Big Island Press Club to hold holiday Torch of Light luncheon and silent auction

The Big Island Press Club is holding a special Torch of Light holiday luncheon Dec. 2 that not only honors two outstanding professionals, but also features a silent auction showcasing more than $11,000 in items including staycations at some of West Hawaii’s top resorts, dinners, excursions and more, all to benefit the club’s Scholarship Fund.

Cindy Reves, the Hawai‘i state director for the Journalism Education Association, is being feted with the Torch of Light for her work securing 1st Amendment rights for student journalists.

In addition, the Press Club is presenting a special ʻOʻo Award to Environment Hawai‘i publisher Patricia Tummons, for digging especially deep and unearthing information to create groundbreaking news.

It took two years, but Reves, the local driving force behind a national effort to shield student journalists from censorship and advisers from consequences, was successful in getting House Bill 1848 passed, making Hawai‘i the 16th state to join the student-led grassroots effort, the “New Voices Movement.”

The winner of the first-ever ʻOʻo award is Patricia Tummons, publisher of Environment Hawai‘i.
Tummons, in a series of articles, exposed questionable dealings in Hawai‘i County’s Office of Housing and Community Development that ultimately led to an FBI investigation and guilty plea by former Housing and Community Development employee Alan Scott Rudo to accepting almost $2 million in bribes.

The event at the award-winning Pueo’s Osteria in Waikoloa Village includes a buffet luncheon featuring vegan, chicken and shrimp entrees, as well as soup, salad and dessert. Tickets are $37 for Press Club members and $45 for nonmembers.

Seating is limited and the luncheon is expected to sell out. Ticket deadline is Nov. 28. Purchase them at
https://www.bigislandpressclub.org/collect/description/365061-l-torch-of-light-holiday-luncheon-event-auction-december-2023.

While some of the top items in the silent auction will be available for bidding only at the luncheon – stays at the Four Season Hualalai, the Auberge Mauna Lani Resort and the new Rosewood Kona Village Resort – others can be bid online at https://givebutter.com/c/q8EIOV/auction.