The Life in Business: GYROTONIC Kona
Laura Crittendon and Steve Von Hargett started a unique business as a result of their own search for healing a painful injury. In 1999 a major low back injury left Laura bedridden and unable to perform the simplest of daily…
Let There Be Light! There’s Power in Photovoltaics
By Mike Moore It’s been said that the amount of sunlight that hits the Earth’s surface in one hour is enough to power the entire world for a year. Given that within the next 25 years our world’s energy demands…
Is It Your Business or Your Life? Big Island Business Owners Find the Critical Balance
By Grif Frost, Business Consultant While a member of the faculty at the University of Hawai‘i Hilo College of Business and Economics I worked with my students to identify the key factors in creating a business lifestyle model that enhances…
Then & Now: “Dillingham’s Folly,” or How the Railroad Came to Hawai‘i
By Ann C. Peterson Imagine a time when the only way to get from the Hamakua district to Hilo and points south was by walking, by horse, or by “the most scenic railroad in the nation,” the Hawai’i Consolidated Railway—a…
Ka Puana: Bananas Don’t Grow on Trees
By Rocky Sherwood The first time I saw the Kona Coast of Hawai‘i, it was all dressed up in early December. Hillsides exploded in blood red poinsettias and wild yellow daisies cascaded over rocky cliff edges, reflecting daylight like small…
The Life in Business: Dragonfly Ranch
Barbara Ann Kenonilani Moore’s mission in life since the early 1970s has been to create a nurturing environment called The Dragonfly Ranch: Healing Arts Center. The year 1974 was marked by two accomplishments that were significant to her. She learned…
The Life in Business: Hawaii’s Gift Baskets
Tamarra (Tammy) Sullivan has listened to visitors’ requests for gifts to take home from the Big Island for more than 30 years. “I feel I know what makes people remember Hawai‘i and I want to put it all in a…
Plantation Era Is Gone, and Pahala Lives On: Historic Preservationist Julia Neal Uses Hammer and Wood to Pull the Community Together
By Ann C. Peterson When the Pahala Sugar Mill closed in 1996, after 135 years as the town’s major employer, the village of Pahala in the Big Island’s southern district of Ka‘u went quiet. Some folks moved, but many local…
Angels of the Dance: Talented Big Island Youth Aspire to New Heights Under the Tutelage of Angel Prince
By Kim Cope Tait A young woman emerges from darkness, taking tentative steps along the railing of a balcony; sunset sky sends a pale strip of fiery light along the horizon, apparently far below her precarious heights. “I never loved…
Then & Now: A Country Vet In Kona
By Jolene Head “Doc” McCoy was never one to turn people away and enjoyed giving back to the community of Kona and to the State of Hawai‘i. Before Hawai‘i was a state, Dr. Kid McCoy was appointed the Territorial Deputy…
The Life In Business: Cindy Griffey, RA
Her casual, comfortable style is a signature of Cindy Griffey, RA, and it may explain a little of why she is the top-selling real estate agent with Century 21 All Islands. She helps clients feel comfortable. Cindy has ranked number…
Ka Puana: Rooster & Papaya
Excerpted from The Solid Green Birthday & Other Fables by Big Island author Kona Lowell There is a young wild rooster that likes to visit my house in the early morning and practice his crowing. He is not very good…
The Life In Business: Devin McHugh Optical
This is the story of a globe-trotting farm boy from upstate New York who became a bartender, a deejay, an insurance agent, a pilot in the West Indies, solar salesman and a thoroughbred horse farm manager. He was working at…
The Life In Business: Douglas H. Dierenfield, DDS
When Douglas Dierenfield, DDS, first came to Kona in 1976, there weren’t many people and very few dentists, he said. “I was commuting to Molokai and Hana, Maui, via Royal Hawaiian Air Service and doing dentistry there a few days…
Viewpoint: Investment Tips for a Regenerative Future
By Michael Kramer, M.Ed, AIF®, Managing Partner & Director of Social Research, Natural Investments LLC With climate change and peak oil now widely accepted, in the past few years we have witnessed the proliferation of investment opportunities under the green,…
