Mahalo, everyone, for making the
2009 Maui Whale Festival a success!

Pacific Whale Foundation wraps up yet another Maui Whale Festival. This year's events were extremely successful, drawing record-breaking crowds and raising funds to support marine education programs for Maui schoolchildren.

A huge mahalo must go out to all the Pacific Whale Foundation employees who worked so hard to organize different aspects of the event, and to make sure everything ran smoothly on Whale Day. These include (but are certainly not limited to): Diana Bergantino, Dixie Bongolan, and Patrick Merrill for running the food booth; Andrea Thomas, Steve Rawson, and Ben Ward for all their help with the BBQ; Blake Moore and Andrea Peltzer for coordinating the smoothie booth; Dixie Bongolan, Paul Skarbo, Joyce Bergantino, Violet Ahlstrom, Erin Donahue, Andrea Peltzer and all who ran the scrip booths; Robyn Dobruck for running the Silent Auction; Brooke Porter for coordinating the craft fair and the Curtain of Whales (and the Run for the Whales); Kelly Vough and Dale Stewart for coordinating the volunteers and Whale Regatta (and thanks to Bob Vough for helping to run the Whale Regatta as well!); Merrill Kaufman and Erica Cushing for running the Keiki Carnival and Keiki Whale-a-thon; Maile Bongolan and Helena Kim for providing all the signs, flyers, and banners; June Freiwald and the awesome retail team for the retail booth; Tony Rivera and reservations for running the Eco-Adventures booth; Quincy Gibson, Annie Macie and Amanda Hutsel for your research display and staffing the Pacific Whale Foundation tent; Anne Rillero for handling all marketing aspects of Whale Day; Jessica Niles and Blake Moore for organizing and launching the Parade of Whales (and Jessica for helping with the craft fair and eco-alley); Brock Munson for creating a fantastic website and helping out throughout the day, John Coppola and David Crist for ensuring that all of our computer systems were working and for doing such a great job with everything that was asked of you, and Bob Ray, RJ and Brian Dobruck and the maintenance crew for keeping everything moving and organized and for stage managing; and Greg Kaufman for emceeing and filming.Everyone who managed any aspect of Whale Day deserves thanks and praise for their hard-work and ingenuity.

We must also acknowledge the generous efforts of the many volunteers who worked so hard on Whale Day. Some were first-timers, while others have participated many years running, and all were absolutely invaluable.

Most importantly, a huge thank you and congratulations go out to Whale Day Coordinator Ashley Justice, who stepped in at the beginning of January to pull it all together. We applaud Ashley for her endless patience, great organization, and persistence.

Big Mahalo to our 2009 Sponsors!

A Huge Mahalo
Expedia Local Expert • County of Maui Dept. of Maui Parks and Recreation • Maui Electric Company • KAOI Radio Group • DHX • Cummins West • Mana Foods • Kihei Ice • Maui Printing Company • Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures • Servco Foundation • This Week Maui Magazine • Alan Harris • Bev Tech • Coconuts Catering • Four Seasons Resort • The Gecko Group • Goodfellow Brothers • Hanzawa Store • Honolulu Freight Service • Kaiser Permanente • KPOA Radio • Maui Elite Gymnastics • Maui Flavors Catering • Maui Oil Company • Kihei Rent a Car • Maui Cattle Company • Maui Ocean Center • Maui Oma Coffee • Maui Soda and Ice Works • Maui Ukulele & Gift Corp. • Maui Weekly • Polyadventure Tours • Spectracolor Printing • Spotlight Hawaii/Maui Gold Magazine • Styrophobia • The Maui Closet Company • Tropical Seas Sunscreen • Wailea Golf Club

Thanks to Our Run for the Whales Sponsors
Valley Isle Road Runners • Fairmont Kea Lani Resort • Coconuts Catering • Odwalla • Beach Buff Sunscreen • Styrophobia • Tropic Water • Expedia Local Expert • Runner’s World Magazine • Goodfellow Brothers • Makawao School of Massage • Rudy Huber

Mahalo to our Whale Day Food Booth Sponsors
Spago • Shaka Pizza • Ma'alaea Grill • Beach Bums • Maui Kazowie • Real Fruit Ice Cream Hawaii • Maui Thai Cuisine • Alexander’s Fish & Chips • Tiki Lounge • Bruddah Willie’s BBQ • Hawaii Board Riders Youth Academy • Horizon’s Academy

