Booth Events

Hilo Fire Prevention Week 2012

HWMO set up a display booth and handed out materials at this year's Fire Prevention Week at the Bayfront in Hilo. The incredible event was organized by Fire Inspector, Kazuo Todd, and his Hilo staff. In addition to great information and knowledge sharing at the event, great music was provided by Big Time R&B of Honoka'a, in which our very own Orlando Smith was the drummer for, and a Bucket Brigade Competition was put on. We took third place, certainly a great finish, but we are already fired up for next year's event!

Banner photo: A Paauilo Fireman watches with son a structure fire demonstration.

U.N. Peace Day Parade

We took part in the only U.N. parade in Hawai'i and were greeted by Ming Sha, a UN Representative from China, who viewed our booth located at the Rice Building along the parade route. She was very impressed with our projects that we had displayed on our board. We gave away countless "Ready, Set, Go!", "Firewise", and HWMO-related handouts along with school supplies for the keiki. To entice and thank our guests, we provided coffee, tea, muffins, and cookies! If you were there, you may have saw a large Firewise banner hanging outside of our building, another draw for our wonderful visitors!

Banner photo: Nalani Ludwig, representing HWMO in Sept. 2012 at the UN Peace Day Parade in Honokaa, shows off our Smokey bookmark and "Ready, Set, Go!" guide along with our poster board and other handouts.

Back to School Bash 2012

Andrew Tarnas and Nalani Ludwig set up an event booth at Waikoloa Elementary School passing out handy school supplies and "Ready, Set, Go!" and "Firewise" materials. We enjoyed every minute of our time with such bright and enthusiastic kids!

Booth photo: Andrew Tarnus speaking to local parents about our programs.

EMS 5K Fun Run

HWMO participated in this annual fundraiser at Liliuokalani Gardens in Hilo, partnering with firefighters and EMS personnel. Many prominent figures also participated, including the Fire Chief, Mayor, Civil Defense Director, County Council members and politicians running, no pun intended, for office in the State and OHA and for Governor.

Banner photo: Nalani Ludwig presenting our booth for the day.

Kamehameha Day Celebration 2012

The event commemorated our island's First King, Kamehameha the Great. Annually, the community pays tribute to him by adorning his statue with lei and a parade in his honor. We had a booth and serviced a couple hundred individuals with "Ready, Set, Go!" and "Firewise" materials. In all, the event attracted over 1,000 people and had amazing live entertainment and hula exhibitions!

Earth and Ocean Festival

This annual event at the Keauhou Hotel in Kailua-Kona, hosted by Forest and Trail, was a huge success! 1000+ people attended the event, many of whom stopped by our booth staffed by Nalani Ludwig, Orlando Smith, and the one-and-only Smokey the Bear! We passed out a large group of materials including "Ready, Set, Go!" and "Firewise" educational guides.

Banner photo: Smokey poses with a friend in front of the HWMO booth. Wildfires are a mauka to makai issue!

20th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

The Cherry Blossom Festival held throughout Waimea was a huge success. Thousands flocked to the streets of Waimea for crafts, music, and HWMO who teamed up with Smokey the Bear! HWMO’s Andrew Tarnas and Nalani Stevens tabled at the festival, meeting numerous community members who were interested in HWMO’s projects throughout the islands. Smokey education materials, stickers, and frisbees were given out to the public as an added bonus and to keep people aware about wildfire mitigation.

Banner photo: Andrew Tarnus hangs loose with knowledgable keiki.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of protection.””
— Chief Eric Moller, USAG-P, FES