Guild Members Meet Up for Dinner at the
Kauai Writers Conference
Because members of the Hawaii Writers Guild live in so many far-flung places, it’s always a treat to gather for dinner together while attending the Kauai Writers Conference. It may be the only time during the whole year when some of us have a chance to meet up in person.
This year, 12 members attended the conference, nearly double the number who attended last year. Since we’d had to wait to get into a restaurant last year because we hadn’t made reservations in advance, we decided to make reservations this year before we even left for the conference. Because two members were planning to bring spouses, we called on November 5 to make dinner reservations for 14 for Saturday night, November 11.
The conference started on Monday, November 6. Some of us arrived that day to participate in the four-day master classes, while others didn’t arrive until November 9, for the three-day weekend conference. We felt confident that we would get to see each other for our special dinner, however, because we’d been so diligent in making our reservation in advance.
As time passed, though, people’s plans changed. Some members who weren’t sure they would attend, decided to do so, or asked to bring someone new along, while others who had planned to come to the dinner found they could not attend after all. Still others, who weren’t members, but had learned about the Guild through a Guild table we staffed at the conference, wanted to come to the dinner to check us out.
The number of attendees kept changing, and we kept notifying the restaurant of the changes. Fortunately, the Portofino Restaurant, one of the ocean-front restaurants on the grounds of the Sonesta Hotel where the conference was held, was accommodating, and when we finally arrived for dinner, they had a table set up for 20 (our most recent estimate) waiting for us. Nineteen people actually showed up—close enough.
The table was so long, however, that when our president, Diane Revell, took pictures to commemorate the occasion, she had to take two pictures so that the faces of the people at the far end of the table would show up clearly. A few of the people who attended were missing from the table when the pictures were taken, including Diane (who was behind the camera) Michael Foley from Hawi, and perhaps one or two others.
Here are the pictures.
This year, 12 members attended the conference, nearly double the number who attended last year. Since we’d had to wait to get into a restaurant last year because we hadn’t made reservations in advance, we decided to make reservations this year before we even left for the conference. Because two members were planning to bring spouses, we called on November 5 to make dinner reservations for 14 for Saturday night, November 11.
The conference started on Monday, November 6. Some of us arrived that day to participate in the four-day master classes, while others didn’t arrive until November 9, for the three-day weekend conference. We felt confident that we would get to see each other for our special dinner, however, because we’d been so diligent in making our reservation in advance.
As time passed, though, people’s plans changed. Some members who weren’t sure they would attend, decided to do so, or asked to bring someone new along, while others who had planned to come to the dinner found they could not attend after all. Still others, who weren’t members, but had learned about the Guild through a Guild table we staffed at the conference, wanted to come to the dinner to check us out.
The number of attendees kept changing, and we kept notifying the restaurant of the changes. Fortunately, the Portofino Restaurant, one of the ocean-front restaurants on the grounds of the Sonesta Hotel where the conference was held, was accommodating, and when we finally arrived for dinner, they had a table set up for 20 (our most recent estimate) waiting for us. Nineteen people actually showed up—close enough.
The table was so long, however, that when our president, Diane Revell, took pictures to commemorate the occasion, she had to take two pictures so that the faces of the people at the far end of the table would show up clearly. A few of the people who attended were missing from the table when the pictures were taken, including Diane (who was behind the camera) Michael Foley from Hawi, and perhaps one or two others.
Here are the pictures.
Front left, Guild member Connie Samuelson, who splits her time between Kamuela and the mainland, and, across from her, her husband Jim. The day of the dinner was Connie’s 75th birthday. The woman next to Connie is Karen Ellison from Hawaii Island. Across from her, in the striped shirt, is James Sturz, a new resident of North Kohala on the Big Island, who presented a workshop on “Creating a Sense of Place” at the conference. Other attendees, from the far side of the table, are identified in the picture below.
From left to right, Guild member Carol Prescott from Hawi, wearing the lei; Damian Nash, a new member from Princeville, and his friend; (obscured behind her is our member Wendy Wilson from Captain Cook;) Joy Fisher, a member from Kamuela, at the foot of the table; CherylAnn Farrell, a member from Koloa, who volunteered many hard-worked hours at the conference, and her husband; member Margaret Zacharias, from the mainland; Angela Leslee (in pink) a member from Kealakekua; Nancy Stricklen-Juneau, a new member from Hilo; and Virginia Fortner, a member from Kapaau.
