Bank employee Vernon Nakamura enjoys making
balloon animals for children.
Still, they're colorful and squeaky and they don't weigh too much.
Vernon Nakamura, who works at First Hawaiian Bank, saw how kids' eyes light up when balloon animals are created out of nothing more than rubber and air, and decided, by gum, that he'd be a balloon-shaping artiste as well.
Even though Nakamura considers himself an amateur, and a late ballooner -- "I'm not giving up my day job!" -- he'll be shaping balloons at the Hanahau'oli Children's Fair, Saturday.
Nakamura got interested in balloons while helping the Lions Club do a children-fingerprinting program at McDonald's. "Doing the fingerprinting is kind of scary for a kid, so I started making balloons as a kind of incentive."
The shapes are fairly standard. Giraffes are big. So are wiener dogs. Girls like flowers. Boys like swords. There are also more complicated shapes, like corsages and small balloons placed inside other balloons. And there are certain "signature" shapes developed by balloon artistes that are supposed to be respected by other ballooners.
Yes, there's a pecking order in balloon arts. Nakamura credits "Chris the Portagee Clown" and Greg Hirashiki of Balloon Monsoon as the "Jedi masters of Hawaiian balloon shaping."
We don't mean to burst your bubble, but you can't make these complicated shapes with dime-store balloons, at least not easily. Balloon artists use Qualatex brand balloons, and Nakamura keeps a stash at home and another at the office.
"They're expensive, but they don't break -- because they're double-dipped in latex!" said Nakamura.
He didn't comment when asked if balloon animals could be made out of condoms but said condoms don't have a large color range.
The downside is that balloons, once popped, can be a choking hazard for children. Nakamura will only show kids 8 and older how to make balloon creations.
And that's about it for balloon art for today. Hopefully, the time will come when reporting about a nice man who volunteers his time to make children smile won't be so unusual that it becomes "news."