In real life, Dr. Leatherman hadn’t given much thought to beaches until 1989 when a travel writer wanted him to rate American beaches. Soon after the initial impromptu list, Leatherman developed 50 criteria to judge each beach, including the softness and color of the sand, water quality and cleanliness, amenities, and public safety. You can check the entire list here.

Kapalua, in Leatherman’s assessment, possesses white coral sand outside the water and bright tropical fish within it. Off the beach, there are good restaurants. What’s not to like?

WHAT DO WE HOPE FOR WHEN PLANNING A BEACH VACATION,

AND ARE OUR HOPES JUSTIFIED?

Stuck in an office with artificial air and a full email in-box, we daydream about sitting on a beach chair staring out at the sea while gentle waves lap the shoreline. We imagine a perfect temperature with a beguiling salt air breeze. We envision activities: snorkeling, swimming, beach volley ball, and even parasailing. Off the beach, we mentally stroll a beach walk with vendors selling silly souvenirs while music blares out of restaurants. Oops. For a moment, I fell into my own reverie.

It turns out that for once, our dreams are good for us. A study conducted by Michigan State University and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, found that viewing blue spaces, like a body of water, leads to mental relaxation.  The entire beach environment tells visitors to “let go.” There are no deadlines, no dress codes, and no visits to the gym. Beach activities offer us physical activity we don’t think of as exercise.

We also expect sunny weather, which is okay as long as we wear sunscreen. Vitamin D – good. Skin cancer – not so much.

Beaches occur in all climates. One of Dr. Beach’s criteria stresses pleasant air temperature, but there are other reasons to go to a particular beach. Scotland, for example has excellent surfing spots, including Dalmore Beach on the Isle of Lewis. Just don’t forget your wet suit.

No matter what coast line you’re near, there is a beach. The only question is if it meets your Best Beach Criteria.

DR. BEACH’S TOP TEN LIST OF AMERICAN BEACHES FOR 2018

 Kapalua Bay Beach, Maui
Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach, Outer Banks, North Carolina
Grayton Beach State Park, Florida Panhandle

Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York
Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Lighthouse Beach, Buxton, Outer Banks, North Carolina
Caladesi Island State Park Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida

Hapuna Beach State Park, Big Island, Hawai`i
Coronado Beach, San Diego, California
Beachwalker Park Kiawah Island, South Carolina

AND NO MATTER WHAT BEACH YOU VISIT THIS SUMMER, REMEMBER TO 

Slip on a Shirt
Slop on 50+ sunscreen
Slap on a hat
Wrap around UV protection sunglasses to protect your eyes

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Illustrations:

Kapalua Bay by Hakilon. Creative Commons Attribution.

Dalmore Beach by F. Leask. Creative Commons Attribution.

Sunrise on Coast Guard Beach by Aprof2. Creative Commons Attribution.

Hapuna Beach by Laika ac. Creative Commons Attribution.

Slip-Slop-Slap-Wrap. Public Domain.

Dr. Beach

Maria Carter. “You Need A Beach Vacation.” Country Living. June 26, 2017.

Jordi Lippe-McGraw. “The Scientific Reason You Should Take a Beach Vacation.” Travel and Leisure. May 9, 2016.

The post BEACH TIME first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

`Ōhi`a was a strong, handsome warrior; Lehua a beautiful young woman. Her face was round and glowed like the moon. Her eyes glittered like starlight. Lehua’s back was straight and her hair rippled like a waterfall.

One day Lehau saw `Ōhi`a speaking with her father and blushed. At the same time `Ōhi`a saw the maiden and was so overwhelmed he stopped speaking. Lehua’s father was amused, and offered to introduce `Ōhi`a to his daughter. From that moment, `Ōhi`a had eyes for no other woman and the young couple lived happily together until the day Goddess Pele saw `Ōhi`a in the forest.

Pele initiated a conversation, but though he was polite, `Ōhi`a didn’t respond to her advances. Pele was furious. About this time, Lehua arrived with the midday meal for her husband. `Ōhi`a stopped what he was doing to go to his wife. Pele, overcome with rage, transformed into a column of fire. She stamped her feet and the ground trembled. Lava made a ring of fire around the couple.

“Come to me and live,” Pele said to `Ōhi`a. But he refused.

`Ōhi`a lifted Lehua above the lava. As the lava grew around his legs, `Ōhi`a held Lehua higher. `Ōhi`a’ s legs began to turn into wood; his arms became branches. Lehua’s hair billowed in the hot wind. Sparks made her hair look like red and gold blossoms. Lehua the woman became lehua the flower. It is said that if you pick the red lehua blossom it will rain, because of the tears Lehua shed for her beloved.

