Makahiki 2019

I hope you're all having a fabulous weekend in spite of all the rain and humidity! At least we had beautiful weather today, nice and sunny! A complete turn around from yesterday when we're loading up the Tracks and Gear. We all got soaking wet! And then had a PLC Meeting after that. But nonetheless, we had a great day at the 2019 Makahiki! It's so awesome to be indoors, we don't have to worry about the weather, And being in air conditioned comfort, the best of both worlds! I just want to say A HUGE THANK YOU to all the Scout's, Adult Leaders, and Parents who came out today to help support our Robot Obstacle Course Activity! It was a huge success!

A BIG THANK YOU to all the people on the Set Up Crew. Thank You for getting up early this morning and rushing down to the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall to help set up our Activity Booth. We set up our Booth pretty quickly. And realized that Troop 176 had switched places with us. Not sure how that happened. But we had a huge Fire Hose Enclosure right in the middle of our Booth. And we we're very tight on space. But luckily, our neighbor Troop 488 had to much space. And they offered to give us an extra 10 feet of space. THANK YOU to Scoutmaster Albert Rivera for helping us out. 

We sat around after we we're all set up. And enjoyed donuts and waited for the opening Ceremony. THANK YOU to Ben Ronquillio for bringing the all pasteries. At 8:00 am, we all gathered together and lined up in front of the Exhibition Hall. After some inspiring words from Dr. Neil Atebara, and a beautiful opening Ceremony and presentation of the Colors by Troop 11, an all Girl's Troop. And then some kind words of appreciation from Ellison's Dad, Claude Onizuka. Jeff Salzbach officially  opened the Makahiki. And then it was non stop action from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. Our Robot Obstacle Course has always been a very popular activity for Makahiki goers!

A HUGE THANK YOU to Greg Yoshida for planning and organizing this Makahiki Activity. Aaron and Greg scored all the freebies for their efforts, a nice T-Shirt and Cap, a free lunch and free parking. We gotta volunteer next year Gang! THANK YOU to Jeff and Andrea Eshelman for allowing us to use all their Robots and Tablets. And for bringing the extension cords, outlets and charging stations. A HUGE THANK YOU to all the Scout's, Adult Leaders and Parents who stayed the whole day! We we're extremely heavy on the first two shifts and didn't have anyone for the second half of the day. But it all worked out. Special Thanks to Eagle Scout's Devin Kiyohiro, Jonathan Sivalop and Life Scout Gavin Verzon who took charge and addressed the need at hand. They lead by example and the other Scout's followed their lead. That's true leadership at it's finest! Outstanding Job Boy's! 

A HUGE THANK YOU to all the people who stayed and was a part of the Break Down Crew. THANK YOU to Greg and Aaron Yoshida for transporting the Track and Gear to, and from the Blaisedell Exhibition Hall. MAHALOS to Karen and Gilbert Batangan for the Starbucks Coffee. That hit the spot! The entire operation involved so much coordination and hard work! And all of your participation, efforts and support made it all possible!  It was so nice to see Cub Master Ryan Peralta, Committee Chair Sasha-Dees-Besas, and our Cub Scout Brother's across the way from us. They we're running a Nerf Gun Activity. Not your ordinary Nerf Gun. These we're Nerf Gun's on steroids. Both of our Booth's we're very busy all day! The day went by so fast! Thanks again to everyone who participated!

Hoomaluhia Camp

I hope you all had a very enjoyable weekend! We had our Annual Weeblos Over Nighter. We all know, historically, whenever we go to Hoomaluhia it always rains. And the tradition continues. We had heavy down pours at times. But they came in spurts. It was pretty overcast the entire weekend! The sun peaked through the clouds once in a while. So it was cold most of the time. Especially at night.

We promptly left the Church at 5:00 pm. We got to Hoomaluhia before 5:30. We had to line up and wait our turn to enter the Park. It was a very busy weekend for Scouting. Including Troop 75, there we're 2 other Troops there, a Cub Scout Pack and 2 Girl Scout Troops as well. The Parking Lot was full of vehicles, and the Park was busy with Scout's running about having a great time! All the Grills and Stoves going, the sounds of Scout's having a good time! It was like a Camporee! 

A HUGE THANK YOU to all the Scout's, Weeblos, Adult Leaders, and Parents, and Siblings for coming out this weekend to participate in this Weeblos experience. The Weeblos had an excellent time! We did not go on the Hike for safety reasons. Instead we did some fishing in the pond. And the Scout's shared their knowledge. The Weeblos got a first hand experience of what is involved in a Camping Trip. And what the Scout's responsibilities and duties are. That was a lot of fun! New friendships we're made. And the Weeblos are very excited to cross over to Boy Scout's. We had a nice Camp Fire, with skits, jokes and full body Jan Ken Po. We roasted marsh mellows afterwards. 

All of the Troops had Campfire. It was so cool to see all the Camp Fires going! Troop 329 from Kaneohe had a massive Camp Fire. That's the Troop that beat me out for our regular sites. They had 4 Camp Sites.Their fire shot over 8 feet in the air. We we're a little worried about that getting out of control. But it was all good. Because the weather was so unpredictable. The Boys decided not to play Capture the Flag, Instead they just hung out, enjoyed each others company, and entertained themselves. 

A HUGE THANK YOU to Ryan Peralta of Pack 75 for organizing and coordinating the Weeblos Over Nighter. MAHALOS to Pack Parents Denise and Thomas. Thank You to Weeblos, Aiden, Daylen, Caleb and Thomas. It was a huge success! We really enjoyed hosting the Weeblos. Hopefully these Weeblos will continue their Scouting Careers with Troop 75. 

