February 16, 2012
Whole Foods Market to open third Hawaii store April 18
Whole Foods Market has set April 18 as the opening date for its thrid Hawaii location in Kailua, and plans to hire about 140 people to staff the 32, 000 square-foot store.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports landlord Kaneohe Ranch spent about $12 million developing the kailua Town Center site for the new store, demolishing a collection of smaller buildings and building one large retailer center on Kailua Road anchored by Whole Foods market (NYSE: WFM), and that includes tenants Executive Chef and Fighting Eel.
The newspaper notes that Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) awaits building permits to break ground on a 130,000 square-foot store several blocks from Whole Foods on the site of the former Don Quijote store and hopes to open later this year.
Whole Foods Market's other Hawaii stores are in Honolulu at Kahala mall and on Maui.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Star Advertiser - Kokua Line
January 17, 2012
Kokua Line
Question: Where are we on the construction of the new Target in Kailua? There is no activity going on behind the screening.
Answer: Last September we were told the retail chain was going through the permitting process and looked "forward to bringing Target to Kailua residents in 2012."
We checked again last week, and a spokeswoman told us, "Unfortunately, I do not have anything new to share. We continue to move through the permitting process and look forward to bringing Target to Kailua."
Asked whether a 2012 opening was still on the books, she repeated that she had no other details. Kaneohe Ranch sold the 311,000-square-foot former Don Quijote site to Target last year.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Star Advertiser - article
(please note our corrections/comments in RED per conversations, meetings, & facts we have collected)
July 31, 2011
A new emerging Kailua town
Anchor tenants Target and Whole Foods Market are part of a contemporary-looking redevelopment
July 31, 2011
A new emerging Kailua town
Anchor tenants Target and Whole Foods Market are part of a contemporary-looking redevelopment
Some major new developments are blowing into Kailua town as construction continues for two major new anchors: Target and Whole Foods Market.
What once used to be a sleepy beach town (population: 55,000) with clusters of old, single-story buildings is now being redeveloped into a newer, more contemporary-looking destination — with an artsy touch.
Opportunities for redevelopment have arisen in the last five to six years as the land leases for 16 acres of land came up, according to Mitch D'Olier, CEO of Kaneohe Ranch Co., which manages property for the Castle family trust.
"There's improvement and investment replacing blight, and there's modern, energy-efficient facilities replacing 50-year-old buildings that have gone through their useful life," he said. "We've been doing improvements on a project-by-project basis pursuant to the community-based plan we did in 2003 and 2004."
Those plans are being carried out, according to D'Olier.
Fast-forward to 2011, and that means a brand-new building to house Whole Foods Market, along with smaller retailers.
It's all part of Kailua Town Center Phase III (how many more phases do we need?), which is right in the heart of town at Kailua Road and Hinano Way.
Whole Foods Market will measure about 32,000 square feet, and is expected to open in early 2012 between Longs Drugs and Mike McKenna's Windward Ford dealership.
Another 8,000 square feet of retail space is included for smaller retailers. Executive Chef, a local retailer offering high-end cookware and gourmet food, will open a brand-new store at the corner next to McKenna's, while fashion boutique Fighting Eel will occupy space next door to Longs.
What used to be a collection of smaller buildings measuring 70,000 square feet at the site was consolidated to 40,000 square feet in the new building. Parking spaces increased to 209 stalls, up from 167 (a good handful of stalls will be used by the many employees that will be working in the Whole Foods store and little "boutiques" -- So, we aren't gaining many more stalls, are we?).
Just a block away, Target is also being built (not until they get their demolition and building permit!) behind a construction fence at the former Don Quijote site. Target is expected to open a 130,000-square-foot store (including a stockroom) in mid- to late 2012.
Walk around Kailua town with D'Olier, and he'll point out all the ways the place has become more pedestrian-friendly (did he attempt to cross the roads and experience how dangerous this "pedestrian-friendly" town he has created is actually working; or did he mainly just point with fingers?).
The new Whole Foods offers outdoor dining and a shaded walkway above the public sidewalk that will make it easier for pedestrians to travel. A new sidewalk has gone in alongside the parking garage behind Longs Drugs.
