Seasonal Affairs - Hawaii Kai Lions Club Fathers Day Breakfast

Where would we be without people the likes of William Boothe, who, against his own church, brought the love and compassion of Christianity in both word and deed to the street prostitutes, beggars, and outcasts in 1865 London. Through his efforts, one of the greatest charitable organizations in the world soon took shape, the Salvation Army.

How about Henry Dunant, who was instrumental in bringing the Red Cross international after its formation in Geneva, Switzerland in 1863. After witnessing the horrors of war first-hand by living through Napoleon and the Battle of Solferino, where over 5,500 people lost their lives and over 23,000 were injured over nine hours of mortal combat, he worked feverishly to bring comfort and aid to victims of war on all sides.

The non-partisan ideals of the Red Cross soon reached Washington, DC., to a U.S. patent office clerk named Clara Barton. The Civil War had just broken out and she sensed a need to provide aid in whatever way she could to dying soldiers, many of whom she labeled as just "boys." The great need soon led her, through sheer force of will, determination, and providence, to petition governments and organizations to allow her to provide volunteer services and medical supplies to victims, often traveling by mule-driven carriages to the center of some of the War's deadliest battles. Later, despite a physical health weakened by war, she was emboldened in spirit to serve in disaster relief operations and further wars around the world like the Franco-Prussian and Spanish-American Wars.

And the list goes on and on. I wish I could speak more of the legions of visionary heroes like Edgar J. Helms, who brought us Goodwill; George Williams, the founder of the YMCA; Mother Theresa, who formed the Missionaries of Charity, and sooo much more.

Sure, charities are different now and take a whole lot of knocking these days, much of which I agree with, but without these organizations, society would crumble into one big waste-heap of moral decay, don't ya think? I do believe they play a bigger role towards the health and positive nature of society in general than most people realize.

Organizations like the Hawaii Kai Lion's Club are so important. They organize to help clean parks, schools, and libraries, re-paint graffiti'd walls, do vision screenings for kids, and work to benefit the wide variety of things that make a community more self-reliant, cohesive, and in-touch with itself. Just the social aspects of allowing people, many of whom are retirees or near-retirees, to give back and get involved plays a tremendous role. In other words, it's a good thing, any way you look at it!

If you missed this year, maybe you can support them at next year's breakfast or even get involved with some of their other projects. Check out their site at www.lionwap.org/hawaiikaihito find out how to drop them an e-mail or help out.

 

I guess the pole-fisherman got impatient. He probably felt that he needed to get a little more "active" in his pursuit of fish. It sure looked cold out there, but maybe hunger trumps a little shrinkage in the pants.

 

 

With the sun fading past those few precious moments when the magic is at its finest, wifey and I jumped back into the car and headed back home to pick up mom and head off for some pancakes!

 

 

Once inside, there were two absolutely gorgeous young chickadee's beaming with life and enthusiasm.

 

 

It's a good thing it was still early, otherwise it would be impossible to get a clear shot at some of the servers who worked so hard volunteering their time and services.

 

 

Even the tables had yet to be filled, as we were one of the first ones to arrive. I'd say in about an hour from now this place will look as crowded as it was during our 40-cent lunches in high school here, up from 25 cents in elementary. Food fight!

 

There was an area, though, that was already getting slammed! Check out this line from behind the stage, which would soon feature live music. Those who opted to take-out were in for a bit of a wait, as it started just in front of the stage, continued into the off-photo corner of the cafeteria, and made its way alongside the entire length of the far wall. Glad I'm eating in!

 

 

And let's not forget the back of the house! There was an army back there, all working non-stop!

 

 

At long last, here is the plate - 3 small pancakes, 4 link sausages, scrambled eggs, and corn bread. There was rice, too, but I kinda ran out of room on my plate. How did it taste? Fabulous! Ok, the eggs were a little dry, but the sausages were plump and flavorful and the pancakes were light and fluffy! Not bad at all. Round it out with a nice cup of coffee and grape juice or milk in the carton, just like in high school, and I'm aaall good!

 

 

This event has been around for as long as I can remember and will, no doubt, continue and only get bigger. Perhaps one day I'll be flipping pancakes right alongside them all, making new friends, and feeling good about myself for giving back to the community. Sounds enticing enough.

See ya back next year!

Aloha!

Aku

Back to A Closer Look

Post a Comment or just say hello!  Don't worry about leaving REAL names if you don't want to!  Changing to Code names are fine, but just stay consistent with your code names, allright?  No e-mails will be posted without consent!  Hope to hear from you all!