Holiday Boat Parade and Potluck on December 20
Join the fun and festivities at the ELRA Holiday Boat Parade with potluck, a parade of lighted boats and caroling! Decorate your barges, boats or kayaks and celebrate the season island-style.
The plan is to meet in the center of the lake at sunset (around 6:00 pm) on December 20. Barges and boats can tie together and the potluck dinner will start around 6:30. Folks should bring whatever food and drinks they want to eat and share.
Afterward the flotilla will untie and form a parade of lights and music as we motor (or paddle) around the lake singing carols as we go!
If ELRA members want to join in on the fun and do not have a barge, they can hop aboard a neighbor’s by calling George Lingle at 383-0509 or Michele Compton at 381-2385. Don’t miss this great opportunity to meet your lakeside neighbors and just have fun!
Please remember safe boating rules and don’t overload your barge with too many people.
New Board Members Elected at Annual Meeting
Congratulations, and thanks, to the following new (or returning) ELRA board members. We’ve got a great board who are all very dedicated to our lake!
Here’s the short bios of the candidates that were given at the annual meeting in case you missed it.
Jean Compton – Jean has owned property on the lake since 1969. She feels that the lake is a treasure to be enjoyed and to be protected and cared for future generations. A retired DOE teacher, Jean is currently teaching at St. John Vianney School.
She volunteers for several organizations that have an environmental focus: The Monk Seal Foundation, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and NOAA (Whale Count). She also volunteers for Family Promise, Paliku Theater, Diamond Head Theater, and Hawaii Theater. Jean’s undergraduate degree is in Biological Science.
Rod Castanha – Rod was born and raised in Hawaii. He graduated from Roosevelt High School and went on to study aeronautics at Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology in Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduating with a commercial pilot’s license. He served two years with the US Army in Germany before working as a pilot with Hawaiian Airlines for the next 30 years. Rod has been on the ELRA board longer than anyone! He loves this lake and will continue to work to clean up and make the lake an enjoyable experience for all.
Greg Colbert – Greg has lived on the lake since 1985. He and his wife Laura have both worked in various local management jobs over the years. Greg was previously the pacific area partner for IBM’s business consulting service and currently works in Hawaiian Electric’s Enterprise Project Management Office supporting renewable energy projects. Greg has been on the current board since 2013 but served on prior boards in the late 80s and early 90s, including serving as president in 1993-94. Greg and Laura have one of the few active boats on the lake and also enjoy an occasional dinner cruise on their barrel barge. Their young adult daughter, Carey, also lives with them and is a pediatric medical assistant.
Bob Molyneux – Bob has lived on the lake since 1986. He has worked with previous ELRA Administrations, and has served on the board since 2012 on the Litigation and Nominating Committees. Bob is a retired Marine colonel who held numerous positions in Aviation Command and Control and as a Strategic Planner. He graduated from St. John’s University with a B.A. in Literature, George Washington University, M.S. international Affairs, and Executive Seminar in National Security, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Jean Fernie – Jean has lived in Kailua for 50 years. She moved to her Wanaao Road home on the lake in 1976. Her children went to Enchanted Lake Elementary School and still live on the Windward side with their spouses. She worked for ten years at Enchanted Lake McDonald’s, becoming one of their managers. She changed jobs to become a cashier at the Kailua Longs, a position she held until retiring in 2000. “We have seen a lot of changes in our town,” Jean says, “but, I hope our lake can stay the same – and perhaps get even better.”
Gus Gustavson – Gus and his wife Lynne have been residents of Enchanted Lake since 2001. Gus is a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral. He spent 30 years in the Navy in the field of Submarine Warfare. After he retired, Gus and Lynne spent 5 years in Oak Ridge and Knoxville, Tennessee, where Gus ran a manufacturing plant for the Department of Energy. Gus is a former ELRA Board Member and served as President of ELRA for two years. He also was the Chairman of the ELRA Litigation Committee during the early stages of the recent litigation and mediation.
Jean Compton – Jean has owned property on the lake since 1969. She feels that the lake is a treasure to be enjoyed and to be protected and cared for future generations. A retired DOE teacher, Jean is currently teaching at St. John Vianney School. She volunteers for several organizations that have an environmental focus: The Monk Seal Foundation, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and NOAA (Whale Count). She also volunteers for Family Promise, Paliku Theater, Diamond Head Theater, and Hawaii Theater. Jean’s undergraduate degree is in Biological Science.
Dick Vonier – Dick and his wife Kiyoko have lived on the lake since 1995. Dick is retired from the Navy and from his subsequent career helping to build ships in Taiwan. Dick was a board member in the late 90s and once served as the lake’s security officer. He and Kiyoko have three adult children, a daughter and two sons. One son and the daughter live here in Hawaii and another son lives in California. Dick is one of the homeowners who pulled significant amounts of seaweed from the lake area abutting his back yard in our effort to deal with high growth that resulted from the Delta run-off.
Lake Openings – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good: The heavy rains (about 4 inches) between November 19 and 23 brought high water levels to the lake. The storm flow broke through the berm at the beachpark on early in the morning on the 23rd, which was ideal timing with respect to the tides, and the stream stayed open to flow for almost a week.
The Bad: Due to scheduling conflicts, the City was not able to open the stream mouth as scheduled on October 27 or during the second week in November, nor were they able to schedule it for Thanksgiving week — all days when the tides were appropriate. Instead the city, using a crew of 6-8 people and two pieces of heavy equipment, pushed sand from the stream channel and up and down the beach for two and a half days before opening the berm around noon on November 18. The timing of the opening was not good and the stream closed to the ocean in less than two days.
And the Ugly: The heavy rainfall also loosed large quantities of sediment-laden brown water from construction sites in the Olomana hillside, which flowed into the lake and out into Kailua Bay. The wetland and lake were brown for many days, and the stream water flowing into the bay was frothy and discolored.
The lake is now back to a fairly normal color and the water levels in the lake have been up lately and are presently at 1.7 ft.