Hinano Way, next to the new Whole Foods Market, will now connect Kailua Road to Hekili Street, home to a few new restaurants as well, including the relocated Boots & Kimo's. (adding chaotic mess to the already big traffic problem we are dealing with in Kailua Town)
D'Olier also points with pride at the mosaic art pieces that tie the newer buildings together with the fountain plaza near California Pizza Kitchen. Besides a "living wall," which is basically a garden on a wall, a stone sculpture designed by local artists representing a mo'o, or gecko, will flank the entrance to the new Whole Foods Market fronting Kailua Road.
While Target was welcomed with wide-open arms in communities like Salt Lake and Kapolei, several opposition groups formed in Kailua when the Minneapolis chain struck a deal to take over the Don Quijote lease.
Groups like Keep It Kailua and Choose Kailua started petitions and showed up to protest at public meetings, saying a big-box, mainland retail chain just doesn't belong in Kailua.
Their concerns: mainly traffic and competition for existing small businesses. (and Mitch couldn't explain how he is going to fix these problems??)
Before Don Quijote there was Daiei, and before Daiei there was Holiday Mart, so all along, said D'Olier, "it's been large-format merchandise through that period of time. It was zoned at the time Target bought the site." (Daiei was locally owned! ...and was less than 90,000 sq ft; not like Target 130,000 sq ft!)
Kailua is still home to a collection (why only a "collection"? why not more?) of small, locally owned boutique shops, including surf shops, arts galleries and BookEnds, one of the few independent bookstores that still exist on the island.
Many of the businesses are relocated due to new developments, while others, like the popular Brent's Deli, became history (So sad. We miss you Brent's!).
Still, no changes have been made to Kailua's 40-foot height limit. (and it better stay that way!!!)
There are still remnants of the old Kailua, including Pali Lanes, a dated bowling alley on Hekili Street, which will exist side by side with the newer, more contemporary-looking Kailua. (...this is one of the only "old" Kailua structures that has/will be standing in Kailua, all others has been either facelifted, or demolished -- very sad. Mitch says that hes keeping the "character" of Kailua Town. How is this possible if all hes tearing all the buildings down?)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Kailua Neighborhood Board Meeting
Thursday, August 4th
7:00pm
Kailua District Park (Multi-Purpose Building)
21 S. Kainalu Drive
Kailua District Park (Multi-Purpose Building)
21 S. Kainalu Drive
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Hamakua Drive
Have you been noticing the changes on Hamakua Drive?
- TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS at Hamakua & Hekili St. intersection (near Foodland) are numerous! - -after tracking over a year, traffic has been getting progressively worse to the point there have been accidents occuring "on a weekly basis" -- and this is BEFORE the opening of Whole Foods OR Target!!
- Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Twogood Kayak & Canoes have both relocated to Hamakua Drive from their long-established Daiei / DonQuijote location -- with more cars entering & exiting driveways on Hamakua, be CAREFUL -- We must slow down or Go Down!
Where have our farm animals gone?? Is it really true that their 50-year(?) lease expired and was NOT RENEWED by Kaneohe Ranch? The area is now slated for HIKING TRAILS infringing on residents' privacy? -- hmmmm
Hundreds Welcome Hilo Target
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/hundreds-welcome-hilo-target.html
yet the article DOES NOT (and of course would not) write to the negative impacts. Scroll down to read community feedback -- people are AKAMAI to the detrimental ramifications Big Boxes bring!
Comments posted on July 20th & 21st:
yet the article DOES NOT (and of course would not) write to the negative impacts. Scroll down to read community feedback -- people are AKAMAI to the detrimental ramifications Big Boxes bring!
Comments posted on July 20th & 21st:
3-Talk meeting
Tuesday, July 28th
7:00pm
St. John Lutheran Church (1004 Kailua Road)
District 3’s City Council Member, Ikaika Anderson, will be holding his 3-TALK meeting. These meetings allow anyone to personally ask questions, comment, voice concerns, etc. to our own City Council Member. Our community needs to continue to raise questions and concerns to Ikaika about the future development of Kailua!!!
StarAdvertiser-article
July 20, 2011
Kawainui Marsh restoration planned
By Gary T. Kubota
State and federal officials have formed a partnership to restore a portion of the 800-acre Kawainui Marsh in Kailua — the habitat for four endangered water birds.
The agreement on the Kawainui Marsh Environmental Restoration Project, signed Friday, will help the endangered koloa maoli, or Hawaiian duck; aeo, or Hawaiian stilt; alae ula, or Hawaiian moorhen; and alae keokeo, or Hawaiian coot.
