Archive for the "Media" Category
Gifts of aloha to band members
Bait and Switch
by Allison Schaefers, Honlulu Star-Bulletin, Business, April 26, 2009 For the entire article, Click Here. Some Hawaii visitors are left on the hook by Internet scams and other types of fraud. Dawn Musgrove of Alaska and 21 members of her family traveled to Hawaii for a family reunion last December, but an Internet scam cost them $11,000 for a condominium that never
Visitors in crisis can count on Aloha Society for help
By Robbie Dingeman, Honolulu Advertiser Staff Writer - April 10, 2009 For the original article, Click Here. Need for services up in bad economic times, director says Four years ago, John and then-12-year-old Ashley Streich survived a glider crash above Mokule'ia that killed the pilot, but the harrowing experience hasn't kept them from returning to Hawai'i each year for a family vacation. "We just like the weather and the people," John said. And daughter Ashley — now 17 — added: "It's just like a second home." This month, John, his wife, Karen, and Ashley — who live in Gig Harbor, Wash. —
Officers recover pilfered textile art
By Star-Bulletin Staff, Honolulu Star-Bulletin - March 15, 2008 For the original article, Click Here. In a little more than a day, Honolulu policy arrested a suspected burglar and recovered textile art much to the relief of two visitors from Tahiti. The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii reports that the textile art – used for designs for aloha wear made by major local companies – was worth about $250,000. The pair’s car containing the artwork was stolen after a break-in at their hotel room at the Breakers Hotel early Thursday in Waikiki, VASH said. The burglars also took wallets, a purse,
Passengers left in the lurch make do with other airlines
“I just want to get home,” says a traveler hit by the shutdown By Leila Fujimori and Gene Park, Honolulu Star-Bulletin - April 2, 2008 For the original article, Click Here. Things calmed down at Honolulu Airport yesterday as local airlines and the local community offered some aloha to passengers stranded by the now-defunct Aloha Airlines. The airlines tried to accommodate passengers with flights and some travelers like 21 girls of Halau Hula Olana got on Hawaiian Airlines to get to the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo, where they are to perform. They originally bought tickets on Aloha. “I’m relieved we got a
Spreading aloha to visitors in trouble
By Robbie Dingeman, Advertiser Staff Writer, The Honolulu Advertiser - June 10, 2007 For the original article, Click Here. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="325" caption="Photo illustration by Laurie Arakaki and Russell McCrory,The Honolulu Advertiser."][/caption] Visitor Aloha Society President Jessica Lani Rich, right, helped give Ashley Streich a birthday party at Planet Hollywood Waikiki in 2005 after Ashley and her father, John, left, were hurt in a glider crash. Single dad Michael Archer flew to Honolulu in March with his two daughters, ages 6 and 15, for a spring break vacation. After he collapsed suddenly in their
Two visitors report Waikiki assault
The Honolulu Advertiser - October 26, 2008 For the original article, Click Here. Two Japanese visitors were assaulted yesterday morning in Waikiki while waiting to catch a bus to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. The women, in their 20s, were treated and released at Straub Clinic and Hospital. The women were on Kuhio Avenue at 6:30 a.m. when they were assaulted, police confirmed. The Visitor Aloha Society is assisting the two women here to celebrate one of their birthdays, said Jessica Rich, president of the nonprofit group founded in 1997 by the Honolulu Rotary Club. The society is lending the women moral
Hotels and Others Aid Stranded Fliers
Tales of inconvenience surface, but tourism officials say things are “surprisingly quiet” By Allison Schaefers, Honolulu Star-Bulletin - April 1, 2008 For the original article, Click Here. On the eve of Aloha Airline’s abrupt closure yesterday, Hakalau resident G. B. Hajim got bumped from his Hilo flight and had to fly into Kona. Hajim made it to his destination, but the $3,000 worth of scuba gear that he was bringing back from a diving trip to Manila almost did not make the transition, he said. Twenty calls and many hours later, Hajim finally got his gear. “I had just about given up hope when
Visitors society aided family of Pearl veteran
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Editorial - December 28, 2007 For the original article, Click Here. To the citizens of the great city of Honolulu, we say aloha and thank you. Walt Mycka, Pearl Harbor survivor, came to Hawaii at the request of his shipmates of the USS Maryland to place a wreath at the 65th commemoration at the USS Arizona Memorial. Walt fell seriously ill the morning of Dec. 7, 2006, and died at Straub Hospital on Dec. 29. He and our family were helped in so many ways during this time by the wonderful Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii. Jessica Lani Rich, president,
Society marks decade of giving aid to visitors
The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii offers support in theft, illness or other trauma By Rosemarie Bernardo, Honolulu Star-Bulletin - November 8, 2007 For the original article, Click Here. To Families of victims of accidents or crimes, Jessica Lani Rich is a friendly face in an unfamiliar land. “She was my angel,” Carol Plumlee said about the president and executive director of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii-Oahu Chapter. Last summer in a swimming hole near Princeville, Kauai, Plumlee’s son Tucker complained of leg pain and sank. He was pulled from the water and transported to Kaiser Medical Center in Moanalua, where he was placed