Member of Windward YMCA Tai Chi
At first glance, you’d never guess Annette Kaohelaulii is someone to be reckoned with. The octogenarian’s portable oxygen tank slows her down a little and prevents her from doing the more complicated tai chi sword style. However, it does not stop her from volunteering for phone duty during Hawaii Public Radio’s fund drives, or driving all over the island for bird-watching or protesting at the Capitol.
"Gotta keep the parts and pieces moving around!"
Growing up on a Washington state apple orchard, Annette knows the importance of teamwork, hard work, and taking care of the land. From the time her legs were long enough to reach the pedals (about ten years old), Annette drove a tractor for her father through the orchard. Then, when she was old enough to work in the orchard, she hoisted 16-foot ladders to thin the apples in the summers.
A few years later at Wenatchee Valley College, she met and married former Iolani High School football player John Kaohelaulii. Their two children now reside in Anahola on Kauai, where her son and his wife own Sole Mates 808, and her daughter manages a tourist store, both in Kapaa.
Before making her way to tai chi, Annette was a founding member of Hawaii Ecotourism Association (later Sustainable Tourism Association of Hawaii) and led bird-watching tours here in Hawaii and to Alaska to see the kolea in their breeding grounds. Now she prefers to emphasize preserving and protecting the `aina. She continues to take friends out bird-watching and protest marching.
Pneumonia only temporarily stalled her efforts to become a seated tai chi instructor. She knows several people interested in tai chi but who are unable to stand for long. "Tai chi gives me something to look forward to several times a week," she said. "It keeps you moving around and gives you a reason to get up in the morning."
Annette enjoys people and is always up for a good conversation. Next time you see her, maybe she’ll tell you her favorite apple and how to choose them at the market, or her favorite two birds to seek out. She might even demonstrate her best protest slogan.
By Wendi Lau