How nice that all of your hard work is being recognized! Congratulations on being honored by Sky & Telescope Magazine for the wonderful work you do with young children and their families on AstroDay. Someday soon there will probably be a budding astronomer from among the ranks of local children who became enthused while participating in AstroDay.
Junko I. Nowaki, Librarian
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Thanks for putting on another great event! My family and I thank you for the teaching award last year too! We finally got to use the 2 days at the Hilton inbetween my trips to San Jose and Atlanta so it came in handy as a nice rest from robotics. That was the first time we had stayed over there and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks for all you do!
Dale Olive, Science Teacher at Waiakea High School
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Hi Gary,
Thanks again for your immense effort in making AstroDay happen. I was impressed by the attention to detail and how smoothly it went.
John Bush, Volcano School of Arts and Science
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Aloha Gary,
Thanks again for such a great AstroDay! You and your team were AWESOME!!!
Rachel Ross, Las Cumbres Observatory
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Aloha Gary,
Mahalo for giving us the opportunity to get our information out... It was a great day for everyone! You've done a great job!!
Toni Mallow, Na Pua No'eau
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Hi Gary san,
that's my word: thank you very much for your dedication to the community.
Saeko Hayashi, Subaru Telescope
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Big Mahalo to you too!
Couldn't have happened without you. I was delighted to meet Callie and Kenyan. Don't ever let them leave. Kenyan helped me quite a bit with my logistics of the PS display. It was a pleasure to meet him. He is a very, very focused, hard working, young man who takes his job seriously and literally danced through this whole event with great coordination while you were consumed with making this happen too. He amazingly fielded all my questions and had immediate solutions.
What a great day for Hilo!
Malama pono!
Jill Kajikawa-Kent, Pan-STARRS
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It was a fabulous event! Glad it turned out so well
(bummed, tho that I missed John Keawe's performance -
I got there too late!).
Kudos to a great job by everyone!
Puanani Akaka, UH Hilo
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Well, that was another great one. Not quite as busy at the beginning as
last year, but I think there was more steady traffic thoughout the day.
Definately a good turnout. Thanks for all the work in organizing that!!
We will definately see you at the mall next year! :)
Alison Peck, Sub-Millimeter Array
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The keiki of Hawaii are lucky to partake of this educational and fun day!! I know it was successful from the reports I heard from others, and the overflowing parking lot at the Plaza was an indicator of the crowds inside.
Marie Ella, Hawaii Tribune-Herald
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No'u ka hau'oli.
Carlos Andrade
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Thank you very much for organizing this exciting event. I think Astroday this year was also very successful. I feel Astroday is getting more popular and popular every year, which is really wonderful. At our CSO booth, we had at least about 200 people stopped by on the day. It was great to see and talk to people on the day, getting together for astronomy and Hawaiian culture. I enjoyed Astroday myself, too. Thank you very much for everything, Gary. We look forward to having Astroday next year!
Hiroko Shinnaga, Caltech Submillimeter Observatory
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Yeah, I had a great time. I got to spend a lot of time filling adults and young kids minds with wonder. I love it when I get that kind of opportunity. Thanks for inviting me. Same time next year!
Jennie Berghuis, UH Hilo student volunteer
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Hi Gary....thank you for allowing our participation in your AstroDay 2005! It was another amazing day of astronomy and everyone owes you and your dedicated supporters for all of your hard work. I appreciated your logistical help and the wonderful "care & feeding" throughout the day. Please thank Chizuko for her kind attention, too! Your great images of AstroDay really captured the excitement and enthusiasm for learning which took place.
I have marked May 6, 2006 on my calendar....yipee!
Nancy Tashima, Onizuka Space Center
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You deserve another day of rest! Glad I went to your booth early; wow...we ran out of brochures so quickly! I was happy to see children with lots of interest in the brochures ... good thing we had those Astro Day plastic bags! Take care and many thanks for extending your knowlege to the community and especially our young students....Will look forward to next year!
Joyce Mitsumori, volunteer
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Great job as usual! Thanks for all of the effort AstroDay has a huge impact on our community and inspiring kids to aim high... As always, let me know what we can do to help in the future and "up the anti" each year.
Peter Michaud, Gemini Observatory
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Thank you Gary for your tremendous efforts in help keeping our jobs and favored rather than hated in the eyes of the community. Tired but, it was a lot of fun! I think I'll be on vacation on May 6th, 2006....
