Along the Trail
The Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club Newsletter
October - November - December 2005
A LIVING TREASURE LEAVES US THELMA FRANCES GREIG 1914 - 2005
Thelma Frances Greig, a living treasure of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, passed away quietly on Saturday, August 6, 2005, at her home on Harding Avenue. She was a member of the club for FIFTY years, and a generous contributor of her many talents. Known as a professional photographer, she took many pictures of club members and the scenery and plants along our trails. Thelma was also an artist, and she created the club logo, an outline drawing of Mount Olomana, which appears on our stationery, patches, quarterly schedule, newsletter, and T-shirts.Thelma was born and raised in Honolulu, the oldest of three girls. She lived her entire life in Kaimuki except for a couple of years on Kauai as a young bride and mother. She had one daughter who gave her three grand- children. A professional photographer who learned the trade in the studio, for many years she photographed new babies at Queens Hospital. Later, she set up her own studio at home and took individual and family pictures.
A tribute service, a celebration of her life, was held at the HTMC Clubhouse on Saturday, August 13, 2005. Fifty family, friends and club members attended and about half of them shared memories of their times spent with Thelma. Afterwards, a small group went to Oahu Cemetery where Thelma was interred.
Thelma had a spirit and youthful mind that fired her with wonder and amazement and burned brightly all her life. When someone like Thelma becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.
Joyce Oka
TRIBUTE FROM JOYCE OKA
I have lost a friend and it has left a big hole in my life and in my heart. It is hard to put into words all that Thelma meant to me. She was a best friend, a peer, a mentor, family, and during the last ten years, she was a mother figure for me.
Thelma was always ready to go on an outing; it delighted her to go for a ride. As we rode along Kalanianaole Highway to Hawaii Kai, her gaze inevitably went up to the hills and her eyes sparkled with the delight of a five-year old as she looked at the mountain tops. She had memories of being on the tops of those hills, hiking and taking pictures. So she invariably checked out the weather on the mountain tops. She had a favorite beach, Kawaikui Beach, which she never tired of visiting, and her last outings were to this beach. She captured the many moods and uses of the beach park and created a book of photographs of the people and functions she caught on film.
Thelma was a life-long artist and dabbled in many creative arts. I once asked which of her talents she thought was her best and she said "drawing". She came into her true artistic self in her late 70's and early 80's when she provided the illustrations of the book created with Bea Krauss on native Hawaiian Plants in Hawaiian Culture. She took pictures of plants and trees and made many drawings of Hawaiian artifacts, which illustrated the book. She also contributed photos and drawings for a book document-ing houses and history of residents of Manoa valley. The book's title is, Manoa the Story of a Valley. She was particularly proud to be working on these two projects with Bea Krauss whom she admired.
Browsing through Thelma's library boggles the beholder. As evidence of her boundless interests, she had an extensive collection of books on art around the world, all aspects of photography from its beginning, and including all prominent photographers and their works. She had many books on Hawaiiana, on the South Pacific, and on the subject of women coming into their own. She did not read many novels, but was an avid reader of the daily newspaper and clipped articles which she filed away for later use. She subscribed to many magazines on subjects from photography to Scientific American which she particularly enjoyed.
She had shelves of books on different crafts. She was interested in learning about every one of them and wanted to try them all. They ranged from doll making, to sculpting, design of fabrics, stained glass, bookbinding, folk designs, drawing, and paper making. A lasting interest for her was bookbinding, in which she tried many unique techniques, attending classes to learn them. She would visit the stores and look at an item, not with the intention of buying it, but with curiosity as to how it was made, and how she could duplicate it. Then she would go home and do just that, putting her own mark on it.
Thelma once told me that she was proud of the fact that she had a new idea every day to make or create something. Her house was evidence of this creativity. Many projects were unfinished, and no wonder, because many of them would take more than a day to complete.
She was the original single parent mother and raised her daughter alone from the early 1940's. In 1957, she managed to acquire real estate on her own, the home she lived in for over sixty-five years.
