Lots of Thanks - #1 son at work

Turkey replaces chicken at Po‘ipu lifeguard tower

Kaua‘i Water Safety Officers Aaron Haberman and Myles Emura help Marianne Martin unload Thanksgiving lunch from her car yesterday. The lunch of traditional turkey, salad, gravy and pumpkin pie was provided by the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort and Spa.

By Dennis Fujimoto - The Garden Island

Published: Friday, November 28, 2008 1:13 AM HST

PO‘IPU — A water-soaked wallet interrupted Myles Emura’s watch over a baking chicken yesterday.

Emura was one of three water safety officers who tended to Po‘ipu Beach Park, which was crowded with beach-goers taking advantage of clear skies and sunny weather on the Thanksgiving holiday.

But for Emura, Aaron Haberman and Justin Tabalno, it was another day of toil as one of the snorkelers turned in a wallet still dripping after being retrieved from the ocean.

In the distance, swimmers paid little heed to the “no swimming” and “strong currents” signage as they laughed and splashed in an area that was obviously affected by strong currents.

“If this keeps up, stick around because there’s going to be excitement. We get no respect,” Emura said. “But we’re going to have baked chicken for lunch.”

Emura said he was fixing the lunch near the lifeguard storage area and kept an eye on both the baking fowl as well as the beach activity.

His conversation was interrupted as a lady dressed in red approached the tower.

“Can I get some help?” Marianne Martin asked. “I have some lunch for you folks from the Hyatt.”

Martin, the general manager for the Whalers Cover resort, said she was pressed into service after the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort and Spa people called her and asked if she could help deliver some of the Thanksgiving lunches.

The Hyatt’s culinary staff had prepared traditional Thanksgiving lunches of turkey, gravy, salad and pumpkin pies for the lifeguards on duty at Po‘ipu as well as the shift crews at the Koloa and Kalaheo fire stations.

Martin, who was also working on Thanksgiving, said she agreed to help with the deliveries, shutting down her office while she tended to taking care of the Thanksgiving lunches.

“Jody Kjeldsen of the Po‘ipu Beach Resort Association was also asked to help deliver,” Martin said.

“But she didn’t mind since her husband Maui is at the Koloa fire station.”

That left Martin, the lifeguards and the Kalaheo fire station with the aroma of freshly cooked turkey with all of its trimmings wafting from the little Toyota as Emura opened the door to help unload.

“The food sure smelled delicious and was distracting while driving,” Martin said.

Leimomi Keoho-Niitani, the public relations coordinator at the Grand Hyatt, said the resort has been traditionally doing the Thanksgiving deliveries to the lifeguards and fire crews at the Koloa and Kalaheo fire stations for the past several years as a gesture of the resort’s thankfulness and appreciation for the crews.

As for Emura’s baking chicken, he said, “Not to worry. We’ll share it with the visitors.”