Ads by Google Ads by Google

4-day weekend to celebrate Easter and 117th Flag Day

Coming in second in the second heat on Wednesday, the Fuao’s time of 35:19.35 was just bested by the Paepaeulupoo from Aua with the overall time of 35: 19.13. Both fautasi are listed in the results as #1 and #2 respectively, and will race in today’s final for the championship against last year’s winner Manulele Tausala, and 4 others. [Photo: EM]
StarKist Samoa follows with one-week maintenance shut down

American Samoa is preparing for an extra special end of the week, heading into the weekend on to Monday, with Good Friday tomorrow, followed by Easter Sunday and on Monday, Apr. 17, residents celebrate 117 years since the territory became part of the United States family.

“As Christians, the Paschal Triduum is the culmination of the liturgical season of Lent; where we journey with Jesus into the desert and witness in faith His passion, His death, His burial and resurrection,” Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga said in his Easter message.

“Amerika Samoa attests to proclaiming the work of Jesus’ salvation as living testimonies seen in our cultural practices of family and religion,” he said, adding that the territory’s 2017 “Flag Day celebration subsequently follows Easter, where we as a country celebrate His resurrection and 117 years of God’s bounteous blessings and grace on our islands.”

“It is also befitting that as we celebrate Easter and in this Flag Day we celebrate our Youth, we recall our Lord’s words ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children’,” he said. “These words of our Lord remind us to reform and empower our youth for tomorrow.”

In his Easter message to the people of American Samoa, Bishop Peter Brown, leader of the Diocese of Samoa Pago Pago, said, “Our Christian faith is a great gift. It gives us many opportunities throughout the year to remember and to celebrate. To remember is to be transformed. The spiritual journey we experience as we approached Easter is filled with memories that prepares us for the most important foundation of our faith that Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead for us.”

“I pray this Easter will bring American Samoa true peace and unity especially as we prepare for our Flag Day. May your home be filed with peace, love and happiness. May your family reflect the truth and joy of the Risen Lord for to remember is be transformed into His likeness,” he said.

Easter Sunday will be the usual church services territory wide, with an emphasis on Jesus’ resurrection in messages delivered by church leaders.

Also, this Sunday, at the Gov. H. Rex Lee Auditorium, starting at 2:30p.m. is the Flag Day Church Service.

Then Monday is the official Flag Day ceremony, at Veterans Memorial Stadium, and this year’s theme, pays tribute to the territory’s youth, “Tupulaga mo a Taeao (or Youth for Tomorrow).

The 2017 Flag Day official program has not yet been released.

The governor has already declared tomorrow, Good Friday, a government holiday, as well as Apr. 17. Therefore all ASG offices will be closed as well as some businesses.

For the banks, it’s business as usual for Bank of Hawai’i — with regular business hours for both Friday and Monday; while ANZ Amerika Samoa Bank will be half-day tomorrow, closing at 12noon, and on Monday it will be closed for Flag Day.

For the Territorial Bank of American Samoa, business operations will close tomorrow as well as Monday in celebration of Flag Day. The bank has also posted signs on its front doors with this information.

Meanwhile, StarKist Co., corporate spokesperson Michelle Faist confirmed to Samoa News yesterday that there will be no production tomorrow (Friday) for StarKist Samoa, in observance of Good Friday.

StarKist Samoa, the largest private employer in the territory, will then take one week off, starting Apr. 17, for planned maintenance work, said Faist, who also confirmed that StarKist Samoa is taking part in the Flag Day ceremony on Monday — participating in the parade. Cannery production will resume Apr. 24.

For the locally based can manufacturing plant, Talofa Systems Inc., it will also shut down at the same time as StarKist and this includes tomorrow’s Good Friday. The can plant also resumes production on Apr. 24. Talofa System manufactures cans for StarKist Samoa and both companies are owned by South Korean based Dongwon industries.

Unfortunately, any time the cannery shuts down, it also affects other businesses, such as nearby stores catering to cannery workers and aiga buses, chartered to transport cannery workers.

As such, with the weeklong shutdown, as well as tomorrow being a holiday, many cannery workers as well as others in the community are heading to neighboring Samoa to spend time with families.

In observance of Good Friday, Samoa News will not publish tomorrow, but will return Monday for Flag Day 2017.  Results of Flag Day Fautasi Regatta and other Flag Day activities will be updated as they happen at the Samoa News website www.samoanews.com

Happy Easter and Happy Flag Day 2017 to all our readers in American Samoa and round the world.