Then & Now: Wai‘ōhino
By Ann C. Peterson Driving through the sleepy little village of Wai‘ōhinu, tucked into a lush, green valley near the larger village of Na‘alehu, it’s hard to believe that it was once the economic hub of Ka‘u. Rich in early…
The Life In Business: Eryce Enterprises
The Big Island has always been a favorite location for people’s second homes. And in today’s market, many have turned their second homes into vacation home rentals. Eryce Enterprises is in business to help both. “With the economy being what…
Zen Hostess, Keeper of Sacred Spaces
By Kim Cope Tait If you are just looking for a place to lay your head for a night or two, Akiko Masuda might just send you on down the road. She will do it with love and a casual…
Flower Power: Outdoor Circles Make a Beautiful Difference
By Ann C. Peterson If you’ve noted that Hawaii’s beautiful scenery isn’t marred by a cacophony of huge billboards, you can thank The Outdoor Circle. “Clean, Green, and Beautiful” —that simple mission forged almost 100 years ago—has helped preserve and…
The Innkeeper and His Wife: Nostalgia and Romance from the Heyday of the Kona Inn
By Ann C. Peterson Lee Taylor walks into the doctor’s office in Kailua-Kona, and then there are four of us sitting in typical waiting-room fashion with our faces down, or in an old magazine — but not for long. I…
Viewpoint: Hawai‘i Island Healthcare—Different Tactics for Different Results?
By John White, Chief Executive Officer, North Hawai‘i Community Hospital Healthcare is a core element of communities anywhere, but it’s particularly important to the well-being of people on the neighbor islands of Hawai‘i. We count on being able to access…
The Life in Business: Kenji’s House
“Our greatest challenge has been our unique, hillside location in a historic Kapa’au plantation house,” says Catherine Morgan, artist and museum founder. “When Roz, Malia, and I set out in 2006 to create a destination for locals and visitors that…
Ka Puana: Everything I Needed to Know About Life I Learned from Potluck
By Catherine Bridges Tarleton “We’re having potluck on Tuesday,” said my boss. “For the January birthdays.” She nodded at the paper on her desk. “What do I sign you up for?” On no. Potluck. The Initiation. What do I bring…
Negative Ions Naturally Create Positive Benefits
There’s something in the air and while it may not be love, some say it’s the next best thing—negative ions. It’s why you feel so good when you’re outdoors near the water. Negative ions are odorless, tasteless, and invisible molecules…
Building a Home Hawaiian-Style
By Mike Moore When someone dreams of living in Hawai’i, they usually picture a home overlooking a white, sandy beach and swaying coconut palms, with a view of sparkling, crystal-blue waters. In reality, Hawai‘i offers such a diversity of landscape…
The Life in Business: Trans-Pacific Design
Interior designer Susan J. Moss has found that it’s best not to specialize in one area working in a small market. So, from boats to businesses, hotels and homes, the Kamuela interior designer is able to offer advice and talent…
Home on an Active Volcano: Visions from the 1984 Eruption of Mauna Loa
By Wayne Stier Island. The concept I understand with ease; it’s the reality of it that I have had to adjust to. I grew up as far from oceans and islands as a person can in America—in the center of…
The Life in Business: Upper Cervical Health Center of America
“I have always been told that you should open your own practice where you want to live the rest of your life,” says Joe Breuwet, DC, owner of Kona’s Upper Cervical Health Center of America. “From the first moment I…
The Life in Business: South Kona Green Market
“People tell me they get more hugs here than anywhere,” says Tim Bruno, the visionary entrepreneur behind the South Kona Green Market, the Sunday gathering place that has been embraced whole-heartedly by the community. When Bruno moved with his wife…
New School for Native Hawaiian Fine Arts is Born
By Kauanoe, HOEA Project Director PIKO, a gathering of over 100 indigenous visual artists, held during the summer of 2007 in Waimea and two other Big Island locations, awakened many to the realization that there are too few venues for…
