West Jordan High Schools Girls Volleyball team in the state Championships.
By Seli Moeai
Wishing our "West Jordan High Lady Jags volleyball team" the best at "State". Our little engines that could. You've advanced a long way. Play hard and give it your best shot. Whatever the outcome, you're already winners in our eyes. Pictured seniors: Amanda, Marissa, Arianna Moeai, Maluhia Taula and Cherish Sosi. Pacific Islanders “Running” for Their Lives. Sign up or Mana 5K run/walk now!!
(Salt Lake City, UT) – The most recent Census counted 37,000 Pacific Islanders (PI) in Utah, and while PIs may comprise a small fraction of the state’s population, PI communities are plagued by alarming rates of obesity and diabetes. The Queen Center (QC) Pacific Islander Health Network is hosting the 2nd Annual MANA 5K Fun Run on Saturday, August 23, 2014 to raise awareness of chronic disease and tobacco-related health issues in the PI population and to encourage all community members to participate in a family-centered, friendly physical activity. Check-in and on-site registration will begin at 7:00 AM, and the MANA 5K walk/run will began at 8:00 AM at Riverside Park (739 North 1400 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84104). Registration is free and participants can register online at www.thequeencenter.org/events
The first MANA 5K involved over 100 participants in 2013 and organizers anticipate even greater interest this year. The word mana is a Polynesian word that means “power, strength, spirit, and vitality.” Since founding the MANA Fitness Challenge in 2011, the Queen Center (Pacific Islander Network for Tobacco Prevention and Control) has also coined MANA as an acronym for their community-based health initiative – Movement, Awareness, Nutrition, Action. Interview, Photo, Video Opportunities - PI community members and supporters - Race check-in, bib pinning - 5K participants running, walking, completing the race - Health promotion booths, prize drawings Media Contacts: Laneta Fitisemanu (801) 520 2429 Fui Taukei'aho (801) 529 7978 Jonathan Benjamin malietoa Talavou Fitisemanu graduates from the Salt lake City Police Academy.By Albert Ainuu
Photos by Jake Fitisemanu, Jr. The Salt Lake City, Utah police academy held their Graduation Ceremony recently and one of the greduating Police Officers was Jonathan Benjamin Mālietoa Talavou Fitisemanu. He was one of 13 new police officers with the Salt Lake City Police Department awarded their badges on June 6, 2014. Jonathan served in Iraq with the US Marine Corps and was a former agent with Utah Adult Probation and Parole. He was born in Honolulu, Hawai'i to Jacob Sauaga Fitisemanu Sr. and Karen JunLin Dang Fitisemanu. He is married to Chontae and they have 2 children, Jordyn To'oā and Benjamin Lautaimi. Le Malae congratulates Jonathan for successfully completing the training and becoming one of Salt Lake City's finest. Its encouraging to see our young Samoa men become part of the Police force which is a great way to establish a positive presence within a community. This is where the rubber meets the road in terms of who has authority in a community. The more Samoans in this position the better it is for our people. We at Le Malae encourage more Samoans to follow this path in whatever community they may be. This is what more Samoan young men should do. Enter law enforcement and be on this side of the law. Ose tasi o alo o Samoa ua faamanuiaina lana taumafai ina ua faauuina o ia mai le Academy poo le Aoga o Leoleo i Salt Lake City, Utah, ile aso 6 o Iuni, 2014. O le alo e faasino ia Jacob Sauaga Fitisemanu, Sr. ma si ana faletua o Karen junLin Dang Fitisemanu ua ausia lenei le tulaga o le avea ma leoleo i totonu o lenei a'ai tele i Amerika. O le suafa o lenei alii o Jonathan Benjamin Mālietoa Talavou Fitisemanu.
O Jonathan sa avea ma fitafita tau ile vaega 'au ole US Marines ma sa ia auai ile taua i Iraq. Sa ia avea fo'i ma se tasi o sui ole Utah Adult Probation and Parole ona ia auai atu ai lea i le aoga lenei mo Leoleo ma o lea ua mae'a ai nei lana aoga ma ua avea ai nei o se leoleo i Salt Lake City. O lona faletua o Chontae ma o la alo o Jordyn To'oa ma Benjamin Lautaimi. Faamalo atu i lenei alo ole atunuu mo le ausia o lenei tulaga maualuga i Salt Lake City. Malo lava le tau ata'i. General Conference Weekend is when Salt Lake City is the most entertaining.