Thelma was also the original recycler. She found a use for virtually everything that came into her gate. Most of it she brought in herself. And she recruited her friends who brought by leaves, clothes or other items they thought she would like. She found a use for all of them, though sometimes the ideas stayed in her head and she didn't carry them out. Of course, having a compost pile fit right in with her recycling ideas. She once told me how "generous" a particular dumpster had been to her in providing treasures she displayed in her yard, her patio and in the house. Thus, her home became decorated in what I call recyclobilia. And it was not unusual to find a stiff bird or other specimen in a baggie in the freezer of her refrigerator. No doubt, she had plans to draw it or photograph it.
Thelma created a virtual jungle out of her small lot, and planted many palms and bromeliads for which she had a particular affinity. Her "jungle" earned her a reput-ation in the community and her garden was featured in an article in the newspaper.
She enjoyed experiencing all that Honolulu had to offer, going for lunch in Waikiki (especially at the Hau Tree Lanai), theater productions at Kennedy Theater, Manoa Valley Theater, as well as Diamond Head Theater, where she had season tickets for a long time. She also enjoyed the summer concerts at the zoo.
Thelma was the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club to me. I met her in 1969, shortly after I joined the club. She was Thelma Smith then, and very active. She served in various officer positions, and, in 1975, became the first female President of the club. She left a legacy to us which cannot be duplicated. She created our logo and found many uses for it, and was the first to design and screen print t-shirts for the club. She promoted the club so that membership increased, and welcomed the Sierra Club. She enhanced the clubhouse inside and out with landscaping ideas and plants, even designed the barbecue. She encouraged all the uses of the clubhouse which we enjoy today. She provided numerous entertainment programs.Thelma was a joiner and belonged to many organizations, societies and clubs. And for every organization, she was not content to be a name on the roster. She was a real contributor, innovative and productive for each, providing ideas and working on functions. She served as President of several organizations. She was never content with something as she found it and always wanted to change or improve it. This came home to me clearly when she was in the day program at Leahi Hospital. She was not happy with one of their craft activities and had an idea how to do it better.
I lived at her house for a little over a year. I treasure the outings we shared to orchid shows, state fairs, plant sales, and hikes into Koko Crater dry arboretum, in Kaimuki to photograph shower trees in blossom, along Maunawili trail, Koko Crater on New Year's Day, etc. etc. etc.
Once, when I was taking Thelma to the day program at Leahi Hospital, I had just struggled getting her wheelchair into the car when I got in and said, "Life's no picnic is it?" She looked at me and said, "Maybe not to you, but it is a picnic." To her life was a picnic to be relished and enjoyed. Let the picnic continue.
FAREWELL, THELMAJohn Hall
In August, HTMC lost another old-time member, Thelma Grieg. When I joined the Club in the Fall of 1962, Thelma was one of the most active and vital members in the organization. When I first met her, she was Thelma Smith, married to an amiable, if feckless, hiker named Charlie Smith. After Charlie disappeared she married Bill Grieg, a non-hiker, but a steadier person. Over the years she led hikes, served on the Board of Directors and seemed to be permanent secretary to the Board, taking the minutes of every meeting and laboriously reading them back to us at the beginning of the next. She was the first woman to be Club President, a role she filled from 1975 to 1977. Thelma ran the Schedule Committee, hosting it for many years in her home. She oversaw the printing and distribution of the schedules. She organized pot-lucks and slide shows, and helped cook Thanksgiving dinners at the clubhouse. In short, whatever needed to be done, whatever no one else wanted to do, Thelma was there. She was one of those people, like Mabel Kekina or Steve Brown, that makes one wonder, "Whatever are we going to do when they leave us?"
Thelma was a professional artist with an emphasis on photography. She spent seven days a week in Queen's Hospital, taking pictures of newborn babies. She would rush home and develop the pictures and take the proofs back to the hospital the next day to show the new parents. If they liked them, she would make copies to sell to them.
Thelma produced the photography for the well-known book, Plants in Hawaiian Culture, written by her friend, Beatrice Krauss, and drew the illustrations in the book as well, studying artifacts in the Bishop Museum in order to make them accurate. This was not the only book that she helped to illustrate. She also produced a series of note cards, with a picture of the HTMC clubhouse on them that she had drawn herself, for sale to members as a fund raiser for the club..
Thelma also designed and sewed the packets that hike coordinators carry, with pockets for sign-up sheets, schedules, informative pamphlets, and pens. These are numbered, and I was flattered to be given number 1. She also took a series of portraits of our two children as they grew, pictures that we will always treasure.
