Q. What prompted you to get involved with The Outdoor Circle?

A. I've been a member since 1980, and originally I became interested when I heard that they were the group responsible for not having billboards in Honolulu.

Q. But isn't the group involved in more than just fighting billboards?

A. Oh, yes. We're interested in almost anything that has to do with maintaining the beautiful environment we have in Hawai'i. There's so much natural beauty and that's what we're trying to keep safe and sound.

Q. When you first joined, what were you involved in?

A. It's a volunteer organization, and initially I went down to a meeting with a friend of mine and I came back as hospitality chair and she came back as chair of education. I had some time in between teaching and having my children to volunteer a little bit. Once I met the women and men involved in it, I just continued to stay involved at different levels. Sometimes I could come out to play a little bit more than others, but I never really lost contact with them since I came out in 1980.

Q. What led you to take on a leadership role?

A. Perhaps one is longevity, but one thing leads to another and you become passionate about the signs. My husband said, "Will we ever be able to drive by an illegal sign without you wanting to hop out?" And I said, "I don't know." Once you get oriented to the offensive nature of some signs, you really stay passionate about minimizing them. And it's the same thing about the environment.

Q. What other issues is The Outdoor Circle involved in?

A. We like to keep things on a positive nature. We're not just against signs. We're against signs in the sense that they take away from the beauty of the environment. We're very much interested in planting trees. We've been responsible for planting hundreds and thousands of trees over the years. In Kailua in particular we put in a whole median strip with loulu palms and naupaka over by the main entrance. We also have partnered with the women's correctional facility in Kailua. They called us and asked us if we could put a planting outside their fence. When we talked with them, we realized maybe we can help out here. So we got grants and put together an active nursery in which the women inmates train there.

Q. What is your membership, and where do you want to grow?

A. There are 2,500 active members in the state, and we have over 500 active members in Kailua. What we're interested in doing is becoming more involved in Kapolei. We have a start-up branch out there, and we'd like to be able to do more things like plantings and put in trees in certain areas and be more proactive out there. This way, by doing these projects people will understand more about what our mission is. We're not just against signs, but we're really for promoting a beautiful environment. We have an educational program. We partnered with Frank DeLima a few years ago to put together an eight-minute film that we take out to schools so that we'll have a way of reaching students at school.

Q. The Outdoor Circle is a nonprofit organization; where do you get your funding?

A. In Kailua, we have a town party, which we just finished — the 15th annual Kailua Town Party. It was extremely successful. It's successful from the point that we make money to do our projects, but also for getting the community out there. In town we have other different projects that go on. We've had over the years a fundraising event at Halloween called "Trick or Trees." When we do a project like we did with the women's prison, we put out for different grants. We don't have a huge budget. We have an adequate budget, and we're always looking for different ways of doing funding. But the basis of it is we're really a grassroots organization and it's getting people out who have the time and energy to volunteer to do these projects.

Q. Why did you want to become president?

A. When you're there for a long time you realize, "I think it's my turn now." You've gone to school with a lot of women and you've worked on these things and you say, "I think I can contribute at this level, so I think I'll do it now." I think it's just the timing. I was asked a few years before, and I just wasn't ready to commit to it. But now seems like a good time, and I would really like to see this organization continue to grow and flourish. I'd like to contribute to the longevity of the organization. We have a lot of fun along the way, and I think that's another reason why I stay and why a lot of other people stay on as volunteers.

Q. What are the challenges that face The Outdoor Circle?

A. The federal government is interested in increasing signage in public areas and in federal parks, and we have to be conscious of that all the time. We have different advertising promoters who think it would be great to be able to plaster signs all over the place. We always have to stay vigilant. Having the sign laws is one good step, but seeing that they're maintained is another.

Q. What do you hope to accomplish?

A. For myself, it's nice to drive and see the women prisoners working and say, "Oh, they're there because of things we did. They're cleaning up the area. They're learning how to take care of themselves when they get out of prison, and they're also learning to help out the community." And to drive by a couple of places where we've done tree plantings and say, "That wouldn't have happened if we hadn't done that." It's just being able to be in your community and say that we made a difference because things look as good as they do. Then going to some of the schools and seeing a tree that was planted and say, "We were there that day when the students got together and decided to plant this tree." Those are the kinds of things that are rewarding. That's the kind of things that make a difference to me at this point.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.