Story and Photos by: Seli Moeai The weekend of April 5th and 6th is known to members of the LDS Church as General Conference Weekend. It was when The LDS Church held one of their 2 Annual General Conferences conducted from the Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. The Conference Services are broadcasted and Streamed by the Media via Television, Radio and Internet. Many members of the LDS Faith and nonmembers alike travel to Salt Lake City during these Conferences to attend Services and or visit with family and friends. Conference Services and Meetings held can be seen on BYU Television or LDS.org. During this time of hustle and bustle in Salt Lake City, many organizations and groups hold their own Functions and Activities. Due to the numerous amount of Functions, we have put together a photo collage of the Events of that weekend. APRIL 3rd: AARADHNA AND SAMMY J. CONCERT Some of the Prelude Acts for the night. USO COALITION: Please see their previously published story in Le-Malae.com. ESSEL. TEAM FLEKS: Made a cameo guest appearance. ZEEK. SAMMY J. AARADHNA. APRIL 4th: There 3 dances to choose from this evening. HIGHLAND 8 SAMOAN WARD SCOUT fundraiser dance. HERITAGE 11 WARD dance. CCWS ALUMNI DANCE. Samoans were everywhere that weekend and it was a great time to mingle and meet long lost family relatives and friends as many were traveling from all over the USA and else where to be in SLC during this time. Remeber if you want to have a good time in Salt lake City make sure you come during General Conference weekend because thats when the most events are happening. There are 2 General Conferences each year, the first weeks of April and October. So next October be in SLC if you want to party.
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The 2014 Culture Day Celebration in Utah ends on a positive note.
By: Seli Moeai
Photos: Courtesy to the fb Posts. The "Culture Day Celebration" festivities in Salt Lake City, Utah, commenced Sunday, July 20th and ended Saturday, July 26th. According to Board member Amituana'i Se'epa Sinapi, "it was quite a favorable turn -out this year", she said, "all those that came out thoroughly enjoyed the festivities". The festivities began on Sunday, July 20th, with a spiritual musical fireside. The fireside was held at the Mapusaga Ward Chapel of the LDS Church. Bishop Hena Brown Presided over the ceremony. The Board Members of the "Samoan Culture Association" or SCA, were all in attendance at the Fireside. President Fuiavailili Taito Kome, Vice President Lavea Lotonu'u, Secretary Amituana'i Se'epa Sinapi, Treasurer Suresa Tafua, and Committee members, Dofi Fa'asou and Salataima Iosua. High Chief Lavea Lotonu'u presented the inaugural agenda on behalf of the Board. He reiterated on the financial woes that had to be overcome by the Organization. "Our books were literally in the Red when we started our administration" he explained. The Organization is now comprised of the concerted effort of 4 groups that united. He did not clarify on the 4 groups. He did emphasize on the hard work that President Fuiavailili and the Board members went through to finance the festivities for this year.
There were many angelical sounding musical groups that took part in the Fireside. Here are some of the Performers that night. MY apoligies to those whose names I missed. DIVINE HERITAGE CHOIR: Sang a medley titled , CHILD OF GOD/TAKE ME TO THE KING. (some folks I recognized in the group, Bishop Lio Nu'uuli Brown, and lovely wife, Miline Reupena Brown). UGA : He will lead you. DOFI FA'ASOU AND CREW: My precious Saviour is more than an heirloom to me. LAGI BRODELOW. MIKAELE. The rest of the events resumed July 23 - July 26 at the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park in the city of South Jordan. There were some Crafts and Food Booths. There was dancing and entertainment galore. Some of the entertainment groups that performed for the festivities included:
HERITAGE 11TH YOUTH AND RELIEF SOCIETY group. TAUSALA / Utah and Arizona members. FEAGAIGA O ALI'I. According to Amituana'i, this will be the same Board for next year's Celebration. "It is our sincere hope that our Heavenly Father bless us all with good health and strength that we may continue to provide these service for our community", she said. She also expressed her gratitude and was happy to have made the acquaintance of "Le Malae" before next year's celebration. Whatever that means....Be it as it may! More photos below.... THE LIO AND LILi BROWN FAMILY REUNION IN SALT LAKE CITY UTAH.
