DK Designs

Former UH Football Coach Honored at HCCNC Five Star Aloha Award
Every year, the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California Chapter asks DK Designs to donate leis for their award recipients. My leis have gone to prestigious indviduals in the Hawaiian community who bridge Hawaii with the mainland US. My lei awards have gone to renound Hawaii Chef, Sam Choy, sports figure, Wally Yonemine, who was the first Asian-American to play for a professional football team in 1947 for the San Francisco 49ers.

This year's recipient of the Kulia I Ka Nu'u ("Strive for the Summit") went to June Jones, former head coach of the UH Warrior Football Team! June Jones did amazing things not only for the Warriors Football team, but also for the athletic department as a whole. Those with Hawaii ties love seeing UH play against SJSU and Fresno State.

I've never gotten a chance to meet any of these individuals because for some reason I'm always out of town. The wonderful part about it is how honored the recipients are when they receive the award. I remember 3 years ago when Sam Choy was playing golf with the HCCNC board members the day after the black tie fundraiser event, he had told Kurt Osaki (one of the HCCNC board members), that it was truly the nicest award he had ever received! That really meant a lot to me because he has so many awards that he receives in the food industry!

The Five Star of Aloha raises money for students who are either attending UH from Northern California or a Hawaii native moving to Northern California to pursue their education at the universities here. Obviously there is a selection committee, but I really think it's great to see associations who give back to the community and keep the ties between Hawaii and California going strong! For more information on HCCNC, visit: www.hccnc.com.