10 WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE
SOYU KAWAMOTO
GILBERT LUM
RICH JACKSON

COURTESY PHOTO Diamond Head garden creators, from left, Soyu Kawamoto, Gilbert Lum and Rich Jackson adopted this section of the cliffs they use to reach their surf spot. Three years of work have turned the once arid parcel into a miniature Eden.

Lush garden bears
fruits of labor

3 surfers dedicate themselves
to turning a rocky plot green

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By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com

On a former rocky, littered and weed-filled Diamond Head bluff where kiawe and cactus ruled, three men have transformed a 100-by-25-yard patch into a their version of Eden.

Surfers Gilbert Lum, 75, of Manoa, Rich Jackson, 62, of Waialae Iki, and Soyu Kawamoto, of Kaimuki, who declined to give his age but is in his late 50s, got tired of cutting and muddying their feet on the rocky patch at the spot known as "Cliffs."

"We were sitting there talking story and rinsing our feet with jugs of water we had brought from home," says Jackson, a partner in a software company.

The Star-Bulletin is spotlighting 10 people who have made a difference in the community during 2002. This year's 10 is a diverse group but all have one thing in common: Each had a devotion to their cause and made a profound impact on Hawaii.

"Then Gilbert says maybe grass would grow if we kept spilling water in the same place every day after surfing."

For the next two weeks, the men rinsed their feet over their newly claimed patches of dirt. Clumps of grass sprouted.

Someone uncapped an unused city water pipe in the area and installed a faucet to provide a ready water source.

That was three years ago, and today the area is thick with grass and flowering plants bordered by lava rock and coral, succulents, bromeliads and trimmed kiawe trees. Yellow ilima flourishes along the garden's eastern edge under the kiawe draped with Spanish moss.

The trio not only filled the once desolate slope with flourishing plants, but also cut pathways to allow visitors easy access through the garden.

Every day the three arrive before dawn, to surf and then tend to the garden for two hours afterward.

The garden has become a popular stop for tour buses and a place for informal weddings. Visitors and locals alike find a lush place to sit and watch surfers, sailboarders or the sunset.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Three years of work have turned the once arid parcel into a miniature Eden.

"This is an opportunity for us to give back," said Lum, a retired utility worker and father of four, about the garden project.

"I've been enjoying myself here for more than 50 years, so why not?"

Others -- surfers, joggers, residents -- have helped by donating grass seed and fertilizer -- and sometimes food for the gardeners.

Lindsey Lemon Mossman, 72, a spear fisherman, is among the regulars who pitch in at the garden.

"I just like to see the earth green," Mossman says.