HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0711.024 2008-2010Murashige, Laura
From: Laura J Springer [laurajs @hawaii.edu]
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 10:08 AM
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: Hawaii County Band Testimony
Attachments: Dear Mayor Kenoi.doc
Aloha mai kakou
Please find my personal testimony attached with this email.
Mahalo piha,
Laura Kelson
laurajs ahawaii.edu
(808) 896-5828
3/18/2010
Page 1 of 1
2010/988 18 1119 10 17
at
COUNTY S. it= 1—teeitiII
Comet. M 111- 2
Ref. Too V /Ciuni
Ref. Date MAR 22 201�
Dear Mayor Kenoi,
My name is Laura Kelson and am the daughter of County Band member, Kim Springer
and sister of Andrew Springer, who plays trumpet for the band. I pains me to constantly hear
about what you have been advised to do about your budget crisis. Everyone is saying that the
County Band only makes up about 1% of your Parks & Recreation budget, yet you are insisting
that there is absolutely no room for the band anywhere in the pockets of your county budget.
My three siblings and I have grown up knowing that Mom was County Band. We'd sit in
the practice room at the Waiakea Recreation Center and amuse ourselves by attempting to mimic
our mother's thunderous cracks on her timpani drums, when she wasn't looking of course. But
this is how we spent our Tuesday and Thursday nights: pretending that we were a part of the
band by reading along with the music and using Mom's expensive drum sticks to kill termites
that tried to land on our homework. We went to every Saturday Monthly concert, parade, and
special event performance. I even have a scar on my leg from when I fell off the Mo`oheau
Bandstand stage after helping my Mom and others put away music stands and chairs. I was only
nine years old, helping out with the band not because it was required of me, but because I wanted
to be a part of it.
Mom and Dad put four of us kids through music lessons with professional musicians, of
which all were County Band members. My three siblings and I were a part of our school bands,
from our days at Waiakeawaena Elementary with Mr. James Kudo through our high school years
with either Randy Skaggs (former County Band member) at Saint Joseph, John Riggle on O`ahu,
or Wayne Kawakami (County Band member) in Hilo. Both my brothers went on to be a part of
the Hawaii County Band. My older brother, Patrick, volunteered, while my younger brother is
currently a paid member who relies solely on this income, as jobs are scarce in Hilo town.
My story is not unique. There is a deafening resonation of this theme throughout each
member's beginnings with the band. People choose to be in the County Band, not because it is
required of them, but because they want to be a part of it. This is why it hurts the hearts of many
to know that you have been swayed to act in such a way in this time of economic uncertainty.
Here's something I'd like to leave you with:
Much like a famous, fast - sinking ocean liner, you, Mayor Kenoi, are the captain of the
sinking economy in Hawaii County. You are trying your best to strap on lifejackets to
save only those whom you are being told are the necessity of rebuilding a community.
Everyone around you tries to tell you to just leave the rest and save yourself, for there are
not enough lifejackets or rescue rafts to save everyone. Words are being thrown in every
direction regarding those who feel they are entitled to have the chance to live. What you
don't realize, Captain Kenoi, is that amidst all this chaos and confusion, your faithful
orchestra has taken on the task of playing soothing melodies to calm the people of your
ship. You stop to reminisce of your musicians from when you first came aboard as
captain and they played congratulatory music in honor of your achievements. Then you
realize that they are the element that will continue to lift the spirits of you and your
people, even as you go down into the frigid depths of a struggling economy. As captain,
Mayor Kenoi, the lifejacket is in your hands. Do you save yourself or hand it to your
band that has been in existence for 127 years and has every right to continue for
generations to come?
I know I voted for you for a reason. Please save the Hawaii County Band and re- instill my faith
in you as Hawaii County's mayor.
Mahalo piha,
Laura J.S. Kelson
laurais@hawaii.edu
808- 896 -5828