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Global candlelight vigil
allows parents to grieve

Question: I'm trying to find information for my uncle about a vigil around the world for children who died. Do you know anything about this or when it will be held?

Answer: Today is National Children's Memorial Day, in which a worldwide candle-lighting vigil is held in remembrance of children who have passed away.

Candles are lit from 7 to 8 p.m., beginning in New Zealand, moving through every time zone and lasting 24 hours. Hawaii will be in the last time zone.

In Honolulu, the vigil will begin at 6 p.m. in the courtyard of La Pietra School for Girls, 2933 Poni Moi Road in Waikiki. The actual candle lighting will take place at 7 p.m.

This will be the eighth annual worldwide vigil, held on the second Sunday in December and sponsored by The Compassionate Friends, a nonprofit, self-help support group for families who have lost a child of any age, from any cause.

It was founded in England and has nearly 600 chapters in 50 states and 30 other countries. (Check www.compassionatefriends.org/index.html for more information.)

"It is an opportunity to honor and remember our children (infants to adults) who have died too early," Michele Deal, leader of the Honolulu Chapter of The Compassionate Friends, said of the vigil. "We will have music, poetry and a reading of the children's names."

About 70 to 100 people have attended past vigils.

Candles will be provided, and people may bring photos of their loved ones for display on a photo table.

Deal said The Compassionate Friends had been a source of support for her and her husband following the loss of their son, Cameron, who died eight years ago at the age of 27.

"It was encouraging to know that I was not going crazy," she said. "I was grieving and hopefully (felt) someday I would be able to function again, as other bereaved parents farther along in their grief."

She welcomed other parents who have lost a child or family members to attend a meeting held every second Saturday of the month, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Waikiki Yacht Club, 1599 Ala Moana Blvd.

Visitors are not required to talk and may stay as long or as short as they wish.

Call 524-7400 for more information.

Hawaii Newspaper Index

Although the Hawaii State Library has an index of articles from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser beginning in 1989 on its Web site -- www.hawaii.gov/hidocs/hpnews.html -- copies of printed articles dating back to the 1800s are available for viewing on microfilm.

In the Nov. 29 Kokua Line, we said copies of printed articles from 1929 on were available at the library.

Shelly Brown, a librarian in the Hawaii & Pacific Section of the state library, wanted to clarify that there is microfilm access to papers going back before 1929, but no index of articles for those early years.

An updated explanation of the newspaper index was posted last week on the Web site to explain exactly what is available in the Serials Section of the main library's Hawaii & Pacific Section, she said.

"I believe our local newspapers and the library's Newspaper Index provide some of the richest resources for historical information about our islands," Brown said.

The Print Index covers the years 1929 to 1994 and is available in book format. Copies of the Star-Bulletin from 1893 and the Advertiser from 1856 are on microfilm, Brown said.

"Some branch libraries also have microfilm copies of newspapers for various years," she said.

She advised calling your local library to find the nearest location to view the newspapers you're interested in.

Call 586-3535 if you have further questions about the Hawaii Newspaper Index.

Auwe

To the woman at the Liliha Pizza Hut who took my 10-year-old daughter's life savings on Nov. 24. My daughter dropped hundreds of dollars in a bundle in the parking lot and this woman found it. She obviously knew that the money was my daughter's but refused to return it because we could not give her the EXACT amount of money lost. Her pretentious act of morality set such a bad example for her son. May she learn the true meaning of kindness one day and may she be reminded of this horrible act when she spends my daughter's money. -- D. Kobayashi

The Honolulu Police Department says you should call 911 and ask for an officer to take a statement.

You and your daughter should be prepared to relate the sequence of events and provide a description of the woman and her vehicle, said spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

Under state law (Chapter 52D-14 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes), if someone finds money or property, they are required to turn it in to the chief of police of the county it was found in. If no one claims it within 45 days, then the finder has 30 days in which to claim the money.

The exception is money or property found at state airports, which is supposed to be turned over to the airports director. But, in that case as well, the owner has 45 days to make a claim, after which the finder has rights to it.

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