The most famous hike that Thelma led, as far as I can recall, was the "Great Tuna Fish Ordeal." She was leading a hike for half a dozen members or so, in some little-explored corner of the island - Pu'u Manamana, I suspect. The trails were uncleared, rough, and very obscure in those days, and the group took a longer than expected and ended up perched on a high, narrow, rocky wall, just as it was getting dark. They sensibly decided it would be best to stay where they were and wait for daylight. To avoid falling if they fell asleep, they tied themselves to trees.After a long, hard day, everyone was famished. Lunch had been hours ago, and only a few crumbs remained to share. Someone, however, had an unopened can of tuna fish, opened it, and passed it forward to share with the group. Unfortunately, one of the party fumbled, and the can fell down the cliff, lodging on a ledge, just out of reach, ten feet or so below the group. For the rest of the night, the hikers huddled on their narrow ridge, shivering, starving, and smelling the delectable fragrance of unobtainable tuna!
I always think it is rather ironic that although we have erected memorial plaques to some of our members on our trails, we have not done so for old-timers who have contributed so much to the Club, such as Thelma, Dick Davis and others. I doubt if it much matters, though. I can just hear Thelma, who could be quite a curmudgeon at times, saying with a sniff, "What would I want a plaque for?"
Goodbye Thelma! You live on in our memories and in the many photographs and works of art and craft that you leave behind.
OTHER TRIBUTES:
Thelma "spoon fed" me on my first hike with HTMC. It was Aiea ridge led by Leonard Doucette. On the way down from the top I was hurting and slow. Thelma and Mary Gaber stayed with me all the way down. I felt Thelma was like a mother to all of us hikers.
Charlotte Yamane
Thelma was such a unique person, full of creativity and joy of life. I've been fortunate to have known her. We shared a birthday although decades apart. I first met her while sharing a ride in late 1973. Since then, we've shared many a hike and many a meeting.
She loved the club, worked hard to keep it active and moving forward. She created awards to honor the workers, the hike leaders, committee chairs and trail clearers, all out of the goodness of her heart.
She was a creative force, with uncounted projects of arts and crafts, book bindings, bronze castings, and whimsical objects from pure jetsam. She loved photography and we shared many moments discussing our mutual passion.
To me, she was the "mother" of HTM, a moving force, a respected elder, an avid hiker.I doubt we will see the likes of her again for a long, long time. Crusty, opinionated, ever creative. I certainly will miss her and our birthday celebrations together.Jim Yuen
Memories, memories, memories! Thank you for the many wonderful memories, Thelma.
Love, Bonnie Kolsom
Thelma helped me start hiking in 1968. She loaned me boots and a backpack and encouraged me. Without her friendship and help how different my life might have been.
Gay Conklin
Thelma was the HTMC member who encouraged me and stayed with me when I first started hiking back in 1972. She loved having my kids come along on hikes and she taught me so many things about the trails. Once I learned that my feet could take care of themselves, I enjoyed looking around and asking about everything. She was there to teach me and keep me going. I also remember her camera. She took photos of me and my children with a Hassleblad, or something like that. She was a great inspiration to me to learn more about Hawaii's natural environment. All of us will miss her.
Annette Kaohelaulii
A TRIBUTE TO A LITTLE BALL OF DYNAMITE
Let's build a stone wall
--I'll get the stones---Thelma Greig
Let's climb a mountain
--I'll show you where---Thelma Greig
Let's write a book about plants
--I'll take pictures-Thelma Greig
Let's check out that dumpster
--me first---Thelma Greig
Let's speak Hawaiian
--I'll teach you---Thelma Greig
Let's have a bar-b-q
--I'll cook---Thelma Greig
Let's build a tropical garden
--I'll show you how ---Thelma Greig
How to make a Canadian feel
--loved and at home in Hawaii
---Thelma Frances GreigBarry Beazley, cousin of Thelma
IMPORTANT NOTICE
SPECIAL GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGThe Board of Directors is calling a Special Meeting of the General Membership on the evening of 12 November, which coincides with a potluck dinner and slide show being held that same evening. The meeting will convene after dinner, at approx 6:30 pm. The reason for this meeting is to vote on two motions, which if passed, will enable your Board to proceed with repairing and renovating the Clubhouse. At the last Annual Membership meeting, renovation of the Clubhouse was approved by the Membership, but we neglected to vote on funding the work, so the Board has been hampered in proceeding. The following two motions will be presented to help rectify that:
Motion #1. That the Board of Directors be authorized to repair/replace the Clubhouse roof, at a cost not to exceed $25,000 from the Replacement Fund.
