The island of Kauai was devastated after the 1992 hurricane Iniki. There is a stretch of State Beach located at the end of the road at the Southern end of the Napali Coast.
Locals and tourists use this state beach and enjoy weekend camping getaways and day trips. There are a series of public restrooms on the edge of the beach and 3 small bridges along the dirt road that allow the rainwater from the Napali coast to run to the sea.
During the hurricane all the power lines were knocked out of the restrooms and the bridges & dirt road were destroyed.
The State of Hawaii told the local residents it would cost $2 million and take 1 to 2 years to complete the work.
Rather than waiting, the locals got together and fixed the road, restored power and rebuilt the bridges in 6 weeks and at a cost of $90,000.00. When I was told this story, it reminded me of my hometown, Sunset Beach, CA.
The volunteerism and dedication to community that the residents of Kauai displayed parallels the actions of many members within Sunset Beach – past and present. Caring about what happens to ones neighbors and community are traits that run deep in Sunset Beach’s history.
When Sunset Beach needed fire services, a volunteer fire department was formed by the residents and the fire station lot was paid for by donations from local residents and ladies groups holding fundraising events to provide for Sunset Beach’s needs. Eventually the county paid the volunteers per emergency call and they donated the money back to buy fire boots and coats.
Community fundraising also purchased the community lot. Our primarily volunteer Sanitary District was formed to serve our community and is run so efficiently that it is less expensive than neighboring cities for lesser services.
Sunset Beach residents have traditionally joined efforts to help their neighbors during every storm that has caused flooding or damage throughout the almost 106 year history of Sunset Beach.
Through collaboration of basically five volunteer groups and over a century of volunteerism in Sunset Beach, so much has been accomplished by those past and present that have had the idea that “We can do this.”
Through the decades there have always been a few who stand on the sidelines and find these goals perplexing and unimaginable.
Those with the mindset of “I don’t think…,” have always been encouraged to become better informed and share better ideas or options.
Some Sunset Beach residents roots reach back generations, others who have found their way to this unique community either live here on the path to somewhere else or stay as they get what this place really means to so many. We all bring a vast amount of life and professional experience and with diverse ingenuity; Sunset Beach residents time and time again have proven that whatever we put our minds to, we can get done.
I recently found a document my late father Bill Dodson wrote in 1983 regarding Sunset Beach that still rings true.
“Unlike many incorporated areas, Sunset Beach is not a political vacuum, waiting to be gathered under the sheltering wings of any adjacent city.
The major fact of life in Sunset Beach is the extensive county beach to which our residential street ends afford the greatest incidence of public access in the state. Our little town provides and pays for sanitation for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Our commercial establishments exist primarily to meet visitor –serving needs…
Why, has it been asked, does Sunset Beach so persistently and overwhelmingly oppose annexation?
The residents of Sunset Beach don’t want to become an institutionalized minority in an adjacent city. Our circumstances are different. Our problems and the extent to which they need solution by external intervention are different. Our way of life is different.
We feel we have proven our ability to adjust to progress and urbanization without being inundated by it.
I know of no one now living in Sunset Beach who could not live in Huntington or Seal Beach if he so chose. We want to preserve the way of life that brought each of us to Sunset Beach in the first place.
We have paid our dues financially and in responsible citizenship, so we feel entitled to the measure of local freedom we now enjoy.”
It is important to remember that community involvement of working together, persistently and compassionately is the substance of our history and the focus of our future.
Scot Dodson and his father, the late Bill Dodson, are and were supporters of Sunset Beach’s independent culture. Bill Dodson for many years wrote The Crow’s Nest column for the Journal (now The Sun) Newspaper.