`Ōhi`a trees grow from sea level to 5,000 feet. The picture below is one I took last year of the tree with a steam vent in the background.`Ōhi`a is one of the first plants able to grow on barren lava rock, because the leaves can close their pores as protection from volcanic gasses.

Hawaiians used the wood to make weapons and tools, for example the beaters to make kapa cloth from the bark of the paper mulberry tree (Wauke).

Native birds such as the `Apapane shown on the right feed on nectar from the lehua flowers.

Hula dancers traditionally wear lehua blossoms and buds in their lei. Dancers enter the forest and ask permission to pick lehua blossoms and other plant matter.

The present Kīlauea eruption is destructive to people’s lives and properties. It’s also a time of renewal when new lava rock joins the earth. Perhaps that explains Goddess Pele’s two manifestations and her noted jealous temper.

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Photos of lehua blossoms and steam vent by author.

Pu`u `O`o, a volcanic cone on Kīlauea, 1983. Public Domain.

I`e kuku (wooden beater) and kuala lā`au (wood anvil) used to make kapa. By Wmpearl. Creative Commons Attribution.

`Apapane bird by James Brennan Molokai. Creative Commons Attribution.

“Ohia Lehua, and the Jealousy of Pele.” Love Big Island.

Meghan Miner. “The Cultural Significance of Ohia Lehua.” Hawaii Magazine. Apr. 11, 2016.

S. E. Schlosser. “Pele’s Revenge.” American Folklore.

George Wallace. “Hawai`i’s Legendary Ohia Tree.” Birdcalls. June 30, 2016.

Leilehua Yuen. “’Ōhi`a-Lehua Legend.” Ke Ola Magazine. July-August 2016. 31-35.

The post THE LEGEND OF `ŌHI`A AND LEHUA first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Lei Day, officially launched in 1928, is a popular festival in Hawai`i. Don Blanding, then a columnist for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, came up with the idea, later saying that at the time Hawai`i had no day that was special. Why not have a Lei Day – a day when everyone could wear lei and give lei? Grace Tower Warren, another columnist, suggested May 1st would be the perfect day. Coincidentally, she came up with the slogan: May Day is Lei Day in Hawai`i.

Princess Helen Kawananākoa, approved, saying “the nicest part of Lei Day is that it brings kamaainas together again.”

The Honolulu Star Bulletin reported that the new event took off. “Lei blossomed on straw and felt hats, lei decorated automobiles, men and women and children wore them draped about their shoulders.”

Even Governor Judd caught the spirit. The following year he urged residents to “observe the day and honor the traditions of Hawaii nei by wearing and displaying lei.”

Leonard Hawk wrote a song for the new holiday, one that perpetuates the theme. “May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii” was written as a foxtrot, though now the music is adapted to hula. You can sing along with King Nawahi’s Hawaiians.

MODERN LEI DAY CELEBRATIONS

The City and County of Honolulu holds an Annual Lei Day Celebration at Kapi`olani Park to celebrate lei and the artistry of Hawai`i’s lei makers. This year’s theme is Lei `Aloha Kea – The brilliant white lei, the platinum of kupuna. Charlene Leimomi Irvine is the 90th Lei Queen. She has two princesses in her Court: First Princess Helen Mealoha Yuk Jun Kuoha-Torco and Princess Sharon Rose Marie Au-Curtis. Free lei-making workshops have been held throughout O`ahu with participants encouraged to enter the Lei Competition on Lei Day.

Lei Day is celebrated at many Hawai`i public schools, especially at the elementary level. Each year a boy and girl from the graduating class is voted to represent each island. Children construct paper leis and cardboard mats to sit on during the festivities. When Lei Day arrives, the royal court marches in costume to preside over events. Family and friends are invited to watch students sing songs from Hawai`i and other parts of Polynesia and perform dances. Besides hula, there may be the Maori poi dance, Filipino stick dance, and Samoan slap dances. Relay races are often part of the event

Lei Day is a joyful event. A time to relax with friends and share aloha. When a lei is made, the mana of the creator is woven into the flowers. Thus, when you give lei, you give a part of yourself. When you receive lei, you receive part of the person who created it.

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Princess Helen Kawananākoa quoted in Leilehua Yuen. “May Day is Lei Day in Hawai`i.” Ke Ola. May-June 2016.

