Hal loween Fun!

E M P L O Y E E   N E W S L E T T E R   O F   A T L A S   I N S U R A N C E   A G E N C Y  

OCTOBER 2013

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10

Na Leo O’ Atlas

one

atl

as.

Inside this issue:

1132 Bishop Street 

Suite 1600 

Honolulu, HI 96813 

808‐533‐3222 

Submit your articles, pictures or suggestions to: Sandy Tsukada 

stsukada@atlasinsurance.com 

Halloween Fun  1‐4 

Halloween Fun at Kapiolani Hospital 

 5 

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes 

6 

Chinatown Scrub Down 

6 

Toast of the Town  7 

Congratulations   8 

New Business—Agents 

8 

Welcome   8—9 

Halloween was filled with ono food, games and prizes! Thanks to the OAC for providing an assortment of snacks for our morning break. The Department Halloween Hunt game brought out the competitiveness in everyone, as usual!

The Food

Check out the beautiful cupcakes Gift Okai (Makai office) made for everyone to enjoy!

Nadine made delicious “Finger” foods (sugar cookies) for this special occasion.

PAGE 2 E M P L O Y E E N E W S L E T T E R O F A T L A S I N S U R A N C E A G E N C Y

Hal loween Fun Cont inued

The Department Halloween Hunt

Each Department selected representatives to participate in the Halloween Hunt. Peter explained the rules and they were off . . .

The teams RAN through the office finding pictures and clues to find their next picture and clue with their last stop being the lunchroom. The first team that finished was the winner...and the winner was….

The CCG Team—Mike Ayson, Lynette Sang, Josh German, Lisa Konno and Gie Velasco! They won the 4 containers of goodies shown in the picture to share with their department.

PAGE 3 E M P L O Y E E N E W S L E T T E R O F A T L A S I N S U R A N C E A G E N C Y

Hal loween Fun Cont inued

Food! Fun! Friends!

Costumes!

PAGE 4 E M P L O Y E E N E W S L E T T E R O F A T L A S I N S U R A N C E A G E N C Y

Hal loween Treats in Kona, Hi lo & Maui

Hilo’s

Happy Halloween!!

By Nathlie Nakagawa

Thank you Atlas for the delicious Halloween bento!!

We also enjoyed treats that First Insurance dropped off for an office visit. What a treat for us! YUM! No one “dressed up” for the occasion but we all enjoyed the delicious lunch!

Kona Treats — By Elaine Panlilio

No tricks, but just sweet treats for the Atlas Kona office. Agents and staff got a sweet-smelling bottle of Bath & Body Works hand soap and a goodie bag of chocolates for Halloween.

Maui Treats — By Irene Zilisch

Halloween brought the bag lady and the witch of Kihei to the Atlas Maui Office.

They came flying in on a broom with specialty pies from Leoda’s Pie Shop. It was a fun treat for all thanks to Atlas.

PAGE 5 E M P L O Y E E N E W S L E T T E R O F A T L A S I N S U R A N C E A G E N C Y

Hal loween Fun at Kapiolani Hospital By Amanda Zamora

I had the good fortune of volunteering for the Kapiolani Hospital Halloween party this year with Martin Beardeaux and Francis Tagawa. Not only is it a great cause that uplifts the chil-dren’s spirits but it’s also a really fun event that brings out the best in everyone. Atlas, along with volunteers from our Island Holdings Ohana, were in charge of the different activities that consisted of games, trick or treat booths, frame decorating and photos (with props). Everyone was in the Halloween spirit and dressed up. The Atlas gang dressed up as cowboys. There were also a couple of Minnies, Minions, a Quail Man and Snoopy to name a few.

Atlas was in charge of the games. Martin manned the pin the face on the pumpkin game, Francis the golf game and I the spin the wheel. We decided to put an extra spin (pardon the pun) to the game by humiliating the Cowgirl (me). If the participant landed on the chicken, I (it was supposed to be Martin & I but somehow ended up only being me…I’ll get you back

Martin!) had to perform the chicken dance. Truthfully I don’t know who enjoyed it more, the kids or the volunteers but everyone was trying to get the chicken! I made quite a spectacle of myself. Oh well, as long as it put smiles on the children’s faces. And this event did just that, you could really see that the kids enjoyed every station. The Halloween party was a huge success that not only put smiles on the children’s faces but on ours as well. I highly recommend you volunteer next year!

PAGE 6 E M P L O Y E E N E W S L E T T E R O F A T L A S I N S U R A N C E A G E N C Y

Walk a Mi le in Her Shoes By Peter Junker

On Saturday, October 26th, Mayor Billy Kenoi, other Hawaii County officials and men from all walks of life, including myself, participated in the YWCA of Hawaii Island mile walk either in high heels or a reasonable facsimile thereof (I chose to wear “high-heeled sneakers”). I decided to participate in the walk to support our new client whose relationship started this past June. Also, I have two daughters and appreciate the work that YWCA does for women.

The walk was held to show support for the YWCA’s efforts against rape, sexual assault and gender violence. More than 100 men participated in the event and a generous amount of donations contributed to this signature fundraising event for the YWCA.

The event marked the YWCA’s 30th anniversary of providing services to victims of sexual assault and their families which include the only island-wide ‘round the clock sexual assault crisis center, therapy to assault victims and families and violence pre-vention education in our schools and communities.

The woman in the photo comparing shoes with me is Kathleen McGilvray, CEO of YWCA of Hawaii Island. Notice the shirt I was wearing and how color-coordinated I was – I think I scored a lot of style points!

Chinatown Scrub Down

Atlas, Island & Pacxa teamed up with the Chinatown News-paper in the Chinatown Scrub Down on October 19th. Thanks to Myles, Daniel, Lance, Josh & Francis who arrived bright and early on a Saturday morning to pick up trash along the streets of Chinatown. Together, we can make this island a better place to live and do business!

