing, jewelry, art and more. People also learned about the bike share program in Kailua, the efforts to "Keep it Kailua", updates from the Kailua Urban Design Task Force, and the effort to protect Kawainui Marsh.
A special mahalo to everyone who helped to make the plant sale so amazing! There were orchids for days, as well as anthuriums, native plants, food-bearing plants, and lots of expert advice on gardening. Proceeds from the "I Love Kailua" Town Party support community planting projects in the Kailua area, including maintenance for exceptional trees, traffic triangles in Kailua, and other beautification efforts. Thank you for your on-going support of LKOC's efforts to "keep Kailua clean, green, and beautiful." Photos from the 2014 Town Party See, Hear, and Taste Kailua, Midweek April 9, 2014 See more event photos and receive updates by liking LKOC on Facebook  Watch for your membership renewal postcard in the mail!
The Outdoor Circle will be mailing membership renewals for all members in the beginning of April. To be efficient, we encourage you to submit your membership form and annual dues online by clicking here. This not only saves our trees, but reduces the costs of printing, postage, and data entry. Renew by June 1, 2014 to ensure you are on the list to receive important updates, including an invitation to our Annual Meeting and election of officers to be held in August and our next convention of members, "The Full Circle." If you have renewed your membership since the Fall, then your membership is current and you will not be receiving a postcard in the mail. Your membership will be up for renewal on June 1, 2015. If you mail in your membership dues to the office (1314 S. King St. #306 Honolulu 96822), then please be sure to include a note indicating the branches you would like to join and your email address. Click here to download a membership form. If you have any questions about the membership renewal process, call the office at 808-593-0300. This is also a great time to help new members join The Circle. Ask your friends and family if they appreciate the natural beauty of Hawaii -- and if they do, then they should help support The Circle's work by becoming a member. |
Welina!The Greenleaf is the online newsletter and blog of The Outdoor Circle. Here you will find updates on the projects and accomplishments of our many branches throughout the state, as well as programs with statewide impact. Archives
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