Calm Before The Holiday Storm

This week marks the calm before the holiday storm. Come next week, residents and visitors alike will be rushing to grocery stores picking up last-minute food items for their Thanksgiving feasts while some brave soldiers prepare for their crack-of dawn shopping excursions the following day. Is it just me or does this time of year keep slipping by faster and faster? I remember as a child, it seemed like an eternity from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I could learn a little something from my childhood when days felt much longer and moments didn’t slip by quite so quickly…

Something that always reminds me to savor the moment is music. This weekend, Los Lobos, an American Chicano roots rock band, will be playing at Kauai Beach Resort in the Jasmine Ballroom at 6:30 p.m. The group boosts three Grammy awards and some 40 years of performing for audiences around the globe. Tickets can be purchased at Hanalei Surf Co., Island Soap and Candle Store (Kilauea), Kauai Music & Sound (Kapaa), Kauai Harley Davidson (Puhi), Progressive Expressions (Koloa), Scotty’s Music (Kalaheo) and Aloha N Paradise (Waimea). Call 808-337-9234 or visit kauaimusicscene.com for more information…

Gov. Neil Abercrombie will be speaking at the annual Lihue Business Association‘s meeting Thursday (Nov. 21) from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Duke’s Canoe Club at Kalapaki. Contact Pat Griffin at 808-639-1019 for more information…

Island School fifth graders recently presented a musical theatre production of The Phantom Tollbooth. “Our fifth graders have really embraced the spirit of the musical by coming together as a team and using different art forms to present their interpretation of this classic story. They’ve rehearsed every day since mid-August and I am really proud of them,” says Peggy Ellenburg, drama director at Island School. Adds Rose Alfiler, musical director for the show: “This class has such a love of music. The students took to the music and the clever lyrics right away.”

Performers included Amber Asuncion, Colby Barth, David Carlsson, Jaden DeSouza, Paulina Do, Nahe Edwards, Graham Estelle, Kahan Heen, Ethan Inanod, Dylan Jaeb, Sydney Jona, Hayley-Jay Kaeo, Titus Kanehe, Braydon King, Alexa Lauryn, Bonnie Lee, Sage Martin-Olfield, Kainoa Merano, Taylor Mielke-Suizu, Tiago Morgado, Veda Parker, Catherine Polzin, Keola Takayama, Reagan Wilson and Callie Yavinsky. Bravo!

If you want to get started early on your holiday gift shopping, stop by a craft fair at King Kaumualii Elementary School on Saturday (Nov. 23) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be plenty of Kauai-made products available for purchase such as jewelry, bags, Christmas ornaments and artwork. Contact Terrilyn Amorin at 808-634-1376 for more information…

The St. Regis Princeville Resort, in conjunction with Princeville’s 45 holes of golf, recently was honored as one of the “Top 25 Golf Resorts of the World” by LINKS magazine. The Makai Course also was ranked as one of “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” by Golf Digest and one of the top five public courses in Hawaii by GOLF Magazine and Golfweek. Visit princeville.com for more information…

Groundbreaking for a $40 million solar facility owned by Kauai Island Utility Cooperative was held recently. The project is slated to be completed in 2014 and will generate some 5 percent of the island’s electricity. It will be constructed on 67 acres of Grove Farm land in Koloa and is expected to create some 19 megawatts of power during the day, enough to reportedly meet almost 30 percent of the island’s daytime demand.