Class of '69 -On the Move during Fall, 2001

Our Classmates...

showcasing the ever mobile Class of '69...
Fall and Winter of 2001


On December 29, 2001 Mike and Laulani Donlin once again graciously opened their home and hosted the Holiday Party for the Imua69 classmates of the Pacific Northwest. Ono'licious eats, lots of laughs and another huge Christmas tree (a Donlin tradition) set the background for the party. Special guest was Laulani's mother. The highlight of the evening was the gift exchange, this year, done to the tune of "Da Twelve Days of Christmas" with each participant reciting their portion of the melody represented by their order of picking.
Joel Fung in the foreground, backed (left to right) by Wayne and Flora, Mike and Laulani, Russell and Kimberly, Sam and Theone, Dan and LouAnn.
So much fun to visit, eat and drink and wish everyone happy holidays and a prosperous new year. More photos and details available here.

On December 3, 2001 Manu Simeona Meyer writes... "Just got back from New York this afternoon with a planeload of firemen & families of deceased firemen from the WTC 9/11 tradgedy. Here's a picture of Nani (Jeneral Zoller) and I with Tuddie's brother Waipa who went with us on Saturday and we had a free day to tour New York city on Sunday and back to Hawaii today, Monday..."
Manu Simeona Meyer, Waipa Purdy and Jeneral Nani Zoller Uehara...
"...it was a whirlwind day of walking and seeing ground zero....very, very emotional for all of us and the thousands of people there too....it was an emotional flight to listen to families about their loved ones that they lost and talking with the kids.....some had their fathers/son's/brother/s picture laminated and worn on a necklace, the husbands fire hat, police hat they had on their laps....so SAD. When we arrived in Honolulu, we stopped the plane on the runway and the Honolulu fire department engines gave our aircraft a red white & blue water arched welcome and everyone clapped and whistled, and cried just seeing that....then the goodbyes at the door was hugging and kissing and thankyou's and we cried again. It was such an emotional flight, I am so drained with happiness and yet sorrow for these families. My heart goes out to them(even though I wanted to kill a few of them with their New York/Brooklyn attitude at times) but over all I am so glad to have taken the flight and proud to be Hawaiian! Love you all" *-Manu*

There was a certain buzz on the internet at the end of November that Laulani (Joslyn Noa) and Mike Donlin had run the Seattle Half-Marathon! Was this true? No one even knew they were training! Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so...
Mike and Laulani sprint across the finish line of the 2001 Seattle Half Marathon! Sunday, November 25, 2001 was a wet, cold, overcast day in Seattle. Mike describes the experience: "Life is constant training anymore!!! That old 'no pain, no gain' thing has no meaning in my (our) life. We are constantly gaining (weight, years, an ever larger forehead, ....) and it all hurts! What can I say. But I'll tell you this, when that old tutu passed us by - on more than one occasion - I WAS MORTIFIED...I mean: MOTIVATED! Just because she was in her 70s and on her 3rd marathon, there was no cause for her to keep blowing us off! So, we dug deep and left her in our dust. Our puddles, if the truth be told. And we sprinted across the finish line. SPRINTED! So....... We are on the road to the next marathon. 3 hours, 55 minutes - that's our baseline. Now, we either go for speed or for distance next time... 'Next time!' Listen to me. Am I nuts?"

George Kahumoku gave a concert last night (Nov 18, 2001) at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. What made it special was that George had his Ohana participate as part of the show. He featured his son Kaliko, his mother Eileen and in a surprise announcement, had Mahea (Donnette Paishon) and Bobby Lu Kniskern (Nary) performing onstage!
Bobby Lu & Mahealani perform...	Imua69'ers reunite in Tacoma.
The fun started much earlier in the day with early morning calls by George, looking for a Ukulele for his son to use at the performance. DJ came to the rescue, driving to the event with a "trunkload" of ukuleles. Our newest ukulele 'guru' saves the day!

November 2001 -Puget Sound in the state of Washington: Words to use!!! If there is anyone who loves the outdoors, it's none other than D.J. Mark Patin!!! She prefers the wilderness instead of being stuck in traffic, anyday.
DJ says: "It was so foggy that morning that we had to turn on the GPS just to get out to the fishing grounds. It's on Puget Sound, which is salt water. Yep, those are salmon. You're looking at silver salmon, or what's called Coho. I also caught King salmon this past summer, which is known as Chinook salmon. These were two kinda small ones, running about 10 pounds each. Normally, we cast for the late season cohos, but my fishing buddy decided that we should troll that morning. It proved to be the right way, because he and I limited while everybody else around us went empty handed. My friend and I were "high-five'ing" it while all the other fishermen were just sitting in their boats wondering how we were managing to catch all the fish.