Annette Kaohelaulii
My Fond
Memories of Lorin
Annette
Kaohelaulii
In the early 1970’s I
became an avid hiker and enjoyed
exploring the ridges and valleys of Oahu. These hikes were some of the
happiest
memories of my life.
My inspiration and
enjoyment of the natural resources
grew as a result of meeting Lorin Gill. I knew nothing about the native
Hawaiian plants and unique places he talked about. His
ability to share his enormous store of
information about the natural world with such ease and enthusiasm,
piqued my
curiosity and I immediately wanted to learn more.
I was invited to help
out with the newly formed High
School Hikers’ Program that Lorin was forming, and dutifully did the
interpretive training for that. I knew this new world of natural
resources was
where I wanted to be, and I knew I wanted to share it with
others. Lorin was my model and inspiration.
In addition to the High
School Hikers program, I was
soon leading and organizing Sierra Club hikes for adults, which was a
whole
different experience. I felt it was
important to me to share my experiences in the natural world with
others. For the next 45 years I led hikes and
excursions all over the state of Hawaii for Sierra Club.
Armed with my newly
found knowledge and skills on how
to plan and execute small guided hiking and camping trips —again
Lorin’s
training provided the skill and know-how, I was equipped to eventually
start my
own travel business doing guided ecotourism adventures for
visitors. Annette’s Adventures evolved over the
years
into a personalized itinerary planning service for visitors who were
interested
in bird watching.
Over the years, I have
transformed my yard into a small
native Hawaiian forest and memorial garden to friends who have passed
away. In
addition to the trees which shade my property, I planted other native
Hawaiian
plants throughout the yard. For my 60th
birthday party, Lorin was able to recognize my house by the native
Hawaiian
plantings in the yard.
This past year, as
Lorin’s health began to fail I
realized what an enormous influence Lorin had on my own
life. To honor his memory in my own way,
I
decided to create a scholarship at UH so that others would have similar
opportunities to learn more about the marvelous and unique natural
resources of
Hawaii.
Lorin’s legacy lives on
in numerous ways. I spent the past week reading and scoring
requests for proposals to the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s Natural
Resources
Advisory Group. So many people that I
have met over the years of working on Sierra Club projects throughout
the state
are developing wonderful projects to protect and care for our natural
and
cultural resources in Hawaii. I see
Lorin’s influence everywhere I look.
Mahalo nui loa Lorin.
Nov 20,
2010