The 37.8-acre project also calls for increasing the endangered bird population, creating more scenic open space, reducing upland runoff into coastal reefs and removing alien weeds from the marsh. State officials said the project's cost will range from $4 million to $6 million, with the federal government paying 75 percent of the cost and the state the remainder.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be responsible for the contracting and construction of the project, which is expected to start this year or next.
Laura Stevens, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said the project will serve as the foundation for educational, environmental, cultural, recreational, community and volunteer efforts to restore the wildlife habitat in the marsh. Stevens said that without restoration the marsh will remain in a state of degradation with little value for wildlife and community use.
Work on the project will include the development of 11 terraced shallow ponds on 24 acres, an earthen berm system accessible by light-duty maintenance vehicles, and a system suppling water to the ponds using two solar-powered well pumps and water-level control structures.
Kawainui Marsh was an inland sea about 4,000 years ago, according to scientists, but soil runoff and an accumulation of sand formed a sandbar that eventually became Kailua town and Coconut Grove.
State officials said the project implements portions of wildlife habitat restoration in the 1994 Kawainui Marsh Master and Hawaii Endangered Waterbird Recovery plans.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Midweek - article
(please note our corrections/comments in RED per conversations, meetings, & facts we have collected)
June 15, 2011
By Chad Pata
Mitch D’Olier has a vision for Kailua town, and is guided by advice his old friend Kenny Brown once gave him.
Through his first nine years as president of Kaneohe Ranch, Mitch D’Olier had been beset by criticisms that he and his company were trying to change the very nature of Kailua. (ask yourself, has Kailua changed in the last nine years?) Whether it was the three-story parking structure behind Longs or the new Target on Hahani Street, it seemed clear to a small, vocal contingent that D’Olier is out to destroy everything that makes Kailua Kailua.
But from D’Olier’s perspective, he came to the helm at a time when change was going to happen regardless, (but what type of change is the issue at hand? Small, local businesses and parks, or mainland big-box stores?) and he wanted to do what was best to revitalize downtown Kailua while keeping its small town charm.
“When I joined Kaneohe Ranch, 16 of the 45 acres in Kailua owned by Kaneohe Ranch were coming off of 55-year leases that were ending,” says D’Olier, who ran Victoria Ward prior to coming over the Pali.
“When a lease ends, you get back a pretty old, tired 50-year-old building that, no matter what you have done to try to have the tenant maintain it, won’t have been maintained like you would have maintained it. That was going to cause change, and that is the context for this.” (how do you know the new tenants will maintain the property any better? --Hence the 6 month old hanging blue tarp in Longs. And, why wasn't this enforced with the previous tenants?)
The properties it was taking over had all been built before regulations were in place concerning zoning and parking, leaving a heavily used shopping area with a dearth of parking and a brand new drug store and Whole Foods slated to move in, adding to the problem.
The fix was to be a simple one: a three-story structure built in-block so it wouldn’t even be visible once the surrounding buildings were completed, and with the construction of Longs nearing completion, a decision had to be made.
“We didn’t have a lot of time. Longs said, ‘Build it now or don’t build it, we can’t operate a store while you’re building a structure,’” recalls D’Olier. “So we didn’t have the luxury of taking the time in the community to prepare the community. And there was a lot of hue and cry in the community, and that made me realize that we have a lot of communication to do.”
So Kaneohe Ranch set up an 18-month community planning process, holding six four-hour meetings in the Kailua Intermediate School cafeteria to get input from residents on how they wanted the change to be realized. (this was in 2005 -- needs/ideas change since then)
“We appreciate the continued input we have gotten from everybody, and we try to listen and we are always open to ideas and comments,” says D’Olier, who has lived in Hawaii for the past 40 years (but not in Kailua). “Understand that the context for a lot of this is the termination of a lot of leases, and that is going to drive a lot of change just by reason of itself and that, as a community, let’s just try to do our best going forward.”
One of the big ones was preservation of Hamakua Hillside, the green ridge that serves as a backdrop for Kailua town. While a retirement community was once planned for those hills, Kaneohe Ranch is now working to sell the land back to the state so it can be used for public recreational use.
