SPORTS & LEISURE Runner-Up: Makena (Big Beach) BEST LOCAL AMATEUR SURFER Albee Layer In 2005 and 2006, Haiku’s Albee Layer—or Alfred L. Layer IV if you want to get technical—was featured in the surf flicks Kids Who Rip and Kids Who Rip, Volume 3. He’s not a kid anymore (he turned 18 last June) but he still rips. In fact, he just keeps ripping harder, riding his way to the front of a crowded field of Maui up-andcomers. To quote surferhot100.com, which keeps tabs on the world’s best young surfers: “In this day and age, where you have to be rounded to be successful, Albee’s mix of futuristic grabs and airs coupled with his ability to drop into anything will keep his name relevant years to come.” @jacobshafer Runner-Up: Matt Meola BEST LOCAL GROM piling up awards and accolades. The son of Kazuma Surfboards owner and surfing coach Matt Kinoshita, Chaz has blossomed under his father’s tutelage. In May, he won the Boy’s Open division of the Neil Pride HASA competition at Hookipa and, per Punker Pat’s Surf Blog over at rvca.com, got “his feet wet” at Jaws this winter. The only thing bigger than those waves may be what’s in store for this preternaturally gifted grom. @jacobshafer Runner-Up: Justice Patao Chaz Kinoshita This is the second straight year Chaz has won this category, and while he won’t stay young enough to qualify for much longer, it’s safe to assume he’ll keep Best Playground Giggle Hill An adult critiquing a playground is kind of like a cat delivering the surf report. It simply wasn’t made for us. So I’ll turn to my three-year-old son, who, when asked what playground he wants to visit, invariably chooses “the wooden one.” What he means—and what he’d say if he were a stiff-kneed grownup incapable of enjoying the pleasures of a twisty slide— is the 4th Marine Division Memorial Playground at Giggle Hill. (Really, “the wooden playground” is much less cumbersome, and more descriptive.) By any name, it’s a great spot, cooled by Haiku breezes, surrounded by open green fields and covered picnic tables ideal for birthdays and other kiddie occasions, and, most essentially, boasting a ton of quality play equipment, tailored for everyone from timid toddlers to rambunctious elementary schoolers. Adults are the ones who voted this the winner, but it’s the kids who’ve truly spoken. @jacobshafer Runner-Up Where Your Adventure Begins! JLEJ G@:E@:ÛJEFIB