Thank You to the Silent Auction Donors
A Piece of Maui • Ace Printing Company Inc. • Angelina's Boutique • Aquarian Audio • Aravalli Hills • Arco Iris Designs • Art By Loyd • Art Cards by Erica • Big Beach Clothing • Blowfish Glass • Blue Hawaiian Helicopters •By Deneen • Celia's Quilts • Ceramic Designs by Albert • Craft/Craftbar/Craftsteak • Davo • Delightful Detours • Douglas Hoffman Maui Photography • Eve Black • Foot Prints in the Sand • Hawaii Ukulele & Gift Corp. • Heart of Maui • Hoa Elua • Inspirations Inc. • Island Designs • Island Spirit Yoga • Isle Dream • Jackie Brainard • JB Creations • Jim’s Prestigious Plauables Josephine's Craft & Souvenirs • Kachi Handmade Jewelry of Maui • Katie’s Crystals • Kihei Rent A Car • Kimble Mead • Liquid Butterfly • Live Aloha • Lotus Rose Imports • Maiden Maui Designs • Makena o Maui Luxury Handmade Soaps • Margaret Carvalho • Marianita E. Ramos • Maui Eco Adventures • Maui No Ka Oi T-shirts • Maui Rainbow Jewelry • Mauimoon • Nalu Koa/Kopahaiku • Na Pua Maui • Oceania Tropics • Pacific Dive Shop • Pacific Jet Sports Kaanapali, Jet Ski Hawaii • Paradise Garden Soaps & Gifts • Pepper’s Performance Eyewear • Purple Lotus Collection • Rock & Vibe Jewelry • Rockmolds.com • S.E.A. Creatures • Shayla Massage • Sidney’s Distributions • SOMOOR Maui Tropical Jams, Jellies Catering & ‘Moor’ • Stani Crystals • Sun Flare Maui • The Jade Tiki • The Maui Closet Company • The Mountain Apple Company • Tropical Moon Trading • Trudy’s Fountain of Youth • Turtle Reef • Usborne Books at Home • Windhorse & Co. • Oceania Tropics • Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures • Spotlights Maui Gold • The Gecko Group • This Week Maui

Mahalo to participating in the 2009 Parade of Whales
Mayor Charmaine Tavares, Grand Marshall • Maui County Councilmembers Jo Anne Johnson and Mike Victorino • Princesses of Whales • Pacific Whale Foundation’s SeaWees • Maui Unicyclist Club with Kula the Klown • Maui Humane Society • Community Work Day • Maui Inline Hockey Association • GEICO • George Kahumoku, Jr. • Smart Start Christian Preschool • Cool Dog Maui • Shaka Divers and the Double Bubble Mermaids • Kihei Youth Center • Maui Equestrian Center • Montessori Hale O Keiki • American Cancer Society • Maui Roller Girls • Dave’s Metal Detecting • U.S. Coast Guard • Hawaiian Airlines • SOS Metals Island Recycling • Valley Isle Fitness • The Posterbirds (Seabury Hall) • Maui Neon • Big Kahuna Adventures • Shifty Sailors • Maui Equestrian Center and others.

We were proud to have our Whale Festival Environmental and Green Living displays
WhaleSong Project • H-Nu Solar • Alii Kula Lavender Farm • State of Hawaii DLNR • Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary • Hawaii Nature Center • Sierra Club • Maui Humane Society • Haleakala National Park • NOAA Marine Mammal Response Team • GMO Free Maui • South Maui Sustainability • Maui Tomorrow/Save Makena • Community Work Day • Rising Sun Solar • Rejuvalux • Kanaha Restoration • Honu Heroes • Tom O’Connor (Chiropractor and Massage) • Maui Ocean Center • Maui Earth Compost • Maui Ocean Center • Hawaii Skylights and Solar • Maui Nui Council

A Special Mahalo to Maui County Police Dept. and Officer Brad Hickle, the staff at the County of Maui
Dept. of Maui Parks and Recreation, and to our many volunteers – and Ashley Justice, Whale Day Coordinator.

Thank you, everyone, for making the 2009 Maui Whale Festival a success!


Please note that Whale Day 2010 will take place on Saturday, February 20. The Run for the Whales will be on Saturday, February 6. If you'd like to help out, please contact Ashley Justice, our Whale Day Coordinator, at ashley@pacificwhale.org.