North Shore Chamber of Commerce officially moved in, sets sights on the future

HALEIWA—The North Shore Chamber of Commerce installed its new board of directors earlier this month at the NSCC’s grand opening and installation dinner. The event, which announced the NSCC’s new board of directors for 2010-2011, also celebrated the chamber’s settlement into its permanent home in a historic Haleiwa plantation house that had been donated to the NSCC in 2006.

“We have 15 people on the board, and a third of them are up for re-election each year,” said executive director Antya Miller.

The board of directors is made up of local business owners who are also members of the chamber.

“The way it works is, the (NSCC) members elect the directors, and the directors elected the leaders. That’s the way it generally works with non-profit organizations,” she said.

The dinner, which according to Miller was mainly to honor the volunteers that helped with the long process of obtaining and refurbishing the plantation home built in 1924, featured pupus and no-host cocktails in the Chamber Building followed by dinner in the gym.

Miller described the night as, “A great event and a really good time.”

The NSCC, which has approximately 199 members ranging from an ice cream vendor on wheels to large corporations like Monsanto, was temporarily housed in an office inside of the Waialua Community Association building, locally known as the “old gym,” and is now settled in next door to the gym.

The Chamber will offer business services including printing, faxing and Internet access. The NSCC will be open from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday with hours being expanded once volunteers are trained and active.

The Chamber’s future plans include historical tours of Haleiwa, Waialua, as well as local temples and graveyards. According to the NSCC, the tours are currently being organized and will be up and running by the end of July.

The NSCC was formed in 1981. The chamber is known also as Haleiwa Main Street. The NSCC’s mission is to promote, maintain, and encourage the historic, cultural, civic, and economic welfare of the North Shore district through research, education, and advocacy. A private non-profit corporation, the NSCC has completed several projects including negotiating the bypass design in 1995, raising money to restore the Waialua Courthouse, campaigning to repair and repaint the bridge in 1993, and raising to install the three surfer Haleiwa Town signs on the bypass.

The NSCC’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 8 at 7:00 p.m. at the Waimea Valley Pikaki Pavilion.

For more information, visit http://www.gonorthshore.org.

Board members

Chair
Susan Matsushima, Alluvion

Vice Chair
Bill Martin, Island X Hawaii

Recording Secretary
Karen Campbell, Waialua Soda Works

Corresponding Secretary
Marianne Abrigo, Marianne Abrigo Properties

Treasurer
Susan Lau, First Hawaiian Bank

Past Chair
Josh Heimowitz, YMCA Camp Erdman

Haleiwa Main Street Program Chair
Kalani Fronda, Kamehameha Schools

Executive Committee Member
Ed D’Ascoli, Xcel Wetsuits

Legal Affairs
Paul Saccoccio, Saccoccio & Lopez

Fundraising Committee Advisor
Chet Naylor, Waimea Falls Grill & Sharks Cove Grill

Director
Bob Boyle, Turtle Bay Resort

Director
Jane Duncan, Patagonia

Visitor Center Chair
Carolyne Lazar, Coffee Gallery

Infrastructure Chair
John E. Moore, Strong Current & Grass Skirt Grill

Public Relations Chair
Will Schoettle, Haleiwa Town Center

Staff

Executive Director
Antya Miller

Bookkeeper
Wendy Wingate

Photographer
Trish Coder