Quotations from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin taken from “May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii.” Perfect Days Hawaii.

Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons:

Leis by Janine. Creative Commons Attribution.

Princess Abigail Helen Kawanākoa. Public Domain.

Lei Day Hawaii by Charles W. Bartett. Hand Colored Etching. Public Domain.

Eight strand Lei Niihau, Bishop Museum. By Heart. Creative Commons Attribution.

Still Life with Ilima Lei and Coconut by Helen Whitney Kelley. Watercolor. Public Domain.

For More Information:

Hundreds Turn Out for 89th Annual Lei Day Celebration. KITV. May 1, 2016

Lei Day Celebration. City and County of Honolulu.

Lyrics: May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii. Squareone

Cara Fasone. May Day in Hawaii. Hawaiian Culture Stories.

Marie Tutko. May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii. Kings Hawaiian. April 29, 2013.

Nina Wu. “Honolulu’s 90th Lei Queen and Court Crowned.” Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Mar. 5, 2018.

The post MAY DAY IS LEI DAY IN HAWAI`I first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Kilauea Lodge began its life as a YMCA camp called Hale O Aloha. Built in 1938, the camp served boys from all over the Territory of Hawaii who explored terrain at nearby Kīlauea Volcano and returned to sleep in dormitories after taking their meals and enjoying the fireplace at the lodge.

And not just any fireplace. Looking like the boys could enter at any moment, the Fireplace of Friendship continues to intrigue guests. Harold Lucas, YMCA camp director, came up with the idea of bringing together stones, coins and artifacts from around the world.

Within the fireplace are a poi pounder, dinosaur vertebrae, exotic minerals including an entire quartz embedded with gold. There’s a Mexican opal, over five hundred coins, and a substantial section of a petrified wood log at the top.

In October 1938 T. A. Jaggar, president of the local YMCA, and some young campers lit the first fire laid with driftwood from all the islands. Four hundred guests came for the momentous occasion.

The camp continued until the 1960 tsunami destroyed the Hilo YMCA structure. The organization sold the camp to finance a new facility, and Virginia and Bill Dicks opened the Volcano Lodge Restaurant as a lunch shop featuring “mile high pie.” With Volcano Road directly in front of the lodge, the restaurant did a good business until Māmalahoa Highway bypassed the older road. Business fell. The Dicks sold the property to Albert and Lorna Jeyte in 1986.

After extensive renovation, Kilauea Lodge opened in 1988, Dormitories became guest suites, and Albert learned to cook. The Jeytes made Kilauea Lodge a local landmark, and a popular place for visitors to Volcano National Park a mile up the highway to stay.

At some point in the near future, Kilauea Lodge will open a new chapter in it’s history. The property has been for sale since 2014 with an asking price of $5.2 million.

The next day, I was off to Volcanos National Park, a magical place that I imagine might be like middle earth. There’s rain forest and lava fields. Native birdsong and invasive Himalayan ginger to pull.

My first stop was the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum named after the founder of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory located at the same site.
The observatory began in 1912 as a joint effort of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Hawaiian Volcano Research Association, a group of Honolulu businessmen who funded the project. Jaggar served as director until 1940.

The observatory moved to its current location on Uwekahuna Bluff next to the museum in 1986. The surrounding walkway looks directly over the Southwest Rift Zone.
After drinking in the view, I drove back to the turn-off for Chain of Craters Road. The nineteen mile road winds from the mountain to the sea. In the first phase the drive wends through rainforest with birdsong in the air. As it climbs above the rainforest on a clear day, the sun gets hotter and the terrain more stark. As the road began its descent to the sea, I decided to return to Volcano for lunch at Cafe Ono.

Cafe Ono is part of Volcano Garden Arts, presided over by Ira Ono. The small cafe features vegetarian food in pleasant, friendly surroundings.

The immediate grounds seem whimsical with large porcelain tea pots flanking a pathway to adventure.

After lunch I went back to Kilauea Lodge for some reading and once again chuckled at the sign asking drivers to slow down to avoid the Senior Cat.

The next day I drove back to Hilo, refreshed and exhilarated from my visit up the mountain.

Hawai`i Volcanos National Park

Kilauea Lodge.com

Jaggar Museum & Overlook

Michael Brestovansky. “Undisclosed Buyer Eyes Kilauea Lodge” Hawaii Tribune Herald. Oct 10, 2017. A5

Tom Calls. “Inn Owners Bowing Out: Kilauea Lodge for Sale.” Hawaii Tribune Herald. December 14, 2914.

