MEDIA RELEASE

Come cheer on your favorite contestants — local chefs and amateurs — at the inaugural Sam Choy’s Keauhou Poke Contest while enjoying a full lineup of culinary activities and entertainment.

Time is 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, March 18 at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort’s Convention Center.

Public admission to all contest activities is $3 at the door (keiki 12-and-under are free) and benefit “The Heart of the Campus-Equip the Kitchens Campaign” for the future Hawaii Community College Palamanui campus.

Free Roberts trolley will operate from Keauhou Shopping Center (pickup near Longs Drugs) from 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Poke critiquing begins 10 a.m. with awards and public tasting at 12:30 p.m. Also on tap is a Hawaii Island Marketplace; a presentation titled “NELHA: a Catalyst for Sustainable Seafood Production” at 10:30 a.m., a Celebrity Poke Cook-off at 11:30 a.m. and a demo on “How to Make Poke by Sam Choy” at 1:30 p.m.

Headlining the entertainment lineup is The ROOKI’s: Don Kaulia on slack key, Russell Paio on guitar, Keola Grace on electric bass and Pomaikai Brown on a “frypan” steel guitar. The Hawaiian group’s name is an acronym for the Royal Order of Kamehameha I.

Sam Choy’s Keauhou Poke Contest is part of Keauhou Resort’s annual Kamehameha III celebration March 16-18 that commemorates the Keauhou-born king, Lani Kauikeaouli.

The contest is sponsored by Kamehameha Investment Corporation, Kamehameha Schools, the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort Spa, Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai, Aloha Shoyu and Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company.