Darryl Watanabe, IRTF
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I hope an easy sunday helped you recovering from the intense last few months! All the hard work hasn't been done in vain. It has been a very successful astroday.
On behalf of CFHT, I send you big mahalos (and smooth recovery)!
Remi Cabanac, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
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It was fun to see you and the IfA team in action; it truly is a study in intense commitment and dedication. Also, it was important for me to absorb many of the reactions/feelings of many different folks and see if we can't make more headway, politically speaking.
Congratulations on a superb job!!! It was a pleasure to be involved.
Joan Yanagihara, UH Foundation
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It was GREAT! Our 7-year old had a blast...loved the launching "seltzer" rockets, and the planetarium was really neat. (a bit too long..but, really neat!)
Gwen Biggert, Mauna Kea Support Services
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Congratulations!!! What a great day. We were jamming all day long. What a success.
Janice Harvey, Gemini Observatory
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I want to thank all of you for your tremendous efforts to make AstroDay such a success again. I know that it is hard work and takes a lot of your time, but I am sure that you felt very much rewarded by the smiling faces of kids and their parents and their curiosity about our science.
Rolf Kudritzki, Director, UH Institute for Astronomy
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Congratulations on another successful Astro Day. My family thoroughly
enjoyed it and we at the Chamber were happy to assist in a small way.
Art Taniguchi, President, Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce 2005
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John and I would like to thank YOU for all your hard work and dedication to AstroDay 2K5. We had a wonderful time! =)
John and Kealoha Swatek, Meteor Group Hawaii
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Hi, Gary. I must admit I think you're crazy to be sending out personalized thank you's after all that
you've been through. It is sincerely appreciated, though. The conversations that we had with
members of the public were very rewarding. It provided an opportunity to explain things directly with people who otherwise have to rely on the sketchy reporting of our local media who tend to
gravitate to controversy rather than the positive aspects of what is really going on atop Mauna Kea.
We thank you for providing such a positive venue for public outreach. Get some rest, brah. Talk to
you soon.
Arnold Hiura, Office of Mauna Kea Management
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Another great AstroDay. What a hit. I once again feel very honored to be able to give as much as I can towards Mauna Kea, culture and astronomy. To have been asked to do the opening ceremony for AstroDay with Leilehua and Kimo feels so pono. I am proud and VERY happy to be a part of Mauna Kea's `ohana and will continue to give all that I can to sharing all aspects to our keiki, communities and our visitors. This has been another major part of this awesome journey that Ke Akua has for me. I thank you so much for everything.
Koa Ell, Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station Cultural Interpretive Guide ***********************************************************************
Thanks again for helping to make my day a very special one today.
As usual, it was lots of fun, if exhausting. But then again, it's very
satisfying that way when it's over!!
Have a well-deserved and excellent sleep tonight! Mahalo again!
Richard Crowe, UH Hilo Physics and Astronomy
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Thank you for planning the AstroDay. I think it was one of the most fun occassions I had this month. How did you plan all of the stuff? I liked all the booths. They are really fun because it was very informational. I was one of the lucky ones to get a t-shirt.
Thank you, you made everyone's day.
Reyn Yoshioka, Gary's next door neighbor
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...as Reyn said, he really enjoyed it and the other parents I know who brought their kids down were very impressed too. Reyn wore his AstroDay t-shirt to school today with great pride - of course, it's a collector's item!
Wendy Yoshioka, Reyn's mom
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Thank you so much for organizing AstroDay. It was really fun and I learned a lot. Also, thank you for the great prize.
Mailani Ahuna
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I just wanted to let you know that my kids, husband and I thoroughly enjoyed AstroDay over at the Prince Kuhio Mall. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully you will do it again next year.
Cindy Fong
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VERY IMPRESSIVE AND ENLIGHTENING! AstroDay was a hit! ... Well worth all the chaos in planning such a successful event! ... I brought my family to the Plaza to catch the opening ceremony - but they wanted to check everything out ... their eyes and their minds were heading off in every direction at once!
My kids had a wonderful experience and between my two youngest (ages 9 and 7) they're determined on sharing the AstroDay t-shirt they stood in line to get. My daughter proudly wore it on Saturday and my son is showing it off in school today. It will get lots and LOTS of exposure!