Alan McNarie. “Kilauea Lodge Then and Now.” Ke Ola Magazine. Nov/Dec 2014. 13-18.

Devany Vickery-Davidson. “Enchanted Gardens of Ira Ono.” Ke Ola Magazine. Jan/Feb 2011.

The post Getaway to Volcano, Hawai`i first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

After World War I, the day’s purpose expanded to honor the fallen in all America’s wars. Decoration Day became Memorial Day as the day became less an occasion for cleaning grave sites and more a time to remember and appreciate those who lost their lives while on active duty. In America, the poppy (Papaver rhoeas), a flower representing both loss of life and its recovery, symbolizes the day.

In 1971 Congress declared Memorial Day as a national holiday celebrated the last Monday in May, and Memorial Day Weekend began marking the informal start of summer.

NATIONAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC

Ceremonies honoring the fallen are held throughout our country. In Hawai`i the primary location is at the National Cemetary of the Pacific. The cemetery lies in Pūowaina Crater, legacy of an extinct volcano. Pūowaina translates as “Hill of Sacrifice,” an ancient site where offenders of Hawaiian kapu were sacrificed.

The American Battle Monuments Commission erected the Honolulu Memorial in the Court of Honor. The image is variously called Lady Columbia or Lady Liberty or Justice. She represents the grieving mothers who have lost their children to war. Lady Columbia stands on the bow of a ship, holding a laurel branch. The inscription below is taken from a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to a grieving mother: The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. I don’t know if she agreed with her president’s assessment, but I hope his words gave her comfort.

This year Memorial Day events commence at 8:30 a.m. There will be speeches, a wreath presentation, a cannon salute, a flyover by the U. S Air Force and the Hawaii Air National Guard, the playing of taps, and performances by the Royal Hawaiian Band. Members of the Boy Scouts of Hawai`i will place approximately 38,000 lei on grave sites within the cemetery. Thus do we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

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Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons:

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Seiji Maehara places a wreath to honor U. S. service members killed throughout the Pacific, 2010. Public Domain.

Lady Columbia by Daniel Ramirez. Creative Commons Attribution.

Visitors walk past grave markers with American flags, 2013. Public Domain.

Civil war dead honored on decoration day. History.

Puowaina (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific). Historic Hawai`i Foundation.

When is Memorial Day? The Old Farmer’s Almanac

The post MEMORIAL DAY & PUNCHBOWL CEMETERY first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

In 1873 Father Damien accepted a call to serve people who lived with Hansen’s Disease on an isolated peninsula called Kalaupapa on the island of Moloka`i. Father Damien spent the rest of his life serving St. Philomina Catholic Church, building houses, schools, and hospitals, caring for patients and dressing their wounds, making coffins, digging graves, sharing food and his pipe — and taking no particular precautions to preserve his health.

Hansen’s Disease was detected in Hawai`i as early as the 1830s. Fearing further spread of the disease the 1864 Legislature passed “An Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy” authorizing the Board of Health to establish a receiving hospital to examine suspected cases and an isolation settlement for those patients confirmed to have the disease.
The Kalihi Hospital and Detention Stations opened in 1865. The first group of patients arrived at Kalawao in 1866. In 1872 there were 385 residents

Father Damien arrived in Hawai`i from Belgium in 1865 and served on the Big Island. In 1873 he learned priests were needed at Kalaupapa. He and three other priests volunteered to go in succession. Damien arrived first and never left the island.

Damien was not the first to serve at Kalaupapa. There had been other priests, Mormon elders, and during the early years patients’ family and friends went as Kokua (helpers).

Damien lived with his flock. He conversed with them in Hawaiian. He constantly badgered the Kingdom of Hawai`i and the Catholic church for more resources.

In 1886 Father Joseph Dutton arrived to assist Damien. Two years later Mother Marianne Cope came with two sisters from the Order of St. Francis. Their arrival was timely. Damien contracted leprosy and the disease took its course. On April 15, 1889 Father Damien died, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Philomina.

But Damien’s story wasn’t over. Both his body and spirit would travel beyond what Damien himself could have imagined.

In 1936 Damien’s remains were transferred to Belgium. In 1995 the remains of Damien’s right hand came back to Hawai`i as a relic.

In 1977 Damien began the path to sainthood when Pope Paul VI declared him “Venerable.” Pope John Paul II beatified Damien in 1995 and granted the Blessed Damien a Memorial Feast Day on May 10.

On October 11, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI declared Father Damien to be a Saint.