Motion #2. That the Board of Directors be authorized to proceed with Clubhouse Renovation planning and design work, at a cost not to exceed $10,000 from the Replacement Fund.
Just to bring you up to date, here is a progress report on another Clubhouse project. At the last Annual Meeting the membership also approved replacing our cesspool with a new septic system, and funded that work (up to $25,000) from the Replacement Fund. The Board has hired a civil engineer who has done a soil perk test and drawn plans for our system (at a cost of $1,100). When the plans are approved by the Health Dept, we will put the work out to bid (anticipated to be in the $6,000 to $10,000 range), and commence the installation. That should put an end to the Porta-pottie! Please try to attend the Special Meeting, and cast your vote, so that we can begin the NEXT project.
Mike Algiers, President of the Board.
HIKERS THANK HTMC TRAIL CREW!
Thea FerentinosThis Spring, HTM hiker Jean Tsukamoto spearheaded an impromptu and hugely successful donation drive for Mabel Kekina and the HTM Trail Clearers. The campaign culminated in a surprise presentation to Mabel at April's potluck/slide show.
Jean's original idea to donate ice cream for the annual volunteer appreciation day snowballed into a word-of-mouth and email campaign that brought in $800 in donations, with contributors coming from at least four island hiking groups (HTMC, Sierra Club, Solemates and New Hope Hiking Ministry). Besides the monetary donation, gifts presented at the slide show included a GPS and three sets of radios from Dan Harmon, a handcrafted ceramic platter from Rita Albina, a planter graced with Albert Lowe's artwork, and Jean's home-baked pan-sized cookies emblazoned with "We Love You Mabel" and "We Appreciate Trail Clearers" (consumed the very next day at the crew's post-trail-clearing feast).
Mahalo nui to Jean, and all who contributed. And thanks to Mabel and her crew for their amazing efforts of maintaining Oahu's trails like no one else.
CLUBHOUSE RESIDENT VACANCIES
Clubhouse residents are club members who are approved to reside at the clubhouse for extended periods beyond the usual seven?day visitor limit each month. These residents perform the important role of providing security and tend to other routine duties affecting the day to day operation of the Clubhouse.
There is an on?going need for residents, so if you are interested please contact Tom Mendes, our clubhouse committee chairman, at tjmendes@ hawaii.rr.com or call him at 259-8668.
MANOA FALLS TRAIL RESTORATION
The Sierra Club is seeking volunteers to assist with a restoration project spreading gravel on the Manoa Falls Trail. The next dates are Saturday, October 1 and Sunday October 23. If you would like to help on one of these, or at a later date, please call Randy Ching [942-0145] or Ed Mersino [455-8193].
Renew your membership for 2005!Annual dues are $20, additional family member dues are $10, and for $400, you can be a life time member. Please make your checks payable to HTMC and mail to HTMC, PO Box 2238, Honolulu, HI 96804. An envelope is enclosed for your convenience. Renewals are due by March 1, 2005.
NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS
ALONG THE TRAIL is a quarterly publication of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club designed to inform the membership of club activities and matters of interest to the hiking community. HTMC members and any other interested parties are welcome to submit articles to ALONG THE TRAIL. Submissions must be received by the 5th day of March, June, September, and December in order to appear in the newsletter pub-lished for the following quarter, and may be sent in any of the following ways (email preferred):
email: richard27@hawaii.rr.com
FAX: 293-2554
Phone: 293-2554
Mail: Richard McMahon
57-531 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731
Bookmark The HTMC Web Page http://geocities.com/htmclub - or - http://aditl.com/htmc/
Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club
P.O. Box 2238
Honolulu, HI 96804
Clubhouse: 41-023 Puuone St
Waimanalo, HI 96795
Phone: 259-5443
Comments may be sent to HTMC Newsletter Editor
orhtmc (at) aditl (dot) com