Great work! We see the observatories every day high atop of Mauna Kea, out of reach for most of us. AstroDay brought the observatories, the science, and even Mauna Kea to the community. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Debbie Fujimoto, KTA Super Stores
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Well, Gary you did an excellent job putting together AstroDay 2002. Thank you for all the energy you put out, and for the opportunity to participate. I look forward to next year, and I'm sure everyone else does also.
Rich, and all of us down at the VIS
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I think AstroDay was a big success and loved watching the young children whose interest in Astronomy seem to be higher now than at anytime in the past than I can remember. I know that staging the event represented a lot of work for you but what a great way to educate an entire community.
Sonia Juvik, Asst Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Hawaii at Hilo
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Felicitaciones para (Congratulations on) the success of AstroDay 2k2! I'm glad to hear "The video was ... broadcast on KHNL on Sunday night at 10:30". Now you take a good rest.
Gaku Kinoshita
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I must tell you again how much I was impressed by AstroDay. For the past 10 years, I have been virtually the only person who promoted the County Fair and other exhibit events. From these experiences, I know how much work you did to get everyone involved and it makes me appreciate your efforts all the more.
Ron Koehler, Mauna Kea Observatories Support Services
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...Congrats, what a great program. We look forward to working with you on future projects!
Jerry Burstein, Astronomy Magazine
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Congratulations and good luck for next year.
Jeremy McGovern, Astronomy.com
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Wow! What a great turn out. Thanks for the update.
Gary Tomlinson, Chaffee Planetarium
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...no question it was a huge success. The next day I was walking in Longs with my AstroDay tee shirt on and was greeted by a lady who said she and her children got those tee shirts too and they all won prizes and had so much fun and learned so much. She was just bubbling over with enthusiasm, as I am sure many, many parents and children were also doing.
Walter Steiger, Institute for Astronomy (participant)
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Thanks again for the excellent job on the AstroDay event - I think you really inspired lots of kids (and astronomers!).
Peter Michaud, Gemini Observatory North (StarLab curator)
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...I really enjoyed participating in AstroDay, and, as I told you before, I was really impressed by the entire event! I'd be eager to help out again in Y2K3 if you are interested, as I imagine the IfA (Institute for Astronomy) would be too.
Michael Liu, Institute for Astronomy (speaker/participant)
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Hi, thanks for everything. I think Kealoha and John said about all that could be said. We all had a great time and look forward to next year. We learned a lot and will have better displays next year. It was great and we learned a lot and met some really nice people. In particular a young lady from one of the schools that was afraied of math. Hope we laid her fears to rest. Keep in touch.
Mike Morrow, President Meteor Group Hawaii (participant)
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Mahalo for your effort on AstroDay - I have heard nothing but good things about all phases of the event and without a doubt, it would not have happened without you! Let me volunteer in advance for next year's shindig. I'm even planning on playing the guitar as a part on my "act" for 2k3.
Paul Coleman, Institute for Astronomy (speaker/participant)
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I would say that at least 12,000 people came to the mall on Saturday, based upon the fact that our parking lots were full for most of the day. Just wanted to let you know that on Saturday, mall sales were up 13.2% over the same Saturday last year, which was very good...thanks again for all your efforts.
Carol Van Camp, Manager Prince Kuhio Plaza
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Excellent news! Congratulations on your success...your event sounds like one of the most successful first events I've heard of.
Scott Young, RASC
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Congrats on the success of AstroDay. Wish I could have been more a part of it...Thank you for the shirt that I received.
Alain Takane, Student Waiakea High School (participant)
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Congratulations on a successful day!
Haunani Bernardino, UHH Professor College of Hawaiian Language
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Thank you so much for putting on a great event for our community! I'm sorry I didn't get to attend the event, but only heard terrificd revues from everyone who went!
Marie Ella, Advertising - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
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Maika'i loa; a job well done. Mahalo for the opportunity to kokua and introduce the field of astronomy to the keiki of Hawai'i. I received comments from participants and friends that the crowd was similar to Christmas seasons.
Gary Francisco, Volunteer Extraordinaire - Kids Corner
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Thank you VERY much for including us in your AstroDay event...it ws such a successful, fun day...heartwarming to see so many kids and their families enjoying and learning science!! Thank you for all of your dedicated work in planning and carrying out the event, Gary. I am grateful for all you did and also for the lunch and snacks...I am not used to the pampering, but it is really nice.
