winning the second half title in the league’s South Division. They have made a name for themselves with crazy theme nights at the ball park including Mullet Night, 70’s Night and on-field promotions such as the Dizzy Bat Race and, yes, of course, Sumo Wrestling.

Clear Lake, Iowa, Mayor Kirk Kraft challenged businesses along the two corridors of U.S. Highway 18 and Fourth Avenue into the city, to clean up their establishments during Earth Week. In exchange, Kraft agreed to don a sumo wrestler suit and take on a representative from a civic group, business, family or individual and from what I hear the mayor actually won his match.

So keep an eye on your local events listings. You too can be your favorite rikishi for a day – sort of.

SUMORELLA

During National Library Week, students were treated to a morning of stories by local celebrities as part of their "Stories from the Heart" program. Kauai-raised Alicia Michioka, Miss Hawaii 2003, made a trip to Kauai from her Oahu home so she could join about two dozen community leaders and volunteers in reading to the students of

Wilcox Elementary School. Michioka switched to a local dialect in presenting "Sumorella," a children's tome by Sandi Takayama.

Michioka told the local-style Cinderella tale about a boy whose job was to pick up rotten mangoes at a sumo stable.

Weaving through the tale of Mango Boy, who was given the name "Sumorella" by the sumotori, Michioka covered his encounter with the Manapua Man, and finally the loss of his mawashi in a sumo tournament before bringing the tale home by saying how Mango Boy eventually became a yokozuna.

"Nothing comes easy," Michioka told the class, referring to her own rise to stardom. Michioka started with beauty pageants at age 13, but it wasn't until she reached 23 that she reached the pinnacle of Miss Hawaii.

"Study hard, work hard, and never lose sight of the dream," she told the students at the event, paralleling her life with