It was really special to chat with Pearl City seniors Wanda Tamashiro and Caprice Vida this morning at the reopening celebration of the newly renovated Pearl City District Park pool facility. Wanda and Caprice, along with a great group of seniors, are part of the CHEERS BAR CREW who are happy and excited to be back home at the Pearl City District Park pool. They are proud to once again enjoy the Pearl City pool with their friends, “Where everybody knows your name”. Pretty cool!
Wanda Tamashiro, Pearl City resident, Cheers Bar Crew member
“I’ve been coming to this pool for a very long time. This pool, ever since I retired, has helped me lose weight and helped me with my diabetes. The pool has been so good for all the seniors and it’s free! All the years that the pool was closed we had to go to the Manana pool and they had only street parking. This facility is much better. I want to thank all my friends who worked so hard from the other pool, Manana. They said this pool was going to open in October and I said which year? because it took forever. It was their tenacity to keep at it and Brandon Elefante worked with us. This pool is really a healthy thing for the seniors, and when we get together it’s called, “THE CHEERS BAR” because everybody knows your name. When you’re a senior, you need to socialize if you want to keep your brain going and everything. So, this has been a godsend for all of us.”
Caprice Vida, Pearl City resident, Cheers Bar Crew member
“I grew up in Pearl City, went to Manana School and the Pearl City pool way back when. A lot of years here. It’s really nice to have this pool open again. It gives the community another option to swim whether you have keiki or have kupuna who really just need to get in the water and feel better about themselves for healthier living. This is the place to be. It has all the amenities that you need, a shallow pool and a deeper pool, and you can really better your life by getting in the water and keeping healthy and doing your exercises. Nobody knows what happens under the water so you can exercise how you want and live a healthier lifestyle in the community. This a beautiful day and the pool is clean!”
Senator Brandon Elefante
“This is exciting. It’s been 5 years that the community has been waiting. I want to thank those who have waited so long to see our community totally open. To see that the keiki pool as well as the lap pool open and that Pearl City really has nice stuff. I want to thank the Parks Department, as well as Councilmember Okimoto for coordinating today’s event. Also, thank you to our Kupuna who are here and are very excited, but also this is the right timing for the pool to reopen as summer fun begins. We all need a place of comfort and place to have fun in a safe manner and what better way to jump in the pool and have fun.”
MAHALO!
Photo by Barry Villamil | MyPearlCity.com
CAPRICE and WANDA