Two walkways are planned for the hills, one by the stream and one going up the ridge, providing yet another way for Kailua residents to stay in shape while enjoying their environment (along with renting bicycles and those ugly Rent-a-bike stands).
“A friend of mine named Kenny Brown told me you have to let the land tell you what it wants to be,” says D’Olier, who received his law degree from the University of Iowa. “You really have to get in touch with the land, and he was exactly right about that.” (so how has he "listened to the land")
As part of D’Olier’s expressed desire to invigorate Kailua came the idea of the Kailua Night Market. He approached the Department of Agriculture and the crew from Kapiolani Community College Farmers Market, and they came up with the Thursday night concept, housed in the new parking structure to prevent rainouts and add to the utility of the building.
“I figured we could use the amenity, bring together farmers and local residents and get people to stay downtown at night,” says D’Olier, who claims there were 3,000 people on the first night and that they are still drawing more than 1,500 every week.
“It brought the community together. A lot of social capital develops from people being together in places, and there are all kinds of people I see every Thursday in the farmers market who I might not otherwsieever see.”
Kaneohe Ranch has been part of this community dating back to 1893, when it actually was a ranch, and has evolved as the Windward side has, changing from farming to land holding as the Wilson Tunnel and Pali Highway brought a new population to Kailua. Through the changes, it has maintained certain philosophies that are readily evident when you walk around the new Kailua Town Center.
First is a commitment to art. Throughout the center you will find murals, fountains and mosaics that are required by the very tenets of the company. As a nod to Harold Castle’s affinity for dogs, there is even a dog water fountain street-side of the Whole Foods building.
One also will notice the oversized, shaded sidewalks, meant to entice people to get out of their cars. For D’Olier, a big part of keeping the small town feel is having pedestrians rather than drivers. (have you ever tried to cross the street in Kailua lately?)
“Now my job is how to bring these businesses in and keep the character of a small place, and that is the fun of my job - things like public art, dog fountains and the Hamakua Nature Walk,” he says. (how is he "keeping the character" if he is tearing down all the old buildings?)
But it is not all fun. The other controversy D’Olier has been battling has been the Target store. Opponents have even gone so far as to create a website to post concerns over jobs being taken, small businesses being run out of town and traffic bringing the city to a screeching halt.
The uproar leaves D’Olier scratching his head a bit. For starters, Kaneohe Ranch didn’t recruit Target. Target actually came and purchased the lease from Don Quijote all on its own. Secondly, it is simply replacing one big super store with a newer, nicer super store.
“With Target, it seemed to be Big Box hatred, though the box isn’t much bigger than Holiday Mart was before,” says D’Olier. “I was surprised by the vehemence of the Target thing. Some of it was corporate hate, and some of it was hatred of national brand names.
“Even though we already had a Macy’s and a Longs and a Starbucks, they didn’t want any national names and just as soon preferred I took all the national names out and started all over again. So our question was: What works? Should we be in retail at all or should it be all offices?”
Now that the traffic fears have been allayed, construction has begun with the store due to open in July of next year. (if they get their permit)
As a show of its commitment to the community, Target Foundation rebuilt the library at Blanche Pope Elementary School from the ground up. New white smart boards were installed, new computers sit atop the desks and 2,000 new volumes of books were brought in. (Target does this everywhere in the US. They buy peoples happiness)
“They are trying to create a love of reading with all children,” says D’Olier, who moved here from the south side of Chicago. “Literacy is something that Target is all about nationally. They told me they were community guys, but I never thought anything like that would come about that fast.” (because so many of us are so unhappy)
D’Olier also likes to point out that Target was going to be built somewhere on the Windward side and people are going to shop there regardless. Keeping it in Kailua will bring more dollars to the town and to the peripheral shops around it. (how is a mainland store keeping "more dollars" in the town? The money spent goes to the coporate headquarters in Minneapolis)
Despite all the criticisms he has had to endure in the job, D’Olier still looks at it as the best thing that could have happened for him.
“I was asked to take the job as president of Kaneohe Ranch at the same time as I was asked to take the job as president of the Harold Castle Foundation,” says D’Olier.
“The combination of the two - the chance to really try to give back to the community and make the philanthropy more effective to the benefit of all of Hawaii’s people and to build assets for this place - that was an opportunity unlike any I had ever seen, and it has turned out to be as rewarding as I thought it would be.”
