Hawaii Police Commemorative Fund Tourney to be held 04-15-02

HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
DETECTIVE GREG ESTEBAN
PHONE: 961-2384
APRIL 15, 2002

MEDIA RELEASE

Members of the Hawaii County Police Department and their families and friends are planning the 12th annual Hawaii Police Commemorative Fund Tournament, scheduled for May 17-19, 2002, at the Carvalho Park Sports Complex in Hilo.

The three-day, multi-sport event is a fundraising tournament with portions of the proceeds generated going towards scholarships at both the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Hawaii Community College in memory of Hawaii County police officers killed in the line of duty.

The tournament was started following the death of Officer Ronald “Shige” Jitchaku, who was killed on May 7, 1990, while attempting to break up a large brawl on Banyan Drive in Hilo.

The Shige 5K Run and 1.5 Mile Walk, which has been a dedicated event of the tournament since 1994, will not be held this year. This is due to a conflict with the Big Island Marathon, scheduled for the same weekend as the tournament. Race directors hope to be able to revive the run next year.

Other events include the “Manuel Cadinha Memorial Softball Tournament,” which will be held in memory of Officer Manuel Cadinha, who was killed in while making an arrest of a combative male in 1918. The softball tournament was formerly held in memory of Officer Kenneth Keliipio and co-coordinated by Officer Keone Rodrigues, who is the great grandson of the late Officer Cadinha. Event coordinators felt it was fitting to have the softball tournament held in memory of Officer Rodrigues’ great-grandfather. This year’s softball tournament will start at the Carvalho Park field on Friday and will move to the Pepeekeo Field for the remaining two days.

A new event for this year’s tournament will be the co-ed softball tournament, which will now be known as the “Kenneth K. Keliipio Memorial Co-ed Softball Tournament,” named in memory of Officer Kenneth Keliipio, a South Hilo Patrol officer who was killed in a motor vehicle collision while assisting a stranded motorist in 1997. The tournament will be held at the Carvalho Park field during the weekend (May 18-19).

Also, the “Daison ‘Froggie’ Morita Mixed Volleyball Tournament” was established in memory of Daison Morita, an airport firefighter who was killed in a motor vehicle collision in 1998. Morita had been actively involved in every facet of the tournament since its inception in 1990. The volleyball event will be held during the weekend at the Carvalho Park gymnasium.

In addition, a basketball tournament is also scheduled for the same weekend, also at the Carvalho Park gym, as part of the three-day event

Finally, a golf tournament will be held Sunday, May 19, at the Banyan Golf Course.

Two scholarships have been established at the University of Hawaii’s Administration of Justice program in memory of Officers Jitchaku and Keliipio.

Two other scholarships have also been established in memory of both officers at the Hawaii Community College, Administration of Justice program.

A total of $13,600 generated from the annual tournament has thus far been donated towards the scholarships.

Other proceeds will go toward the construction of a memorial monument to honor fallen officers who have been killed in the line of duty.

Tournament T-shirts will be available for sale at Carvalho Park during the weekend event.

Teams or individuals wanting more information about this community event, which is open to the public, are asked to contact the following event coordinators: