Best of Hawaii Island 2005 - People

Best Island Athlete Running Wild & Free with Cowman

By Jack Kelly

If you haven't been on the island long, you may not know the Legend of Cowman.
"I represent what Kona used to be," says Cowman. An endurance athlete, Cowman has participated in every Ironman Race in Hawai'i since the first one in Honolulu.
"Back in the day when Ironman first started, we did it for the love of it and nothing more." Now 61 years old, Cowman is also an eighteen-time participant in the Ultraman championships here on Hawai'i Island. He has entertained thousands of sport fans running, swimming and biking with his trademark helmet with two cow horns affixed.
"I first heard of Ironman in a running store in Honolulu where some guys were talking about it. I entered, borrowed a bike and some goggles and finished eight out of fifteen participants. That was in 1979. I got my horns in 1976 and had worn them in the Boston Marathon. The crowd loved it. The horn thing started because I've been a cowboy much of my life. Twenty years a working ranch hand. Grew up on horses. I was running as well as doing endurance horse racing in California and Nevada at the time so I had this cowboy theme going. I first wore the horns in Kona in 1981. When the Ironman got bigger a couple of years later they told me if I wore them I'd be disqualified. So I've been disqualified, but I've still been in every race since that second one.
"I'm a stubborn old bull that won't give up. I don't mind expressing myself. Its kind of my way of showing the kids that it is all right to be different, all right to be creative and go your own way. Society tends to punish the free spirits these days and that's too bad. Anyway, I want to thank the readers of HIJ. I take it as a compliment they voted for me."
Cowman is off to Lake Tahoe next month where he will participate in the Western States 100 mile run and, a couple of weeks later, an endurance horse race over the same course.
"Then there's the Ironman in October," he says and, next year, the 110th Boston Marathon." n

Best Island Activist
Jim Albertini
Jim Albertini, of Kurtistown, has spent a lifetime on the front lines of anti-military activism. In the 60's he resisted the war in Vietnam and after moving to Hawai'i in 1970 has concentrated his anti-war efforts in opposing the militarization of Hawai'i.
Jim presently is a central figure in opposing the expansion of the Pohakuloa military encampment and deployment of the Stryker Brigade on Hawai'i Island.
Albertini also was last year's Journal Island Activist, and the subject then of a major feature article.
On life as an activist and the overwhelming challenge of facing down a entity like the U.S. military, Albertini says, "At the end of the day, the power lies with the people, if they grasp it. Amazing things have happened throughout history when people stand up for what is right ... and they can happen again."
Best Island Artist
Ken Charon
A runner-up for the past two years, Ken Charon says of this year's win: "There are so many artists in Hawai'i and the fact that the readers chose me, I'm just flabbergasted." Born in New York in 1954, Charon lived in Europe for 16 years before moving to the Big Island in 1984. Since then, Charon's work, primarily acrylic on canvas, has been exhibited at galleries locally and beyond. His paintings feature Hawaiian landscapes and cultural themes as well as imagery that furthers world peace and environmental issues. "I try to use my artwork to promote positive ideals, like non-violence and interracial harmony," he says. Currently his work is shown at Ka Huina Gallery in downtown Hilo, where he holds an open studio on Saturday mornings. Charon is available for portraits, murals, and other projects. Call 966-7343.
Best Island Band
Jesse Dawn and the Kine
Jesse Dawn has been a one-man singing and promotion machine for reggae on the Big Island - not the 'ukulele-driven hybrid that local artists and radio call "reggae" and others have dubbed Jawaiian, but as close to the authentic roots reggae sound that one will find without a trip to Jamaica. He is the songwriter/frontman of The Kine and shares lead singing duties with distaff vocalist Kalona. Dawn is also a promoter, having brought several Jamaican reggae acts to the Big Island, including Bob Marley's legendary backing band The Wailers, twice. He has also put on Marley Day celebrations for the past dozen or so Februaries. In addition, Dawn is an environmental and social activist and frequent writer of letters to the editor. To book Jesse Dawn and The Kine, call 934-7942.

Island Hero
Best Politician
Most Powerful Person
Harry Kim
We can't recall ever having the same winner in three different "people" categories all in one year in prior Journal "Best Of" issues, but, this year, Big Island Mayor Harry Kim managed to pull it off.
Kim, who coasted to a second four-year mayoral term in elections last year, continues popular with residents across the island in spite of growth issues that have many grinding their teeth. Traffic problems, drug issues, outrageous housing costs and other problems continue, but many residents see Kim as having inherited most of the challenges, yet the island's best warrior in the fight to make things better.
Kim was a runaway winner in Journal "Best Of" categories "Island Hero" and "Most Powerful Person," and ended up a handful of votes ahead of South Island County Councilman Bob Jacobson in the "Best Politician" category. Jacobson was last year's winner of the "Island Hero" voting.
Kim's trifecta win this year was based
on voting which ended at the end of April and the totals were tabulated in mid-May. In late May, Kim suffered a slight heart attack while on the job, an incident that had much of the island anxious. But he returned to work only a few days later, while acknowledging that the heart incident was something to pay attention to.
Kim, 65, is an unusual politician; personable, polite, even humble, he attends most events attired in blue jeans and short-sleeve shirts, and he has the knack of convincing listeners of his sincerity and wisdom
when speaking bluntly about controversial issues or unpopular actions of his office or administration.
Another of the mayor's obvious attributes has been his ability to put together a cabinet of administrators that clearly is top-drawer, public servants who both work together and seem to understand they have been given an opportunity to make a positive difference, not simply fill a well-paying post.
In fact, when informed of his three-category win in the Journal polling, Kim's first response was: "I can't wait to tell the staff, the folks who really make the difference, about this." He praised a number of county department heads and other county employees for their effectiveness and commitment.
"They're the ones who make me look good to the people who continue to support me," Kim said, "Without them, well, no way …"
Kim was last year's winner of the Best Island Politician category.

Best Radio Personality
Kahikina
Tommy Ching was once the "Polynesian Pirate," playing alternative rock on the erstwhile and lamented K-Hawaii. He has segued nicely into afternoons at contemporary island radio KAPA-FM as "Kahikina," as both are basically the same persona with different music formats. Ching has turned being local into an art form over the local airwaves. He mixes a relaxed pidgin delivery with locally-produced music, cogent commentary, an irreverent sense of humor and an unwavering commitment to community involvement and connectedness. This is the fourth consecutive year that Ching has won the award and every year he essentially laps the field. It doesn't matter that neither the Pirate nor K-Hawaii is still on the air - Ching still rocks the Big Island's world.

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