Staff picks volunteer to meet Bush
| • | Bush visit will affect traffic, cancel some flights |
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
At 79, Hilma Chang spends most of her time helping others. She volunteers at the USS Arizona Memorial each Sunday, visits veterans and delivers meals at hospitals and nursing homes, and crochets blankets for patients.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
With all she does, the Liliha resident still didn't understand why she was picked by the staff at the Arizona Memorial to meet President Bush when he makes a brief layover here tomorrow.
Hilma Chang, 79, of Kalihi said she was nervous about what to say to the president and first lady today at the Arizona Memorial.
"I was thinking, there's so many people — of all people, why it had to be me," Chang said yesterday.
"I haven't done enough work yet. I know some people who do more."
It's just that attitude that earned her the honor of meeting the president, said Terry Dorman, volunteer manager at the memorial. Dorman said Chang has been with the park for 10 years and is one of the hardest workers at the memorial.
"It's not surprising that she would think other people deserved it more than her, because that's just typical of Hilma — always willing to give somebody else the praise and the credit and stand on the sidelines, not so much acknowledging her own contribution," Dorman said.
Each Sunday, Chang volunteers eight hours at the Arizona Memorial. She raises the American flag in the morning and collects tickets and answers questions from visitors throughout the day.
Dorman said Chang gets along so well with the staff and visitors that she has been dubbed "Mother Chang."
"She keeps everybody in line out here, and she takes everybody under her wing," he said. "She's one of the most marvelous people I've ever worked with. I can attest to the fact that she is one person who deserves this recognition."
Chang said she was nervous about meeting the president and first lady and she wasn't sure what to say to them.
"I would like somebody to tell me," she laughed.
Chang retired in 1981 from the Pearl Harbor Publications and Printing Office. When she's not at the memorial or doing work with the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Chang and her husband, Clarence, enjoy trips to Las Vegas.
She began volunteer work on a small scale, but quickly found herself joining numerous organizations.
"When I first retired, I was saying I would like to do some volunteer work," Chang said. "I started with one program and it kept on going. It went into community service, and that's how we continued going to whatever they needed us."
Plans call for the the president and first lady to be greeted on their arrival at Hickam Air Force Base by Gov. Linda Lingle, who will present Bush with a five-strand 'ilima lei and Laura Bush with a five-strand pikake lei.
Also greeting the president will be Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona; Adm. Thomas Fargo, head of U.S. forces in the Pacific; Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. William Begert; and Col. Raymond Torres, 15th Airlift Wing commander at Hickam Air Force Base.
The president will meet with Fargo and be briefed on regional security issues. Bush also is expected to meet with veterans of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
A gathering of 500 to 1,000 military and family members is expected for Bush's send-off at Hickam.
Staff writers Lynda Arakawa and William Cole contributed to this report.
