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By Heidi L Bornhorst
We Arborists like to say that Every day is Arbor day--In Hawaii Nei, and this is true. Just about any day is a good day to plant and nurture trees as they can grow and flourish year round here in Hawaii.
We do need more trees, especially on hot urbanized O`ahu. Several events celebrated trees in 2004. There were tree giveaways and Arbor Day tree sales on various islands. Koa seeds were collected at Hakalau Preserve to grow and restore the ancient koa forests of Mauna Kea. The mayor planted a monkeypod tree in Central Oahu and two of our official street tree of Honolulu, the rainbow shower were ceremonially added to the historic trees of Kapiolani park, in honor of Nancy Bannick and Wes Kinder, who have long served on KPPS (the Kapi`olani park Preservation Society).
Rainbow shower is a made in Hawai`i hybrid and is a very unique and long blooming street and park tree. Being a hybrid, rainbow shower trees set no seeds and must be carefully grown by air-layers or grafting. Tree lovers from all over the world ask about and would like to grow the rainbow shower, Cassia javanica X fistula, but it is hard to transport, and being a subtropical tree it wont grow in colder climates like California and Florida.
The main goal of KPPS is to perpetuate Kapiolani Park as a public park and tree filled, green open space for all of us. One of the main things is to keep commercial activity out of our cherished Kapiolani Park so all of us can use and enjoy the park the way King Kalakaua and Queen Kapi`olani envisioned it.
Nancy Bannick loves trees. She is especially fond of big old majestic trees like the thornless kiawe of Kapi`olani Park. Wes Kinder told me that his favorite trees in Kapiolani are the old irreplaceable banyans, which are so unique; he loves the exceptional monkeypods on Paki avenue and he said he is real honored to have a rainbow shower planted in his honor
Here is some more interesting historical background on Bannick and Kinder:
Wesley Kinder grew up in South Carolina, got a BS from Clemson College, served as Captain during the war. He got his MA in architecture at MIT, and after working in New York City, came to Hawaii in 1950. Still a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Wes is a past board member of AIA and was for many years Chair of the Urban Design Committee.
Wes has worked on many Honolulu master plans, no small time commitment. In the early 80s, Wes could be found at every single weekly meeting on the Diamond Head Master Plan, and is still a go-to person on the details and intent of the plan. Between that, the Oahu Transportation Committee, the Oahu Development Conference, and the AIA, Wes contributed greatly to the quality of life for the island.
Wes has been devoting himself to community work, particularly for the Diamond Head area, for the last thirty years. Wes, Nancy, and their close friends David & Whitney Sterrett were part of the first Neighborhood Board in the 1970s, and upon leaving, joined the Citizens Advisory Council for Diamond Head (CACDH), a quasi-governmental agency, which he only left this year after twenty years of service.
Wes was also a founding member and VP of the West Diamond Head Community Association, the precursor todays Kapiolani Park Preservation Society. WDHCA met monthly at the Waikiki Aquarium, with about sixty people there every month. Wes calls it an extremely effective group, with senators and community leaders coming for input. They began looking into Kapiolani Park issues, found that Kapiolani Park was a trust, and eventually the board of WDHCA - became the original members of KPPS as WDHCA was phased out and KPPS remained. A longtime Zoo and Aquarium supporter, Wes became so involved with KPPS that he eventually focused his energies there. After serving as a board member of KPPS from 1986 to 2004, Wes is now a director emeritus.
Nancy Bannick has been in Hawaii since 1950. Nancy was born in Rochester, Minnesota, received her BA in journalism from Stanford, and worked as managing editor of the Stanford Daily. Upon arriving in Hawaii, she began working for the Star Bulletin editing their internal paper and their magazine Hawaii Family & Home. When Sunset Magazine bought those, Nancy was made the Hawaii editor of Sunset, a position she held from 1952-1974, where her longtime historic preservation interest began. She produced local guidebooks with Sunset, and after retiring, acted as their Hawaii consultant and a freelance writer for years, and now is mostly doing volunteer work.
One of Nancys biggest historic preservation projects was the Kukui District, 55 acres that included Japanese temples, Chinese society buildings, a major Shinto shrine, and the Toyo Theater. After ten years of fighting City Hall, they saved Toyo theater and the shrine, and added some low cost housing, so that some human scale remained in an area otherwise destined for bulldozers.
Nancy chaired the Mayors Historic Buildings Task Force from 1965-1975, and kept them from taking bulldozers through Chinatown. The Task Force produced Old Honolulu: A Guide to Oahus Historic Places, a book that still hasnt been replicated as a historic guide to the city. She worked on the Memorandum of Agreement that made downtown into a historic district. If not for that, by the 1970s Chinatown would have been destroyed or its character irretrievably changed.
Too many to list, Nancys many community endeavors include Vice President of Friends of the Natatorium, charter member of Historic Hawaii Foundation and saving Merchant Street. Always interested in music, playing piano most of her life, Nancy also belongs to the boards of the Honolulu Symphony and Hawaii Public Radio and is VP of Chamber Music Hawaii. She is also a strong supporter of the Hawaii Vocal Ensemble, the Academy of Arts, the Contemporary Museum, and Hawaii Opera Theater.
A longtime member of DHCAC along with Wes, Nancy represents the Historic Hawaii Foundation on the committee. Nancy has been on the board of KPPS for 4 years.
KPPS, along with other associations that benefit from Nancys dedication and generosity, nominated Nancy for an award given by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Nancy has just been named Philanthropist of the Year and will be honored on November 19th, National Philanthropy Day. (By the Honolulu Advertiser!!)
The Mayor attended the tree planting, along with KPPS Board members Syd Snyder, Cis Crocker George, Carol Hopkins, Jacque Law, and Jack Gillmar.
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