On October 25, 2008, Team 359 traveled to Punahou School to once again take part in their annual Lacy Veach Day. Lacy Veach was a Hawaii-born astronaut and Punahou graduate who was onboard the Columbia space shuttle which it disintegrated during a routine re-entry in 2003. We were honored to be recognized at the event for our successful past season and to inspire others through a demonstration of our 2008 root: Poi Pounder VIII.

Various other schools and companies also attended this exciting event. They set up many fascinating exhibits and booths showcasing space and science. Taylor Zarnay from Moanalua High School said that this year was her first time ever attending Lacy Veach Day. She mentioned that it was “interesting and well-organized.” One of the main sponsors of the event was the Hawaiian Electric Company. Spokesperson Eric Kashiwamura said, "They’ve been sponsoring Lacy Veach Day from the very beginning and a big reason why they are involved with Lacy Veach Day is because of Art Kimura. This whole thing [Lacy Veach Day] was for the kids and to introduce new technology."

 

After the Lacy Veach Day event, Team 359 continued our fun-filled weekend with a camping trip at Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden. It was a great way for our team members to bond and get to know one another. To start off our weekend of fun, we all helped set up our tents. Unfortunately it rained while we were there and the majority of our tents had leaked; so we needed to make some compromises. After getting all set up it was time for a delicious dinner of hot dogs, hamburgers, and tons of junk food. During dinner, hiking clubs from other schools joined us at our pavilion and they let us join in on their Halloween fun. The highlight of our camping trip was our night hike. All the trails were wet, muddy, and slippery thanks to the rain, and each person fell at least once during the hike, which left each member of our team covered with mud by the end of the hike.

On the whole, we all had a pleasurable weekend with the team and we discovered many things. We all learned that Mr. Lee is “so good” at Taboo, you have to be ready to get down and dirty when it’s time to go hiking right after it has rained and you better wake up and get out of the tent as early as possible, because they rest of the team will take it down with you still in it, But most importantly, we bonded as a team.