Interesting Islanders

Introducing Chuck Sanders

By Karen Welsh

Chuck "Just Like Kentucky Fried" Saunders is a man of contradictions.
At first glance, his tie-dyed t-shirt, necklace, earrings, a thick leather watch band, blue jeans, black cowboy hat with feather trim, cigarette hanging from his lips and plethora of tattoos makes him looks like the lead member of a radical motorcycle group. Come to find out he's an ordained minister.
Needless to say, Chuck's also a big man who looks mean. Very mean. However, it turns out he's gentle in the teddy bear sense of the word.
His booth at the Farmer's Market in Hilo is also a series of contradictions.
Under his portion of the tarp, this Kea'au resident sells knives and calls them decorative letter openers. The brass knuckles on his table are labeled paper weights.
All of these tenuous first impressions could have kept me from getting to know the real Chuck -- the one that's warm, nice, articulate and funny.
"Sometimes things aren't as they seem to be," Chuck chuckled. "I'm not a biker--anymore."
Sitting there, among the busy throng of shoppers, I began to carefully peel back Chuck's layers, and see why this 53 year old -- freely admitting he is "going on 27" -- developed the persona that remains with him to this day.
Chuck said he grew up in a dysfunctional home, and joined a rough biker gang during his early teen years. It came as no surprise when he ended up in Juvenile Detention when he was 16-years-old.
After he was released at age 17, Chuck immediately joined the Marine Corps and ended up serving 18 years. During that time, he fought through three tours in Vietnam, where he was shot twice in the hip and stomach, leaving metal plates in both areas of his body.
Upon retirement as a career marine, Chuck said he became radical again and it cost him three more years of his life.
Then, by divine intervention, Chuck said he got his life straight, once again, and was called into the ministry. He went back to school and got a doctorate in psychology. Eventually, Chuck became ordained as a Pentecostal Baptist Minister.
Over the years, Chuck has also served as East Hawaii's Service Officer for Disabled American Veterans.
"That keeps me busy," he said. "Very busy."
He is also a hospital chaplain who spends time holding the hands of overdose victims, comforting them and giving them words of hope.
More than anything, Chuck is an armchair philosopher, thinking a lot about life, death and faith. He's a deep thinker. Very deep. Right up there with the Gnostics of old.
Everything in life, Chuck has come to find, is a matter of perspective.
"I used to worry about the future," he said. "Then, I woke up one morning and I realized that today is merely yesterday's tomorrow. So, we are really living in the future."
Chuck admits his deep thoughts began while going through a typical male midlife crisis.
"One day you wake up and you are 50 years old," he said. "You wake up and begin wondering where all the years have gone."
Chuck's passage through life cost him his first wife and ministry. He began to regroup and opened his unique booth at the farmer's market. It is wildly popular with the guy population, however, Chuck is careful not to let any under age children in his booth without a responsible adult present.
"It started out as a hobby of mine and before I knew it, it had overflowed and became a business," he said. "Now it's my livelihood and I enjoy what I do. I enjoy people."
Chuck has also ventured out into selling his favorite ware--little black coffee beans.
"I live on coffee," he said. "And this stuff grown in the rainforest above Mountain View is so exceptional."
To help him make it through a busy day, Chuck has a quiet time and meditates at least one-and-a-half hours each morning.
"It keeps me well-grounded," Chuck admitted. "It helps me deal with the minor crisis' in life."
And, he said, it helps him live each moment in the present.
"I've grown to appreciate each day as my last," Chuck said. "I finally learned to live in the here and now and not worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You are now whatever you choose to make yourself. It's what you do henceforth that is what your are. We all need to move forward and fulfill our potential."
Chuck has seen and experienced a lot throughout the years. And, he has learned one important lesson.
"I've learned that death is no big deal," he admitted. "It's the dying that sucks."