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The Hawai’i Island Land Trust (HILT), a nonprofit land trust serving the Island of Hawai’i, will be presenting a workshop on “Conservation Easements and Other Strategies to Protect Important Lands on Hawai’i Island.”
A conservation easement is a voluntary land protection option that provides opportunities for landowners to conserve their property for the future. Join Lehua Lopez-Mau, Executive Director, Hawaii Island Land Trust, in this informative and fascinating presentation and discussion about an inclusive approach to saving important cultural, historical, environmental, farming, and ranching lands in Volcano and on the rest of Hawai’i Island. This presentation is free and open to the public. Questions will be answered and refreshments served. Call HILT at 322-0066 or email hilthawaii@earthlink.net for more information.
Niaulani Campus (on Mauka end of Old Volcano Road)
10:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Learn about Volcano area forests and Hawaiian cultural connections in this one-day open house. The fair features a native plant sale, hula and music performances, and educational displays about rare and endangered flora and fauna as well as about invasive plant and animal species. Hands-on demonstrations show the connection between the forest, Hawaiian arts and crafts, and traditional and contemporary usages of Hawai'i's plants. VCA will have a booth with our "Building in the Forest" brochure and other forest conservation information.
Cultural practitioners and educators present a variety of hands-on activities, from lei making and kapa beating to printing with plants and learning songs about the forest. Guides lead the informative "Niaulani Nature Walk," given every hour on the hour. The first walk at 10 a.m. is designed specifically for children and their families. Volcano Art Center's Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village (corner of Kalanikoa & Old Volcano Roads). Free (calabash donations welcome).
Call (808) 967-8222 or visit www.volcanoartcenter.org.
Makahiki planning meeting on August 2 (Saturday) at 9:00 am at Cooper Center. (Please come prepared with information on the progress of your committee, if applicable.)
Wednesday July 16 at 6:30, Cooper Center
Back by popular demand! This recent "After Dark at the Park" talk was so popular that VCA is sponsoring Tim Tunison to return to Cooper Center for a second presentation. Have you ever wondered whether you can restore native forest on a degraded lot? Or perhaps you already have a lot of ohi'a and ferns.... but did you know that this alone will not "save" native forest? Let Tim fill you in with photos and information so you, too, can be a better forest steward.
Friday June 6, 10 am - Aupuni Conference Room
New County Office Building (Old Penney Building)
Wear your black Volcano T's to this important meeting, presenting the Puna Development Plan and accepting testimony in response. The Plan could be presented any time from around 10 am to after lunch; best guess is it may come up around 11 am.
Sat June 7, 2008 at 9:00 am at the Cooper Center
Committee chairs as well as volunteers are asked to attend
to overview plans for the October 18, 2008 festive event.
Wednesday, June 11, 7 p.m. Cooper Center
The VCA will sponsor a showing of the film, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. This one-hour documentary details how, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, the island nation of Cuba moved from a highly oil-dependent society based around cheap imports of food and fuel to a society of community cooperation and localized food production.
A discussion on how these issues are relevant
to the Big Island will follow the film.
The Planning Commission will review the draft Puna Community Development Plan submitted by the Puna CDP Steering Committee and planning consultant, PlanPacific, Inc. The purpose of the public hearing is to afford all interested persons a reasonable opportunity to be heard on the matter.
The final draft of the Puna Community Development Plan will be presented, as approved by the Steering Committee on March 6, 2008 and submitted to the Planning Commission on March 25, 2008.
Hard copies at $9.80 each or CD copies at $5.00 each may be ordered from the Planning Department by contacting Larry Brown at 961-8288, ext. 258.Copies may be viewed online at the HCRC website (click here). The meeting will be held:
Thursday, May 8, 2008,
6:00 p.m.
Keaau Middle School
16-0565 Pahoa Road, Keaau, Hawaii
Sunday April 6, 1:00 p.m. @ Cooper Center
Hawaii County Planning Dept. & John Whalen, consultant, will present the Draft Puna Community Development Plan. Your input and comments are welcome.
Thursday April 10, 7:00 p.m. @ Cooper Center
First meeting of the Transportation Committee. Come share your ideas about the new County bus service, better bike paths, ways to drive your car or truck less, etc.
The County’s bus schedule can be found at the VCA Sunday Market table, or online at:
Saturday, April 12, from 5 pm until 8 pm
The Mongolian BBQ Offered in Volcano is the 35th opportunity for hungry diners to treat themselves to a Mongolian BBQ stir-fry dinner at Cooper Community Center on Wright Road in Volcano Village. See below for Cooper Center Council detailed PRESS RELEASE.
Tuesday April 22, 7:00 p.m. @ Cooper Center
Monthly meeting of the Volcano Community Association Board of Directors. Public input and attendance always welcome!
Background on Mongolian BBQ
Mongolian BBQ Offered in Volcano Saturday, April 12, from 5 pm until 8 pm, is the 35th opportunity for hungry diners to treat themselves to a Mongolian BBQ stir-fry dinner at Cooper Community Center on Wright Road in Volcano Village.
Since 1990, people have been lining up every April and October to fill up their plates and take-out containers with seventeen or more different vegetables, plus chicken, beef, pork and tofu and then have their customized dinner cooked to perfection by a dozen experienced wok-masters. The cost is just 50¢ an ounce. White or brown rice, a beverage, plus one of a huge assortment of homemade desserts are included at no extra charge.
Both take-out meals and sit-down dining are available. Gene Carvalho at the keyboard adds a supper-club atmosphere. All proceeds benefit Cooper Center Council, a 501(c)(3), that supports a wide variety of community activities that are open to the public.
The wide selection of ingredients enables patrons to sample combinations of tastes and textures they can not find at any restaurant or at home. For most people, choosing from nearly forty homemade desserts–pies, cakes, cookies, puddings, brownies–is an enjoyable quandary. Veteran patrons load up their plates and take-out containers so they are guaranteed leftovers.
Farmers at Cooper Center’s popular Sunday Farmers’ Market donate a good number of absolutely fresh vegetables. My Island, Volcano’s oldest bead and breakfast, donates cases of fresh mushrooms. Expert organizers make wise purchases of meat and tofu, and ratchet up the array of vegetables with more unusual ingredients like water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, pineapple, hearts of palm and garbanzo beans. Dozens of volunteers trim and cut everything to precise specifications for stir-frying. Experienced wok-masters cook each meal individually, and vegetarians can choose to have their meals cooked in woks that have been kept meat-free.
“We’re so proud of our Mongolian BBQ,” says Betsy Mitchell who will greet diners on April 12th. “Visitors say that ours is better, and cheaper, than any they’ve attended on Oahu or the mainland where the rice is weighed too.”
For more information, call 985-9508 or 967-7209, or visit www.volcanocommunity.org. If anyone knows what a multi-ingredient/rice stir-fry has to do with Mongolia, please call the above numbers.
Cooper Center Council - PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Betsy Mitchell
phone: 967-7209; e-mail: betsymitch@hawaii.rr.com