Happy Thanksgiving! The Friends are truly grateful for your ongoing support of our work for the War Memorial Natatorium in Waikiki. We come to you now asking for your continued help. Earlier this month, the 23rd annual Veterans Day observance at the Natatorium celebrated Hawaii’s ex-service members living and dead, including, as you see in the photo, many members of Oahu veteran biking clubs. Just days before, the City and County of Honolulu released its environmental impact statement on the Natatorium, opting for preservation of Hawaii’s official state World War I memorial. The study began several years ago with the
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Archives for Support
Support the Natatorium… and score Bruno Mars tickets!
Friends, this is a bit complicated. But very, very, very cool. Stick with us, and we’ll explain as clearly as we can. Point 1: Heineken (yup, the beer company) sponsors The Cities Project. It’s an effort to do important, positive things in metropolitan areas around the world. Point 2: This year, the Cities Project has teamed up with our friends at the National Trust for Historic Preservation to support 11 important preservation and civic projects around the country. Point 3 (and this is a BIG one!): One of those projects is our effort – your effort, really – to preserve,
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'The Tank' Now Available on DVD
We’ve just received a DVD version of The Tank, the great short documentary on the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium that aired a few months ago on KHNL-TV. Many of our friends on the Mainland and around the world couldn’t see the broadcast; many here in Hawaii want to see the film again and share it with friends and family. You asked for it. No problem! Now you can get it. Here’s How to Get Yours While supplies last, we’ll send a DVD of The Tank as a thank-you for a tax-deductible donation of $25 or more to the Friends of
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The Granddaughter of the Natatorium's Builder Returns
Knowing history is one thing. But seeing it, hearing it, talking with it is another thing entirely. That’s why we were so thrilled and grateful to meet Marti King over Thanksgiving weekend. Our Link to the Man Who Built the Natatorium Marti is the granddaughter of John Llewellyn Cliff, the Honolulu contractor who built the War Memorial Natatorium. She was in Hawaii for the holiday and stopped by to see the Natatorium again and chat with members of the Friends of the Natatorium. She also presented a donation to help repair and reopen the facility that is so much a
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The Natatorium: For the Weight Ohana, It’s Personal (See the Video)
The Weight/Napoleon ohana cares so much about the War Memorial Natatorium, for so many reasons. — Their ancestor, Sam Kainoa, who died in the service in World War I, is among the 10,000 volunteers from Hawaii honored at the Natatorium. –Another forebearer, Walter Napoleon, was superintendent at the Tank and captain of Hawaii lifeguards. –The family’s matriarch, Naomi Weight, daughter of Walter, practically grew up at the Natatorium on the shore of Waikiki, as did so many Oahu residents for generations. So you’ll see dozens of members of this great ohana at the Natatorium each year for the Memorial Day
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National Veterans Organization Endorses Natatorium Preservation
We’re proud to announce that the 138,000-member National Association for Uniformed Services has endorsed our efforts to save, rehabilitate and reopen the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. NAUS is a nationwide veterans organization, founded in 1968 to advocate for veterans and to protect their benefits and those earned by those now in uniform. “The Right Thing to Do” In a letter to the Friends of the Natatorium, the association’s president and CEO, retired Marine lieutenant general Jack W. Klimp, called on government leaders in Honolulu and Hawaii “to look beyond the years of neglect and inactivity.” He urged them to adopt
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Solemn Sunsets: Bagpipes at the Natatorium
A new tradition has begun. Bagpiper Kim Greeley patrolled the main gate of the Natatorium Friday at sunset, playing Coming Home and Amazing Grace before sounding Taps. She played in memory of more than 10,000 World War I veterans from Hawaii; it was in their honor that the Natatorium was conceived, built and opened in 1927 for the enjoyment of all Hawaii residents and visitors. The Friends of the Natatorium intend to repeat this remembrance ceremony most Friday evenings as the sun goes down. Kim and her pipes, or sometimes a bugler, will perform the somber, sorrowful and soulful traditional
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The Natatorium Needs You. Submit an Official EIS Comment.
The clock is ticking! If we’re going to save the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium, we need your help shape the draft of the environmental impact statement. Make sure your voice is heard before the Aug. 22 deadline for public comment. The Background Here’s the situation: Two days after the open public meeting on the Natatorium last week, the City and County of Honolulu published what’s called an “environmental impact statement preparation notice.” [Note: It’s a 141-page PDF.] Now, after a 30-day public comment period, the city’s planners will write a draft environmental impact statement. Another public comment period will follow,
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Get a Great Natatorium Shirt… and Support the Friends!
For a limited time, these great Friends of the Natatorium “Remember. Respect. Renew.” T-shirts are available in navy blue. And even better, our friends at Ōiwi Ocean Gear are donating $10 from the sale of each $25 shirt to the Friends! That’s a big help in our efforts to preserve and renew the War Memorial Natatorium in Waikiki. 100 percent super-soft, lightweight cotton. The Friends of the Natatorium logo on the front. On the back, a graphic of swimmers doing what we’ll all be doing again in Waikiki’s beautiful, monumental ocean pool once we get it fixed and reopened. Here’s
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