Aunties With Cell Phones: On The Prowl
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Del.icio.usWatch out, you scoundrels at Waimanalo Beach Park, the aunties are on alert, and this time they’re armed with cellular telephones to report on your bad deeds.
The retired ladies of the Waimanalo Senior Beach Patrol now carry free phones from Hawaiian Telcom to help deter car break-ins at the park while on duty. State Rep. Tommy Waters presented the 10 refurbished phones to patrol leader Margaret Pekelo at the February neighborhood board meeting after she had campaigned for months for extra help.
Often the women spot thefts and possible break-ins, Pekelo said, but can’t call them in to police because the nearest pay phones aren’t working. “None would be working, then the kids were gone already.These phones help a lot, though we haven’t had anything happen yet. Now they see us there with the phones, they know what’s going on.”
Waters took up the cause on Pekelo’s behalf and found a willing donor in Hawaiian Tel. “The burglarizing of vehicles in Waimanalo Beach Park is affecting locals and tourist alike,” he wrote to CEO Michael Ruley last August, “and is a sore spot in the beauty of Waimanalo ... Unfortunately, they had two recent incidents where the public telephone at the campsite was not working, and the kupuna had to run across the street to use a convenience store phone to contact emergency services.”
In their nine years of monitoring the park from the campsite hill, Pekelo’s group has foiled the plans of several youths. “They’re in jail now and not bothering anybody,” she recalled about a 2001 incident with a Japanese visitor.“The boys would go on bikes and hand off the purse to another person. I saw that and I chased them to the bridge. They threw it into the canal with her passport and $12,000 in cash.” (It was recovered, and Pekelo said the grateful victim still writes to her.)
“Nowadays, I just tell my ladies to call 9-1-1 and don’t forget to charge the phone. This is what we do: Be there, watch and try to do good for the community without pay.”
Just one more little thing:“A couple ladies need new hats, because of the bird droppings.”
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