D’Olier met his wife Bambi while in school at the University of Iowa. After graduating they came to visit Oahu and he immediately fell in love with the Islands. Bambi agreed to move out here for one year - 40 years ago. A lawyer by trade, he worked in processing transactions between companies for 19 years, making him the natural choice when Hawaiian Airlines needed a new man to help them out of the financial wilderness.
This led him to Victoria Ward where he spent nine years before joining Kaneohe Ranch in 2002.
While the company does keep him busy, recreational diving is the family hobby, though the new grandkids have made Disneyland much more of a destination than the Great Barrier Reef for the foreseeable future.
June 15, 2011
Listening To The Land
Mitch D’Olier of Kaneohe Ranch is sprucing up Kailua town, not always to the liking of some residents, but he says he follows one guiding principle: Listen to the land
By Chad Pata
Mitch D’Olier has a vision for Kailua town, and is guided by advice his old friend Kenny Brown once gave him.
Through his first nine years as president of Kaneohe Ranch, Mitch D’Olier had been beset by criticisms that he and his company were trying to change the very nature of Kailua. (ask yourself, has Kailua changed in the last nine years?) Whether it was the three-story parking structure behind Longs or the new Target on Hahani Street, it seemed clear to a small, vocal contingent that D’Olier is out to destroy everything that makes Kailua Kailua.
But from D’Olier’s perspective, he came to the helm at a time when change was going to happen regardless, (but what type of change is the issue at hand? Small, local businesses and parks, or mainland big-box stores?) and he wanted to do what was best to revitalize downtown Kailua while keeping its small town charm.
“When I joined Kaneohe Ranch, 16 of the 45 acres in Kailua owned by Kaneohe Ranch were coming off of 55-year leases that were ending,” says D’Olier, who ran Victoria Ward prior to coming over the Pali.
“When a lease ends, you get back a pretty old, tired 50-year-old building that, no matter what you have done to try to have the tenant maintain it, won’t have been maintained like you would have maintained it. That was going to cause change, and that is the context for this.” (how do you know the new tenants will maintain the property any better? --Hence the 6 month old hanging blue tarp in Longs. And, why wasn't this enforced with the previous tenants?)
The properties it was taking over had all been built before regulations were in place concerning zoning and parking, leaving a heavily used shopping area with a dearth of parking and a brand new drug store and Whole Foods slated to move in, adding to the problem.
The fix was to be a simple one: a three-story structure built in-block so it wouldn’t even be visible once the surrounding buildings were completed, and with the construction of Longs nearing completion, a decision had to be made.
“We didn’t have a lot of time. Longs said, ‘Build it now or don’t build it, we can’t operate a store while you’re building a structure,’” recalls D’Olier. “So we didn’t have the luxury of taking the time in the community to prepare the community. And there was a lot of hue and cry in the community, and that made me realize that we have a lot of communication to do.”
So Kaneohe Ranch set up an 18-month community planning process, holding six four-hour meetings in the Kailua Intermediate School cafeteria to get input from residents on how they wanted the change to be realized. (this was in 2005 -- needs/ideas change since then)
“We appreciate the continued input we have gotten from everybody, and we try to listen and we are always open to ideas and comments,” says D’Olier, who has lived in Hawaii for the past 40 years (but not in Kailua). “Understand that the context for a lot of this is the termination of a lot of leases, and that is going to drive a lot of change just by reason of itself and that, as a community, let’s just try to do our best going forward.”
One of the big ones was preservation of Hamakua Hillside, the green ridge that serves as a backdrop for Kailua town. While a retirement community was once planned for those hills, Kaneohe Ranch is now working to sell the land back to the state so it can be used for public recreational use.
Two walkways are planned for the hills, one by the stream and one going up the ridge, providing yet another way for Kailua residents to stay in shape while enjoying their environment (along with renting bicycles and those ugly Rent-a-bike stands).
“A friend of mine named Kenny Brown told me you have to let the land tell you what it wants to be,” says D’Olier, who received his law degree from the University of Iowa. “You really have to get in touch with the land, and he was exactly right about that.” (so how has he "listened to the land")
As part of D’Olier’s expressed desire to invigorate Kailua came the idea of the Kailua Night Market. He approached the Department of Agriculture and the crew from Kapiolani Community College Farmers Market, and they came up with the Thursday night concept, housed in the new parking structure to prevent rainouts and add to the utility of the building.
