Jan 26, 2007 Haleiwa, HI
Executive Director’s Report
By Antya Miller

We had an incredibly busy year this past year, but accomplished much. Thank you to all of you for your support and help. Below are highlights of 2006.

Preserving History One Building at a Time. Built in 1924, The historic Telephone Exchange Building, most famous for housing the exchange that made direct dialing to Honolulu possible in 1953, is on the State Historic Preservation Office’s list as part of the Haleiwa Special District. In June, the Chamber office received notice from the State Historic Preservation Office Telephone Exchange Building (located behind Ace Hardware) would be moved out of the community, or demolished, if no one was interested in taking it.

Telephone Exchange Building

The Chamber quickly contacted the owners and asked that the building be donated to the Chamber to ensure its future in Haleiwa. The owners of Ace Hardware gladly agreed. The one-story building, with gabled roof, will be the new home of the Haleiwa Main Street/North Shore Chamber of Commerce. It will be relocated to the Haleiwa Gym grounds on the lawn behind the bus stop (in the front of the property). The Chamber would like to thank the trustees of the Waialua Community Association for agreeing to give our new home a place to be relocated! The building is big enough to house a visitors’ center and mini-museum and a couple of offices. This is a dream come true for Main Street and the Chamber, as this has been part of our plans for years!

ATV Trailer Donated to Police Department. Three new All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) are now at work on the North Shore deterring crime and catching criminals thanks to your help in raising the $6700 to purchase a trailer to transport them to the North Shore. The trailer and ATV’s were dedicated at a ceremony held at the Chamber’s quarterly meeting in April.

Chamber Board , members, police & guests at ATV trailer dedication

Business After Hours. We held three Business After Hours events this year at Alluvion, Turtle Bay Resort and Camp Erdman. They were extremely successful and fun. The event hosted by Alluvion highlighted agriculture with North Shore farmers donating the food and displaying their products. There was so much food that it ended up being a feast of tasty North Shore dishes and drinks all made on the North Shore rather than just pupu. People attending were able to see the large array of food and drinks produced on the North Shore. The Turtle Bay event was held on the front lawn and was a lovely setting. The food, drinks and networking were enjoyed by all.

The Camp Erdman event was also a feast! The kitchen staff there certainly goes beyond making the standard “camp” style food! Thank
you to Camp Erdman for donating all the food and drinks for this event. Members very much enjoy the time at these events to network and visit with other members. Mahalo to everyone that donated product or time to make these events successful.

Installation Dinner. On May 24th we had our first annual Installation Dinner with Governor Linda Lingle as the keynote speaker. The theme of the event was “Flavors of the North Shore” again highlighting foods and drinks that are produced here on the North Shore. The display of all the agriculture products was a work of art arranged by Barbara Gray. The food, much of which was again donated by our farmers/producers, was created by Waimea Falls Grill and was simply fabulous.

Kalani Fronda, Gov. Lingle, Antya Miller

There was a flavor tasting of coffee (Dole Plantation), green fried tomatoes (Jeanne Vana of North Shore Farms), and Italian ices (Paradise Water Ice). Gift baskets were presented to our sponsors, David and Sally Youngblood and Governor Lingle, and included products of the North Shore. Favors for all the guests were also donated: North Shore Soap Factory, Oils of Aloha, and Waialua Soda Works. Other donors were: Alluvion, Haleiwa Super Market, Kamaoha Farms, North Shore Cattle Company, Pioneer Ace Hardware (lumbar for stage), Smokie Acres Blossoms and many farmers. The Governor gave a wonderful speech addressing issues facing the North Shore and some of her ideas on how we can support agriculture. Thank you to the committee members, volunteers, and all the donors that made this an outstanding event. It was an important first step in working more closely with the Governor on issues that affect the North Shore.