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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, October 25, 2001

Bids, pins, pet, poem say a lot

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Columnist

Hawai'i continues to show aloha for Sept. 11 terrorist victims in particularly Island ways:

• • •

At Moose McGillycuddy's in Waikiki, a visitor from New York paid $500 in an auction Sunday night to be one of the judges of the weekly bikini contest, according to Tony Miloni, general manager of the Waikiki bar.

That helped raise the night's take to more than $1,000, all of which was turned over to the Sept. 11 Fund for victims.

• • •

Rochan Pinho, the 10-year-old Pearl City boy with inoperable cancer, gave a $5,000 check this week to a visiting New York City firefighter. Rochan raised the money by selling "God Bless America" pins at local malls.

His original goal was $10,000, but that was cut short by a visit from Child Protective Services officers worried that the fund-raising activity endangered his health. Those who would still like to donate through Rochan can send checks made out to the Sept. 11 Fund to his home address: 722 Hoomaemae St., Pearl City, HI 96782.

• • •

Like a lot of other people, Bette Larrabee displays a flag on her lanai every morning and says her cat, Calico, stands honor guard duty next to it for at least an hour.

"Now," Larrabee says, "if I could just teach her to purr the Pledge of Allegiance."

• • •

Students at St. Andrew's Priory School sent 1,000 origami cranes and cards to their counterparts at the Dalton School in New York. The cards were read aloud to the student assembly there, and the cranes were strung together and displayed at the school. St. Andrew's students also sent along a poster that said it all: "When others are hurting, we care."

• • •

Poetry continues to be one way Hawai'i residents try to understand the new world created by the Sept. 11 attacks. Here's one of our favorites, written by two eighth-graders at St. Ann's School in Kane'ohe:

The sorrow felt by many, the anguish it was there,
The people in the streets could only watch and stare.

The twin brothers fell at each other's side,
Was a symbol of strength and a symbol of pride.

They said that we would fall to our knees,
The pain we felt put our country at ease.

We lost many lives and families fell apart,
This tragedy would stay in many of our hearts.

America had then worked together with hearts full of pride,
Together we fought and strived side by side.

We now hold our flag, soaring above our head,
The day this tragedy happened, it was something we all would dread.

We are all now at our feet walking hand in hand,
America forever will overcome and forever will always stand.