Waha Nui – 7/23/14

Recently an ailing guest at a Ronald McDonald House near Stanford, Kailua High junior Tia Fuchigami came home and collected jars full of coins and bills for the Hawaii RMH and began volunteering there herself. Her kidney transplant and recovery enabled her to see how caring the home’s volunteers are, so she vowed “to try to give back in my own way.” Tia also plans to be a nurse someday …

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Marvin LaBella

Speaking of nurses, Hale Ku’ike Bayside, a Kaneohe nursing home, threw quite a party this summer for its memory care patients, complete with custom pizzas made by its Italian chef Roberto Gramigni and live music by respected local musician and producer Pierre Grill. Pierre outdid himself by playing trombone and piano simultaneously … Kaneohe Girl Scout Marissa Lum gratefully reports that the public brought more than 2,000 flower blossoms for her troop’s Lei of Aloha Memorial Day project at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery … Dudley Foster notes that Kailua’s Nadia Busekrus (mentioned here July 2 for two college grants) also won a four-year, $3,000 scholarship from Windward Rotary Endowment Fund, which has given $120,000 to Windward students so far …

Justin Souza (Castle 2012) and Marvin LaBella (Kailua 2008) have graduated from Air National Guard basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas … As president of National Christian Foundation Hawaii, Kailua attorney Tom Rulon is enthused about its new online giving platform at nation-alchristian.com. Tom says the upgrades make it “not just a transaction, it’s an experience!” … You can experience the KHKA-AM 1500 76 Hawaii Ohana Road show knowing it won a Best Radio award from American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association. Co-host is another Kailua attorney, Ed Kemper

Kalaheo grad and funny man Jonah Ray (Rodrigues) gets his big break today (July 23) with his show’s premiere on TV’s Comedy Central, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail. “I’m very proud to be from Hawaii,” Jonah writes. “In fact, I will be in the Hawaii episode of Comedy Central’s Drunk History talking about King Kalani’opu’u” … Willie K‘s at Surfer, The Bar at 7 p.m. July 21 (293-6000) & & & cchang@midweek.com