PAGE 7 E M P L O Y E E N E W S L E T T E R O F A T L A S I N S U R A N C E A G E N C Y

Toast of the Town! By Chenise Blalock

Peter Junker won 1st place in the Toastmasters Division B Humorous Speech contest on Saturday, October 12th, after winning in the Area con-test earlier this year.

His speech, titled "At The Zoo", is a tribute to Dr Seuss.

His speech takes you on a journey to see all the animals you would expect & a few you might not expect to see on a typical visit to the zoo.

This winning streak qualifies him to advance to the next level of competi-tion, the District 49 Humorous Speech Contest early next month. Something tells me the crowd will be “wild” about his speech. I know Atlas Olelo Hui has gone “Ape” over his success this far.

Go Peter Go!

Another highlight for the Atlas Olelo Hui was adding Melanie Nordgran to the select group of Competent Communicators, after completing her 10th speech.

And as if this wasn't enough of an accomplishment, she was also recognized as the Best Speaker-October 2013 & Toastmaster of the Year 2012-2013 all in the same month!

Toastmasters International provides the criteria for the characteristics of this illus-trious award. This extraordinary individual must have characteristics that include being enthusiastic, eager to perform any and all meeting assignments, and makes great efforts to recognize, encourage and nurture fellow Toastmasters. They are dedicated to helping others by evaluating them with the purpose of recognizing achievements, fostering continued im-provement & building self esteem. They also have great attendance & serve at least 6mos as a Club Officer.

Melanie joined Toastmasters in 2008 as one of our founding members. She served as our President for the 2012-13 year. During her term, we became a Select Distin-guished club for the 2nd year in a row, which helped our Division qualify as “Distinguished”. We also formalized a Mentorship Program for new and existing members and began research to launch a club website.

Melanie attended 10 out of the 12 meetings in 2012-2013, published at least one Na Leo article as well as mentored a new member, Lily Yamamoto.

So you can see why Melanie Nordgran was unanimously voted as our club’s Out-standing Toastmaster of the Year July 2012 thru June 2013.

She will be recognized early next month at the District 49 Fall Conference.

Congratulations Melanie!

PAGE 8 E M P L O Y E E N E W S L E T T E R O F A T L A S I N S U R A N C E A G E N C Y

Welcome El l ie Dang!

Congratulat ions Kari , Gie , Veronica & Travis ! By Richard Fukeda

New Bus iness—Agents Personal

Randy Millare

Commercial

Gerald Takeuchi

Congratulations to Kari Yamada, Gie Velasco, Veronica Halili, and Travis Ota on their achievements! These four were presented with their newly earned designations and pins at The National Alliance’s conferment ceremony that was held at the Hilton Waikiki Beach on October 22, 2013.

Kari earned her Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation, Gie and Veronica earned their Certified Risk Manager (CRM) designation; and Travis earned his Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) designation.

Thank you all for your dedication towards continuing education and for increasing your knowledge that you can apply daily to your jobs.

Congratulations to Mommy Julie, Daddy Ben, and Big Brother Aidyn on the addition to their happy family! Ellie arrived on October 15th at 6:59 am, weighing in at 6 lbs, 9 oz and 19-3/4” long.

Oh so precious!

Ellie loves to sing!

Ellie’s a happy sleeper!

PAGE 9 E M P L O Y E E N E W S L E T T E R O F A T L A S I N S U R A N C E A G E N C Y

Welcome Ol ive House By Laura Jennison

Christine had her baby late Saturday night at 11:38 pm (she waited until after watching the Ducks Football game like a true Duck Fan!).

Olive Ohia House was born Saturday, October 19th, a healthy 6 pounds 15 oz and about 18.5 inches long. Mother and daughter are both healthy and happy!

Welcome Jacinda Elias, CCG’s new Operations Unit Manager! With a wealth of insurance industry experience dating back to 1994, Atlas is very fortunate to have Jacinda join the Atlas family. Prior to Atlas, Jacinda was a Co-Founder of Risk Solution Partners, Vice President of King & Neel, Supervisor at Hawaii Insurance Consultants, and a claims representative at Ea-gle Insurance Group. She also attained her CPCU and served at several different levels of officership.

Jacinda graduated from Punahou (yes, Lance Kawano—another one from Punahou), and Occidental College with a degree majoring in Psychology and a Minor in International Rela-tions. Phew! Very impressive resume!

Jacinda is also the Founder & Owner of SoulTrex, Inc. So if you happen to be shopping at Windward Mall, stop by and check it out!

Last but not least, Jacinda spends her time with son Taima, who is 5 years old and the light of her life! Welcome aboard Jacinda, we are fortunate to have you!

Daniel Gick returned to Hawaii as Atlas’ Construction Services Account Executive effective October 1st. Dan brings with him 7 years focused primarily on Insurance Programs for large construction projects in Hawaii, California and Nevada. Some of Dan’s projects include Aulani Resort & Spa at Ko’Olina, Ka’anapali Ocean Resort and Princeville Ocean Resorts. Dan’s re-sponsibilities included primary client & project team contact, responsible for delivery of Ser-vices.

Prior to insurance, Dan served as an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers in Georgia, the Republic of Korea and Hawaii. Dan is a graduate of West Point (BS Environmental Engineer-ing), Missouri U of Science and Technology (MS) and Shidler College of Business at the Univer-sity of Hawaii – Manoa (MBA).

Dan’s insurance designations includes Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS).

Dan is a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma. Please join us in welcoming Dan back to Hawaii!!

Welcome Jac inda El ias By Kathy Kano

Welcome Danie l Gick By Bobbie Er ickson