HTMC Appreciation Night 2024
On Saturday October 26, 2024 HTMC held Appreciation Night to celebrate its volunteers. As you may know HTMC is an all volunteer run non-profit organization. This annual tradition was originally spearheaded by longtime HTMC member Steve Brown, however, during the covid pandemic Steve Brown stepped down and the tradition was put on hold.
This year the Board voted to bring the tradition back and the Event Committee stepped up to spearhead Appreciation Night. Invitations to attend were sent to members who serve as Hike Coordinators, Trail Clearers on Committees and on the Board. The list of active volunteers was impressive – reaching over 70 members! In October forty two members gathered at the Clubhouse to enjoy an evening of festivities!
Laura Owens organized a Fun Fact game that Josh Collins led – everyone learned new things about each other after we all shared something about ourselves and we had to discover who’s Fun Fact we had received.
To help document the evening, David Johnson (our unofficial club photographer – all photographs in this article are his) mounted his new iPhone on a tripod and photographed all the volunteer groupings.
The Event Committee (with some additional help) created a burrito bar and everyone made their own burritos (tortillas, ground beef, beans, rice, tomatoes, onions, cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole and hot sauce). Of course Justin Ohara made his famous fruit salad with Logan (dragon eye).
After dinner we ventured upstairs for an award ceremony where members who went above and beyond were awarded Appreciation Certificates.*
But no celebration is complete without cake – so Bobbie Foster brought a huge chocolate cake and Sandy June decorated it with the HTMC logo.
For the grand finale, everyone was riveted to the screen when Pat Rooney shared a slide show of inspiring images of members volunteering throughout the year while Bob Tyson’s music played on . . .
Mahalo to all who helped make this evening memorable. We hope that once again this tradition continues annually. If you are looking for ways to get involved with HTMC, CLICK HERE to find out how to volunteer.
*Appreciation Certificates Awarded
Bob Tyson – For his dedication to making sure we have sound at our monthly events & for being a fabulous DJ every year at our Annual Holiday Luau
Dale Yoshizu – Recognized for creating and gifting Annual HTMC hard cover book & making HTMC Luau Slideshows for the last ten years!
Hawkins Biggins – received an award from John Braum, Vice President, For her time and dedication to all things HTMC!
John Braum – Our most active volunteer; serves on the Board, head of Trail Clearing, Clubhouse Maintenance Chair, Hike Committee, Event Committee
June Miyasato – received awards From Trail Maintenance Chair John Braum for their dedication to maintaining the trails weekly and on multiple days
Ken Suzuki – received awards From Trail Maintenance Chair John Braum for their dedication to maintaining the trails weekly and on multiple days
Larry Lee – Awarded for constantly promoting HTMC along the trail and inspiring new members to join – he carries business cards in his hat!
Myrtle Wong – For volunteering to make lei’s for every presenter at or events, and for leading annual wreath and lei making events
Pat Rooney – Clubhouse Committee Co-Chair who has been helping multiple other committees; Trail Clearing, Newsletter, Hike Safety & Logo Chair
Sandy June Akers – received an award from Hike Safety Chair Bobbie Foster for her time and effort to help revise the paper Incident Report Form and create and manage the online Incident Report Form.
Thomas Yoza – received awards From Trail Maintenance Chair John Braum for their dedication to maintaining the trails weekly and on multiple days
Yuri Shichishima – Acknowledged for her time and effort to organize and coordinate the fantastic 2024 ATC – HTMC Hawai’i Adventure
