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Goodbye Randy, Hello Kylie

Big Island Extension thanks Randy Hamasaki for three decades of service

  • 3 February 2021
  • Author: Mark Berthold
  • Number of views: 3170
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Goodbye Randy, Hello Kylie

1986: The Oprah Winfrey show debuts, the first Goodwill Games are held in Moscow, Halley's Comet buzzes past the Earth, and Randall Hamasaki begins a long career with CTAHR Extension.

Randy, who retires after 34 years of service, “is an old-fashioned Extension agent who made farm visits to vegetable growers in Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island, and knows all his clientele by first names,” says Susan Miyasaka, Interim Hawaiʻi County Administrator. “In addition to vegetables, he worked with tea, blueberries, and olives. He also published prolifically – more than 40 CTAHR Extension papers.” 

Sharon Motomura-Wages, a fellow Extension agent, adds, “Randy will be missed by his peers and clients alike. He really cares about helping people and has built such an amazing rapport with his clientele. In working closely with Randy, I know what a great listener he is, and how he really understands the challenges that farmers face, whether agricultural, social, or economic. He did his best to provide them with real-life solutions.”

ʻE Komo Mai, Kylie

Starting in a week is Kylie Tavares, Sustainable Agriculture Agent with the Dept. of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, who is moving from Maui to join the Kamuela Extension Office on Hawaiʻi Island. She will assume responsibilities for edible crops in the Kohala to Honokaa geographic area. 

“Kylie has certainly made her mark with growers on Maui, for her expertise with both sustainable organic growing methods and as our Food Safety Modernization Act 2000 resident expert and educator,” says Cindy Reeves, Maui County Administrator. “She will be missed by her stakeholders and colleagues alike, but we all wish her well in her new position and are very happy she will remain a CTAHR colleague!”

Please wish Kylie a warm welcome. She can be reached at kylielw@hawaii.edu or 887-7626.

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