A HUGE MAHALOS to Damien Boncales for purchasing the food for the Adults and Staff. HUGE THANKS to Iron Chefs, and Grill Masters Damien Boncales and Vernon Verzon for their awesome culinary skills! A HUGE THANK YOU to our Tow Masters, Todd Kaetsu and Vernon Verzon! You're always there in the clutch! You guys are money! THANK YOU to the Scout's for making the Weeblos welcome, and for sharing your knowledge and experiences with them. You guys did an outstanding job of telling them how much fun they will have, all the new things they will learn, and the adventures they will experience. Great leaderships Boy's! You guys set a very fine example! It's positive experiences like this that will make them want to continue their Scouting Careers. Great job!

Kualoa Camp

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe weekend! Our first Camp of 2019 is in the books. We had a great time! The first Camp of the year always has a little bumps and hurdles. To say the weather was uncooperative is an understatement. We we're subjected to all the elements of Mother Nature, strong wind, whipping rain and really cold temperatures. Especially on Friday night while we we're setting up. One section of the framed roof and tarp took off and flew right over our heads while we we're trying to put the legs on. Bent one of the poles pretty badly. But Damien was able to straighten it out. We had to use ropes to hold each roof section down while putting the legs on. It took us twice as long to get set up.

A HUGE THANK YOU to all the brave Scout's and Adults who toughed it out this weekend. The only break we got was the rain stopped after Friday night. But the bone chilling cold and wind did not. It was overcast most of the time. A lot of us wore jackets for most of the weekend. However the boys did go swimming when the sun came out for brief moments. At night the mercury dipped into the 60's, everyone had to bundle up. I told the boys to sleep in the Trailer and under the Dining Fly on Friday because the wind was so strong. And I didn't want their tents to collapse on them in the middle of the night. But a few brave Scout's pitched their tents along side the Dining Fly and used it as a wind break. They survived the elements. I seriously thought about cancelling the Camp, but we toughed it out. 

The Boys hung around the Dining Fly due to the windy cold weather. They worked on requirements and amused themselves. They did have a little war game with Nerf Guns on Saturday. They wanted to play capture the flag at night, but it was to cold. We did enjoy some beautiful sun rises in the morning. And the gorgeous Koolau's during the day. Although the weather was bad. we managed to have a good time. We made the best of it. It was a great time of camaraderie and bonding.

A HUGE THANK YOU to our Iron Chefs/Grill Masters, Damien Boncales, Todd Kaetsu and Vernon Verzon. Thank You very much! The Staff ate very well! This included Jonathan Sivalop and Gavin Verzon. A HUGE THANK YOU to our Tow Masters, Todd Kaetsu and Vernon Verzon. Thank You to Viene and Michael Lam for the hot Spanish Rolls. We ate that up in heartbeat. Mahalos to Roxanne and Eddie Sivalop, and Esther Mefford. They used their headlights to provide lighting for us while we we're setting up on Friday. It was a big help! Great job to our Senior Scout's! Thank you for your outstanding leadership and guidance. Awesome teamwork to all the Scout's for working together and making the best of an unfortunate situation! We're very proud of all of you!

Good Turn

Hi Troop 75,

I hope you all had a very nice safe Memorial Day weekend! Short work week! It sure has been pretty hot lately! Doesn't matter indoors or out! You just can't escape the heat. But still, lucky we live Hawaii! I just want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the Scout's and Adults who participated in this year's Good Turn at the Punchbowl Cemetery Of The Pacific. We had a smaller turnout than usual, 7 Scout's and 3 Adults. But that's OK, Troop 75 was represented. I think next year we'll just join Pack 75 on their Bus.

Our day started with a nice Bus ride to Punchbowl. No AC through, we had to open all the windows. We arrived just before 11:30 am. The Bus dropped us off at the top. After departing the Bus we made our way down to the entrance. Away from the Cemetery to have lunch. We rested for about 30 minutes. And made our way back up to the Ceremony Tent. We got seats and waited for the Ceremony to begin at 1:00 pm. 

The Ceremony started with the Posting of the Colors. And keynote speakers, a  Rear Admiral, her Captain Husband, and Jeff Salzbach officially opened the Ceremony with some very nice, touching words of honor and pride. And how all the people interned at Punchbowl made the ultimate sacrifice. For this Country, and so that we can be free.We had a moment of silence, then the playing of taps. The Marine Corp Band played a medley of Armed Forces Anthems. As each Anthem was played for the different Branches of the Military. The active and retired Soldier's and Vets stood and we're recognized. That was really nice!

At the conclusion of the Ceremony. Thousands of Scouts and Cub Scouts proceeded to put the flags and leis at each of the more than 38,000 graves. It was so magical to see the how the flags and leis appeared and spread across the Cemetery like a big wave! The Cemetery floor was covered in less than an hour.  After doing our Good Turn. We proceeded down the hill to get our ice cream and juice from Meadow Gold. And walking to our Bus at the bottom of the hill. It was a great day! 

A HUGE THANKS YOU once again to the Scout's and Adults who came out to represent Troop 75. THANKS to Sasha Dees-Besas for getting the Bus for the Troop. THANK YOU to all the Pack 75 Cub Scout's, their Leaders and Parents for joining us and helping to make this Good Turn a huge success! It is always an honor and a pleasure to interact with our Cub Scout Brothers.