OKAGE SAMA DE THE 10 TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NVMC EDUCATION CENTER

BECAUSE OF YOU I AM...

The NVMC Education Center will celebrate its 10th anniversary this April.

If it feels like the center has been around for longer than a decade, that’s because it has. Much longer, in fact. Although it opened in April 2013, the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation more than 20 years earlier, in 1991. Its roots extend even further, to 1981, when Leonard Oka founded Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans to preserve and perpetuate the legacy of the veterans.

Together with Maui Nisei veterans groups and individuals, the Sons and Daughters pursued the seemingly impossible dream of establishing a repository and education center: a living memorial to the World War II heroes. As Leonard told The Hawaii Herald in 2014,

“It’s been a long journey. It’s something I feel good about – not to brag about. I always think to myself that the veterans, that generation, proved themselves. What did our generation do?... So if I can say my contribution is that I helped the veterans’ story to continue, then that’s it.”

Indeed, from the day its doors opened 10 years ago, the Education Center has shared that story and ensured its perpetuity. Every program, exhibit, and event presented at the center is in keeping with the NVMC mission of igniting human potential by inspiring people to find the hero in themselves through the legacy of the Nisei Veterans. This year’s upcoming offerings are no exception.

In commemoration of the auspicious anniversary, archivist Melanie Agrabante and volunteers Kyle Watanabe, Charlene Doi, and Irene Bodden are curating an exhibit which will highlight the center’s many achievements and activities. Over the past decade, the NVMC has hosted a dozen or so exhibitions and countless presentations, both on campus and out in the community. The 10th anniversary display will open in early April, for two months.

On Saturday, April 15, artist Kirk Kurokawa will be the featured speaker of the month. “This will finally allow us to properly acknowledge the work he did on our mural,” says NVMC executive director Deidre Tegarden. “When he finished it, we were supposed to have an event, but COVID hit the weekend prior, so we had to cancel everything.”

The third weekend of each month will feature either a guest speaker, a workshop, or a “Yakamashii!” talk story session. Attendees (both in-person and virtual) can look forward to ikebana and rock wrapping workshops, several Afternoons with the Author, and guest speakers including Dr. Duncan Ryuken Williams (see “Ireicho” article on page 10) and “Yakamashii!” guests Uluwehi Guerrero and Eric Gilliom.