Maui's More Fish in the Sea Festival

The Hawaii Wildlife Fund and the More Fish in the Sea Steering Committee will be holding the Second Annual More Fish in the Sea Festival on Saturday, April 3 this year.

Hawaiian culture is all about the ocean. Whether you are looking back to many hundreds of years ago or today, it should be pretty clear that our way of life is shaped by the fact that Maui is an island and we are surrounded by ocean. It is incredibly rare to find someone that has moved here who does not adore these waters.

We indulge in some of the best surfing and windsurfing in the world, right here on our North Shore. Where would our tourism industry be without tranquil beaches for swimming, coral reefs for snorkeling, and a host of marine life at various depths for scuba. Then there are the humpback whales, the turtles, and the dolphins that can be spotted from the shore.

Without a healthy ocean ecosystem, what would Maui be? Why would it be special? The truth is that we do consume fish from our own waters regularly. There are many restaurants that receive locally caught fish daily for the healthiest and freshest seafood meals. Our supermarkets also include fresh caught fish from local waters. For this reason, it is important that we closely monitor consumption in order to build a sustainable future for our ocean ecosystem as well as ourselves.

This is why the More Fish in the Sea Festival is an exciting event. The celebration includes anyone who wants to join in and discuss current efforts to maintain healthy fish populations. The Hawaii Wildlife Fund and the Steering Committee have provided hands-on opportunities for you to help with their efforts.

As with any true Hawaiian celebration, there will be local music and food. There will also be films, action projects, kids games and other interesting things to do.

All you need to do is show up at the Maui Community College on April 3rd, between 10a.m. and 9p.m. Click here for more details.

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Haiku Hoolaulea and Flower Festival Community Event

What to do this weekend? Whether you are a new Haiku resident or you grew up here, the Haiku Hoolaulea and Flower Festival is always an enjoyable event. These little gatherings are great for community involvement, and also fun for any age.

So what is this Hoolaulea and Flower Festival? In a nutshell, it's a non-profit event whose proceeds benefit Haiku School, Haiku Boys & Girls Club and Haiku Community Association for local youth education enrichment activities. If you are interested in supporting Haiku youth and education, this is the event you're looking for.

How is the money raised? A variety of ways. Of course there is great food, which is pretty much a prerequisite for any decent Maui event. They will also hold a silent auction, bake sale, floral design contests and other fun family activities. There will be live entertainment as well, which is every bit as necessary to Maui events as good food.

Since it is a flower festival, plant lovers will like this one. And if you are living in Haiku then you probably are a plant enthusiast, considering the way they thrive in this part of Maui. The challenge here is keeping the vegetation under control! There will be a farmer's market where you will have access to the incredible produce that can be grown on this island, including flowers of course.

The festival will feature a Haiku Living Legacy Historical Display, "Made on Maui" Arts & Crafts Show, community information booths, a book swap and more. With all this going on, it will be hard not to find something you are interested in, particularly if you enjoy being active in the Haiku community.

If you are considering a move to Haiku and are perhaps looking for a home, then you're in the right place. That's our area of expertise. Browse our listings of Haiku home sales and Haiku land sales. If you prefer something with more of a beach environment, then we recommend Paia condos.

If you need any real estate assistance, please email us at info@jimsandersrealty.com or call (808) 579-8255. Mahalo for reading and have a great weekend!

Maui Community Work Day at Leilani Farm Sanctuary

If you love animals or doing community work to help others, there is a great opportunity for you, coming up in early March. If you aren't familiar, the Leilani Farm Sanctuary is just what it sounds like: a spacious farm that acts as an animal sanctuary as part of a non-profit organization that gives animals a second chance in life.

The Leilani Farm Sanctuary takes in animals that have suffered hardship, giving them a chance to live out the rest of their lives in peaceful enjoyment with the care that they need to be healthy and happy. It really is a beautiful place, set on eight acres in Haiku, and you might go there and think that you'd like to retire there yourself someday if you had the option!

The animals that call the farm home include cats, bunnies, chickens, goats and donkeys. You can help to improve their environment by working on trail maintenance, goat hoof trimming, barn cleaning, fruit tree mulching, painting, tree trimming, brushing the donkeys and goats and other activities.

While for many people, a day of good, solid hard work is enough to satisfy, others want to feel even more accomplishment by improving the lives of others, whether they are animal or human. In this case, if you do help the sanctuary, you will have the benefit of knowing that you are responsible for a job well done and that you will also be helping these lovely animals enjoy their lives.

The animals are friendly, so this is a great opportunity for animal lovers to enjoy spending time with them, or for younger people to benefit from an educational experience. The mission of Sanctuary workers and founders is not just to take in and care for abused and rescued animals, but also to help provide humane education to the community, which many have seen is desperately needed.

Check out www.LeilaniFarmSanctuary.org for more information. Their community work day takes place on March 13th at 9am. You can RSVP at info@LeilaniFarmSanctuary.org or call 298-8544.

If you are looking for East Maui real estate, we recommend a look at our collection of North Shore Maui condo listings and Haiku homes for sale. You can also keep abreast of our new Maui real estate listings. Have a look at our Maui Real Estate Specialists page in order to learn more about Jim Sanders Realty. If you need any real estate assistance, please email us at info@jimsandersrealty.com or call (808) 579-8255. Mahalo for reading and have a great weekend!

Hawaii Residents Support Smoking Cessation

It's no surprise that as one of the healthiest states in the country, nine out of ten Hawaii residents support using the state's tobacco settlement money for cessation programs and to reduce smoking among minors.

Certainly, there are many factors behind Hawaii's high standing in health, including a good health care system as well as a high percentage of physically active individuals and healthy eaters.

The settlement money going towards programs to quit comes from tobacco companies that compensate Hawaii taxpayers for health care costs that are caused by smoking. Imagine working in an industry where part of your budget is allocated to discouraging the use of your product! While companies in a vast array of industries are going under, it's truly amazing that big tobacco can continue to thrive even as they shell out money to get people to quit. That should really tell you something about the power of nicotine.

The "nine out of ten" statistic mentioned earlier came from a study held by Qmark research on behalf of the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii. That study was held in response to the state Legislature's proposal to cut allocations to tobacco-prevention and control programs. The survey included 500 participants from Maui, Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a budget of $15 million for Hawaii tobacco-control programs and we're using only $8 million for the purpose. Cutting that amount further is clearly a decision that Hawaii residents will not support.

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