Song Contest 2009

Aloha mai kakou,
Hi, it's Laureen Kim. I'm on O'ahu for the 89th annual Song Contest on March 20, 2009. The Helen Desha Beamer award for Best Musical Performance is presented by the Kamehameha Schools Alumni Association, which has regional branches throughout the state of Hawai'i and throughout the mainland. This award rotates among the 13 or so regions, and this year the presentation is being made by the Northern California Region. As President of the KSAA Northern California Region, that means me. A few of you have been asking if I'm nervous about making the award. I guess I get nervous whenever someone asks me because otherwise I try not to psyche myself out. When I thought I'd have to make the whole presentation in the Hawaiian language I did get freaked out. But the people at KS said to use as much or as little in English as I needed. Whew! Beforehand, I would like to thank my fashion consultants, Debbie Lau Okamura and Sue Peterson; and my Hawaiian language consultant Anna Akaka. If you watch Song Contest you may recognize a phrase: Pili kau, pili ho'oilo e ka hele la o Kaiona. Yes, it is our class motto, and my way of honoring all my dear classmates and in particular, George Young. I hope to represent KS alumni and particularly our Class of '72 well. Mahalo for your support.