nursing home care so many end up on Medicaid, which is also paid for with tax dollars. The Legislature this session failed to enact Care Plus, but did agree to establish an interim board of trustees to develop a recommendation for the next Legislature to implement a long-term care financing program.
Each pensioner club gave a brief report about the club’s size, officers, and activities. Several clubs (like G&R, Honokaa, Paauilo, Pepeekeo) are active volunteering in their communities as friendly visitors at nursing homes and in the schools. Club representatives were all very articulate in their reports.
After the second day’s session, pensioners walked across Atkinson Drive to the ILWU headquarters, currently under renovations, to tour the completed Phase I and see the restored ILWU mural. Pensioners who contributed toward the mural restoration were pleased to see their names etched in glass on the conference room doors.
The conference was not all speeches and serious stuff. Pensioners enjoyed a great dinner and bingo the first night, coordinated by Oahu Division FTO’s who sent each guest home with a nice “goodie bag.” The second night’s banquet featured entertainment by the pensioners themselves (including jokes by Pensioners Conference John Arisumi, retired Maui Division Director). Appreciation was extended to officers for the past term (Fred Lee, president; John Arisumi, vice-president; Juan Francisco, secretary; and Tom Poy, treasurer). ILWU Memorial Association President Yoshito Takamine installed officers for the new term: Allen Alconcel, president; Juan Francisco, vice-president; Tom Poy, secretary; and Haruye Ichiki, treasurer. On both nights, members of the Oahu Division Pensioner Council hosted the hospitality room where pensioners were able to meet and mingle.
The third day was devoted to a tour of Oahu, mapped out by Bob Freitas, Oahu Division Council president. The tour traveled through downtown Honolulu, to Pali Lookout, along H-3, to Kapolei’s “Second City,” through Ewa Villages, along Kunia, to Dole Visitor Center and Helemano Plantation. Pensioners saw parts of Oahu they had not seen before and also could see the many changes since the closing of the sugar plantations.
Neighbor island pensioners returned home with fond memories of Oahu and their old and newfound friends, especially grateful for the hospitality extended by all the Oahu pensioners and FTO’s. One and all are looking forward to an even better conference on Maui in 2004.
After the second day’s session, retirees walked over to the ILWU building on Atkinson Drive to see the restored ILWU mural, “Solidaridad Sindical.”
The pensioners conference was a good opportunity to see old friends and make new ones. (L-r) Kauai’s Haruo “Dyna” Nakamoto with the Big Island’s Shintaro “Rocky” Higa and Shigeichi Asuka.