Nancy Tashima, Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center (participant)
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Congratulations on doing such a fine job with AstroDay. I think it's great to bring the excitement of astronomy to the Big Island. I hope we at the IRTF (InfraRed Telescope Facility) and IfA (Institute for Astronomy) can do more next year.
Alan Tokunaga, Institute for Astronomy
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Aloha, the AstroDay was great... I agree that more local people should be trained to be employed at the observatories and I will appreciate any interaction and collaboration toward that goal.
Bernhard Laurich, Math/Sciences Div,, Hawaii Community College
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I wanted to once again, thank you for inviting us to be a part of AstroDay. I've heard only positive comments from people in the community.
Cathy Iwaoka, Kaumana Elementary School 6th Grade teacher (participant)
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Great job, Gary. Congratulations!
Marlene Hapai, Assoc Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, UH Manoa
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On behalf of Meteor Group Hawai'i, I would like to thank you and your support staff for the wonderful experience of AstroDay 2k2. We all had a great time meeting and speaking with all the folks that turned out for this event.
Your staff was friendly and supportive and we really enjoyed the day. Please be sure to include our name on the list of participants for next year's event.
Again, mahalo for all the work you folks did - it was great.
Kealoha "Karen" Finneran
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You did a wonderful job!! You should be proud!!! It was great to meet you!!!
Mike Maberry, Institute for Astronomy, Maui
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...This is the kind of thing that builds community support...bringing astronomy to the places that people are living, working, and yes, shopping every day! Yes, we have to do it again!
Richard Crowe, Professor Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Hilo
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What a success... Yes, the planetarium shows were extremely popular. It's such a great way to introduce astronomy to all.
Janice Harvey. Gemini Observatory North, (StarLab curator)
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Glad it went so well; sorry we missed it... Great to have the community involved as you planned for. Hope we can join you next year.
Art Kimura, Program Director Future Flight Hawaii
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Just wanted to thank you on a job well done on AstroDay. I found it to be most educational and tremendously fun!
Lance Ishida, Student intern at IRTF (InfraRed Telescope Facility)
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...and we look forward to being able to work with you on community outreach projects in the future. The AstroDay was immensely useful to us in informing the public about the science projects and new techniques our observatory is involved in, and we'll definitely participate again next year.
Alison Peck, Smithsonian Sub-Millimeter Array (SMA)
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Wow, it looks like AstroDay was a huge hit! I can't believe you did it all in 2 and a half months.
Sheri Chen, Gary's sister
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...Received the tee shirt today and was very happy to receive it. Thank you. My wife and I arrived on the big island by plane and stayed at the Kilauea Military camp for 10 days. We spent a day at the Prince Kuhio Plaza and joined in on celebrating AstroDay, we enjoyed the exhibitions immensely. Once again thanks a million for the tee shirt.
Jim & Connie Brennen, Florida
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Thank you for doing this. Planting seeds today will bear fruit in the future. I see you not only as a telescope operator but also as a great educator. I was there when you presented on the Leonid Meteor Shower at the UHH Theatre along with Dr. Kaifu. I was impressed by your knowledge, good humor and sincerity in sharing. You go, guy!!
Barbara Arthurs, Counselor - Hawaii Community College
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...what a fantastic effort! Please keep me in mind for an AstroDay in West HI should this be a possibility next year--perhaps we can arrange an event at the Keauhou Shopping Center...
Darlene E. Martin, Ph.D. Associate Director, Na Pua No'eau
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It is indeed noteworthy that your effort to "inspire" at least one child toward astronomy has given rise to this diverse and "sacred icon" sensitive demonstration. You deserve congratulation for the ingenious student motivation effort along with recommendation for your cultural awareness by inviting indigenous and local participation to this promotion/demonstration....
John Marlow
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I commend you for your strong support of the State's astronomy program. As you may know, I have been to several dedications of our astronomy facilities at UH Hilo and on Mauna Kea itself. If you want a formal proclamation from me to help celebrate the event on April 20th, please send me the relevant information and I will issue the procalamation for the ceremony.
Benjamin J. Cayetano, Governor - State of Hawaii
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Cathy Ishida serves up some comets
Alison, Josh & Hiroko from SMA with new friends
Andrew Pickles showing some youngsters what they look like in the infrared wavelength
The Kids Corner was very popular
Fun for all in the Kid's Corner
StarLab planetarium shows ran all day