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Annual General Membership Meeting & Members' Lunch

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Following our Bodhi Day Service, we held our Annual General Membership Meeting. The meeting minutes from last year’s meeting were reviewed and accepted. Treasurer Gerald Matsuda reviewed the Treasurer’s Report and President Prudence Kusano shared the President’s Report.

The Officers and Directors for 2020 were announced and confirmed by the board and membership.

President: Prudence Kusano

Immediate Past President: Dennis Tashiro

Vice-President: Cynthia Rodriguez

Secretary: Joyce Nishita

Treasurer: Gerald Matsuda

Auditor: Joy Nishida

Directors: Dana Arakaki, Jean Fukumoto, Keiji Kukino, Allen Kusano, Ryan Miyamoto, Jennifer Kane

Following the general membership meeting, the annual members’ lunch was held at Yen Yen restaurant in Kailua.

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Bodhi Day Service

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We held our Bodhi Day service today, celebrating the enlightenment of Shakyamuni Buddha under the Bodhi tree.. Rev. Bert Sumikawa gave us a special Bodhi Day Dharma Talk. After the service, we enjoyed a sweet rice porridge, just as the Buddha was offered.

Watch Rev. Sumikawa’s Dharma Talk by clicking on the video below.

Sunday Family Service

Today’s Dharma Talk was given by Shirley Yanagisawa. November is a month of showing gratitude. From Veterans’ Day where we thank our military members for their service to Eitaikyo and, at the end of the month, Thanksgiving. Shirley shared what she’s thankful for, including her family, the sangha, being able to travel, and, most recently, the University of Hawaii Wahine volleyball team.

Jean brought emergency water storage bags, which have been provided by several state and local government agencies and are being distributed through Project Dana.

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Eitaikyo Service & Remembrance Day

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Our guest speaker for our Eitaikyo Service was Rev. David Fujimoto. Rev. Fujimoto is the resident minister of Mililani Hongwanji. The Eitaikyo Service is a time to remember all the members who came before us and their many contributions that have allowed us to continue spreading the dharma today.

Watch Rev. Fujimoto’s Eitaikyo Dharma Talk on our YouTube channel below.

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Sunday Family Service & Dharma School

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At today’s family service, in honor of Veterans’ Day, we recognized our military veterans and thanked them for their service. Today we were visited by Mililani Hongwanji Dharma School children and parents. The WBT and Mililani children made stone soup and did crafts together.

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First Sunday Family Service

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Prudence read a story called “A Swim” from the children’s book, “Adventures of Frog and Toad.” The story is one of several stories in the book about the friendship between a frog and a toad. The story Prudence read was fun for the children but also was interesting for the adults.

Today we celebrated November birthdays, but only Rev. Bert was present. Two children celebrated with Rev. Bert as the congregation sang happy birthday.

Our inter generational activity was Thanksgiving card making.

Sunday Family Service & Remembrance Day

Today was a very busy day, starting with our monthly Remembrance Day program. On this day, we remember those who passed away during the month of October of any year by reading their names and offering incense.

Jennifer Kane, who attended this year’s Minister’s Lay Assistant Retreat lead today’s sutra reading. Bob Nishita gave today’s Dharma Talk.

Bob reflected on the importance of learning from the past while looking ahead to the future. Growing up, he remembered playing games and losing — and being a poor sport about it. His father would remind him that losing was something that would happen in life — you have to learn from it and move on.

Following the service, we had a parade of those who came in their Halloween finest and we enjoyed an array of spooky treats.

We held a mini-bazaar featuring 1-day sale pricing on a selection of items. We sold our remaining inventory of fabric cushions, luggage identifiers, and greeting cards, along with freshly baked mango bread, chutney, hand-crafted nenju, and fukubukuro surprise bags.

Finally, several volunteers remained after refreshments to assemble our November newsletter for mailing. Mahalo!

Halloween Costumes & Scary Refreshments

Mini-Bazaar Fundraiser

Newsletter Assembly Line