Article by: Seli Moeai Photos and videos by: Nu'uuli Lio Brown and Seli Moeai I don't know how thin the Veil that separates heaven and earth is. I don't know of it's transparency state either. All I know is that there is the belief of certain areas that are called "thin places", it has nothing to do with the altitude or the thinness of the air, but rather a belief that in these places, the distance between the two worlds is so "thin" you can actually perceive something of heaven itself. There is a vast array of talent in the Brown family. Musicians and dancers galour. One of the standout performance of the night was HANS JOSEPH FONOIMOANA (CHUBBY), his rendition of "Dance with my father again", caused quite and emotional stir that there was not one dry eye in the house. Young and old alike participated in all of the talent performances of the night. Each family was well represented. Due to the large amount of footage and photos, we'll shorten our article to make room for such.
LIO and LILI BROWN's children:
AI'ULU: Ida Connell Colleen (Koligi) /deceased, Seu, Lio / deceased, Tiloi. FA'AFILI (LEALAITAFEA): Vaifoa, Lester, Vernetta Cline Tagaloa, Luka Westin, Va'ase, Lavenda, Koki. VAIFOA LIO BROWN: Simalu Alofipo, Atoa, Lio Nu'uuli Brown, Togiva (Tone), Vaifoa Jr., Manaia, Tamasepani. SIGALU LIO BROWN SOLIPO: Tausaga Solipo Matavao,
Lilly Solipo Moeai, Mary Solipo Toalei, Lealofi Solipo, Sigalu Titi Solipo Matthews, Curry Solipo, Teleni Solipo. TILOI LIO BROWN: David Brown, Edith Fonoimoana, Vernetta Jessop, Jarvis Brown, Joylene West. SILIVA LIO BROWN: Hans, Lily Fonoimoana, Curlyn Latu, Deloma Sauvao, LaVerne, Siliva Jr. TELENI LIO BROWN: Lio, Meridian Jennings, Dennis. I am not an authority on ecclesiastical things and I will never profess to be. But I do believe that somewhere over the skies of Salt Lake City on the night of April 5th, I want to believe that the Veil there was so thin that the door between the two worlds was cracked open for a moment and the two maternal parents, Lio and Lili Brown, enjoyed (perhaps with joyful tears) as they watched the heirs of their posterity celebrated together a family gathering of Love and melodious peace. All under the watchful eye and leadership of the two oldest surviving family members, TILOI LIO BROWN and SIGALU LIO BROWN SOLIPO.
Special thanks to the "Master of Ceremonies" TONI BROWN for the warm welcome, and to BISHOP NU'UULI BROWN for inviting "Le Malae" and me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. From the village of Malie, to Salt Lake City and beyond, Soifua ma ia manuia! |
up coming events/calendar:Samoan Community Language Class Every Tuesday starting September 10 at 7:00pm - Tuesday, December 10 at 9:00pm in MDT at Mana Academy Charter School Buy your richard parker cd here. new release "made in samoa" at LOL Island Styling Store in American Forkor purchase by clicking on the button below.
USO COALITION wins the hearts of their fans in SLC UTAH.
Story photos and videos by: Seli Moeai
The USO COALITION arrived in SLC last weekend, April 3rd, as if with a mission and purpose in their gait. Sure enough, as soon as they started dropping those notes, one knows that these kids have just crooned their way right into the hearts of their fans here in Salt Lake City. The uproar and the accolades of support from the cheering crowd with every song and dance performed told the whole story. USO COALITION hails from Orange County California, but they have many families and very close friends rooted right here in Salt Lake City.
The name of the group is derived from the word "Uso", the Samoan translation of the English word, "Brother".
The name befits the group in that they are all siblings, three brothers and one sister. All of them are extremely good looking and highly gifted as musicians and performers. Their stage names are: ZEEK: Hip Hop / Rap LOOCE: R&B / Pop ROCC: Soul / R&B BIG SIS: Rap / Reggae They will be touring and performing at more shows so keep an eye out for their next show could be in a venue close to you. The 18th of April they will be at Oceanside, CA. Click below for more photos from their show in SLC. |