[ FAMILY TREE ]
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
"My grandparents are the backbone of our family and have improved our lives by demonstrating how love and patience can build a strong family," Jaymie Salazar wrote about Sally and Takayuki Kimura. The couple from Kauai was honored recently as 2003's Hawaii Grandparents of the Year.
The Grandest
Volunteer work in the
Kauai community is no big deal
to Sally and Takayuki Kimura,
2003's Grandparents of the Year
'YOU SUPPOSED to talk to my wife -- my wife know everything," says 81-year-old Takayuki Kimura. It's only been a few days since he and his bride of 47 years, Sally, were recognized as Hawaii's Grandparents of the Year by the National Grandparents Day Council, and the retired Kilauea Sugar and Kauai County employee is trying to deflect attention away from himself.
"He's all shy," Takayuki's granddaughter Jaymie Salazar told me later that day when I bring up her grandfather's reluctance to talk about his achievement. "He doesn't want any recognition for anything he does. ... (It) was a really big thing for him to just come on stage and accept an award."
It was Salazar who nominated the Kimuras as Grandparents of the Year, even though her job as a social worker for the state keeps her away from the rest of the family, who all live on Kauai.
"They're like (our) backbone," she says of her grandparents. "They hold everything together."
WITH SEVEN children, 19 grandchildren and one great-grandchild on the way, there's a lot to hold together in the Kimura household. Takayuki and Sally have lived in the same house in the same neighborhood, next to the same people who worked at the same sugar plantation decades before.
"I like dis kine Kilauea," says Takayuki. "You like go fishing? The ocean right there. ... I just like this place. I get everything right here."
Takayuki worked for 34 years as a painter and tractor operator at Kilauea Sugar before retiring for the first time and taking a position in the beautification department with Kauai County. Sally is a retired laundry worker from Mahelona Memorial Hospital. The two were neighbors originally, and got married in 1956.
These days, it's not unusual to find Takayuki at home while his wife is out and about. "I retired, so my time all free, you know?" he says. "I like my yardwork."
While he's in the yard, Sally typically volunteers at a number of places on Kauai. She helps out at preschools, sings at hospitals and has taught classes at her church for more than 25 years. And as members of the local senior center, the Kimuras often assist friends who have difficulty getting around in their old age.
"We get one neighbor, you know, the husband died," Takayuki says. "And nobody going take her out and bring her to the senior center.
"So my wife go, and when my wife doing something else in the morning, then I take her."
Salazar said she's amazed by her grandfather's no-big-deal approach to helping his neighbors, especially because he's about the same age as most of her patients in Honolulu.
"I'm surprised he drives. ... I work with the elderly at DHS, so I'm like, 'You're 81! I can't believe you still drive!'" she says with a laugh. "And he's like, 'Eh -- I still can handle, you know!'"
SALAZAR WAS also pleasantly surprised by her grandfather's willingness to actually come to Oahu and accept his award, which he did last Sunday during a very public ceremony on Ala Moana Center's CenterStage.
"Nobody had to coax him," she said. Normally it takes a lot of effort for the Kimura family patriarch to leave the Garden Isle. By his own account, Takayuki has traveled to Oahu just a handful of times in his entire life.
"I think only about five times," he said. "Very seldom I go. ... I just no like. Too fast for me.
"They take me here and there -- today, if you tell me for find the road again, I don't know! Not like Kauai ... you drop me off anyplace Kauai and I can find my way home," Takayuki says, laughing.
"(But) I had to go, eh? My granddaughter insist!"
In addition to being recognized locally as Grandparents of the Year, the Kimuras also received an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas, courtesy of Vacations Hawaii. While Sally has visited Sin City with other family members before, it will be the first time for Takayuki once the couple decides on a date to take the trip.
"We get one year, so we going just let 'em ride until we really ready for make up our minds," he said.
Until then it's back to the routine for the Kimuras, one that includes regular visits from the rest of the family.
"Every Sunday get, I think, about 15 sons- and daughters-in-law, daughters and sons-in-law and the (grand)children all come and eat breakfast. So every time you see my yard, get plenty cars," he says.
"(And) when they all come, you gotta watch where you step -- you might step on somebody!"
WINNING THE Hawaii Grandparents of the Year award has also stirred up some excitement at home on Kauai for the family. Plans are in the works for the Kauai County Council to recognize the couple later this month for their volunteer work. Having them getting noticed by others in the community is something they richly deserve, according to Salazar.
"I'm really glad. ... They really are such great people," she says of her grandparents. "I really felt like they deserved some recognition.
"They really instilled the concept of family into all of us."
Children's center activities
Grandparents offer youngsters an abundance of knowledge and guidance, and to acknowledge their contributions the Children's Discovery Center is inviting families to celebrate Grandparents Day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. next Sunday.
honor grandparentsThere will be interactive activities for kids and the young at heart as the center provides opportunities for families to explore and learn together.
Some examples are low-impact stretching exercises and a visit to a cooking station for demonstrations of fun and healthy recipes. Participants will also have a chance to meet HMSA's "5 a Day Friends."
Fujifilm Hawaii will be taking family photos, and memory books can be created to capture the highlights of the day.
Admission for adults is $8, ages 2 to 17 pay $6.75, and keiki under 2 are admitted free.
The center is at 111 Ohe St., across from Kakaako Waterfront Park. For more information, call 524-5437.
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