“I figured we could use the amenity, bring together farmers and local residents and get people to stay downtown at night,” says D’Olier, who claims there were 3,000 people on the first night and that they are still drawing more than 1,500 every week.
“It brought the community together. A lot of social capital develops from people being together in places, and there are all kinds of people I see every Thursday in the farmers market who I might not otherwsieever see.”
Kaneohe Ranch has been part of this community dating back to 1893, when it actually was a ranch, and has evolved as the Windward side has, changing from farming to land holding as the Wilson Tunnel and Pali Highway brought a new population to Kailua. Through the changes, it has maintained certain philosophies that are readily evident when you walk around the new Kailua Town Center.
First is a commitment to art. Throughout the center you will find murals, fountains and mosaics that are required by the very tenets of the company. As a nod to Harold Castle’s affinity for dogs, there is even a dog water fountain street-side of the Whole Foods building.
One also will notice the oversized, shaded sidewalks, meant to entice people to get out of their cars. For D’Olier, a big part of keeping the small town feel is having pedestrians rather than drivers. (have you ever tried to cross the street in Kailua lately?)
“Now my job is how to bring these businesses in and keep the character of a small place, and that is the fun of my job - things like public art, dog fountains and the Hamakua Nature Walk,” he says. (how is he "keeping the character" if he is tearing down all the old buildings?)
But it is not all fun. The other controversy D’Olier has been battling has been the Target store. Opponents have even gone so far as to create a website to post concerns over jobs being taken, small businesses being run out of town and traffic bringing the city to a screeching halt.
The uproar leaves D’Olier scratching his head a bit. For starters, Kaneohe Ranch didn’t recruit Target. Target actually came and purchased the lease from Don Quijote all on its own. Secondly, it is simply replacing one big super store with a newer, nicer super store.
“With Target, it seemed to be Big Box hatred, though the box isn’t much bigger than Holiday Mart was before,” says D’Olier. “I was surprised by the vehemence of the Target thing. Some of it was corporate hate, and some of it was hatred of national brand names.
“Even though we already had a Macy’s and a Longs and a Starbucks, they didn’t want any national names and just as soon preferred I took all the national names out and started all over again. So our question was: What works? Should we be in retail at all or should it be all offices?”
Now that the traffic fears have been allayed, construction has begun with the store due to open in July of next year. (if they get their permit)
As a show of its commitment to the community, Target Foundation rebuilt the library at Blanche Pope Elementary School from the ground up. New white smart boards were installed, new computers sit atop the desks and 2,000 new volumes of books were brought in. (Target does this everywhere in the US. They buy peoples happiness)
“They are trying to create a love of reading with all children,” says D’Olier, who moved here from the south side of Chicago. “Literacy is something that Target is all about nationally. They told me they were community guys, but I never thought anything like that would come about that fast.” (because so many of us are so unhappy)
D’Olier also likes to point out that Target was going to be built somewhere on the Windward side and people are going to shop there regardless. Keeping it in Kailua will bring more dollars to the town and to the peripheral shops around it. (how is a mainland store keeping "more dollars" in the town? The money spent goes to the coporate headquarters in Minneapolis)
Despite all the criticisms he has had to endure in the job, D’Olier still looks at it as the best thing that could have happened for him.
“I was asked to take the job as president of Kaneohe Ranch at the same time as I was asked to take the job as president of the Harold Castle Foundation,” says D’Olier.
“The combination of the two - the chance to really try to give back to the community and make the philanthropy more effective to the benefit of all of Hawaii’s people and to build assets for this place - that was an opportunity unlike any I had ever seen, and it has turned out to be as rewarding as I thought it would be.”
D’Olier met his wife Bambi while in school at the University of Iowa. After graduating they came to visit Oahu and he immediately fell in love with the Islands. Bambi agreed to move out here for one year - 40 years ago. A lawyer by trade, he worked in processing transactions between companies for 19 years, making him the natural choice when Hawaiian Airlines needed a new man to help them out of the financial wilderness.
This led him to Victoria Ward where he spent nine years before joining Kaneohe Ranch in 2002.
While the company does keep him busy, recreational diving is the family hobby, though the new grandkids have made Disneyland much more of a destination than the Great Barrier Reef for the foreseeable future.
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