FATHER DAMIEN DAY

In Hawai`i Father Damien is celebrated on the day of this death, April 15. The statue by Marisol Exocobar is covered in lei. It is a day of remembrance.

St. Damien’s symbols are the tree and the dove. He is the spiritual patron of people living with HIV.

Father Damien of Molokai – Hawaii’s First Saint

by Heidi Chang, 2011

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In 1969 Marisol Excobar’s statue of Father Damien was unveiled at the State Capital. There is a duplicate statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D. C.

Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons.

Father Damien in 1873 when he went to Molokai. US Public Domain.

Kalaupapa Leper Colony in 1905. Public Domain.

St. Philomena Roman Catholic Church Molokai. Public Domain.

Father Damien’s Funeral Procession on Moloka`i. U.S. Public Domain.

Crypt of Father Damien in Leuven, Belgium. By FaceMePLS. Creative Commons Attribution.

Father Damien’s gravesite on Molokai`i. Public Domain.

Father Damien statue at Hawai`i State Capital Building covered in Lei for Father Damien Day. By Daniel Ramirez. Creative Commons Attribution.

Video: Father Damien of Molokai – Hawaii’s First Saint by Heidi Chang. 2011.

For More Information:
Father Damien. National Park Service.

About Hansen’s Disease. National Park Service.

Kerri A. Inglis. Ma`i Lepera: Disease and Displacement in Nineteenth-Century Hawai`i. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press. 2013.

Ralph S. Kuykendall. The Hawaiian Kingdom. Vol. 2. Honolulu: University Press of Hawai`i. 1978.

The post FATHER DAMIEN – HAWAI`I’S FIRST SAINT first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Did you feast on Thanksgiving excess? I did.

Did you dash out for Black Friday Shopping?

I didn’t – a possible mistake given the bargains I’ve undoubtedly missed. But I needed something else.

I needed to metaphorically sail away into a Sea of Tranquility

Everyone who looks can find their own favorite place to reconnect and recharge. It could be the back yard or a country lane. It could be down the street or across the country. Mine is across Hawai`i Island at Puako, a stretch of rocky, sandy coastline created by an old lava flow.

Our family runs away to the Fairmont Orchid for Thanksgiving. We reconnect, eat, and laugh. There’s also time for morning solitude when I steal away across the property and head off into a well-traveled but still secluded coastline walk.

Green sea turtles, Honu, are a protected species in the Puako Marine Reserve. Snorklers often swim with them. I sometimes encounter them resting on the beach. The trail crosses rocks and sand. There are fish ponds with rock walls and signs warning visitors not to tease the eels hiding in the walls.

I treasure these quasi-solitary walks as a time to be at peace in my surroundings. There’s no rush. Just sun, sea and moments to let my mind run where it will until it returns with tranquility.

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 Photo of Thanksgiving cornucopia display at Fairmont Orchid by Author.

Photo of Dog with Packages by Eric.Ray Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

All other photos by Author.

Fairmont Orchid.

Puako is Rich in Hawaiian History and Unforeseen Changes. Hawai`i Life. July 25, 2011.

The post FINDING TRANQUILITY AT PUAKO, HAWAI`I first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Once upon a time, people thought that somewhere in the New World there existed a Fountain of Youth. They thought anyone who drank from it would be restored to youthful vitality which was the next best thing to immortality. It’s unclear whether the lucky finder would have to camp nearby and drink from it every day, or if one swallow would return a lifetime of vitality.

The myth had legs. I remember learning in about the Fourth Grade that the reason Ponce de Leon was in Florida in the 16th Century was because he was searching for the Fountain of Youth. He didn’t find it, but he still claimed the real estate for Spain. Now this anecdote is an official myth – though one might wonder whether the myth is due to the non-existent fountain or Ponce’s lack of belief. Either way, we have been disabused of the concept. There is no Fountain of Youth.

There is only diet, exercise, and the avoidance of disease.

In many ways the last century could be called a century of longevity in the developed world. Better sanitation, access to medical care, penicillin, and sterilizing medical and dental instruments contributed to longer lifespans in the early 20th Century.

Since 1950 other factors have increased longevity — better medical technology, cleaner water and air, better housing, access to food, pharmaceutical breakthroughs, and more understanding of behavioral effects. Smoking, for example, not only has a negative effect on the individual smoker’s health, but also on the health of non-smoking bystanders.

And yet . . . .

Though people are living longer, the quality of life isn’t necessarily better. Youthful attributes of moving and digesting freely are affected by increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and a great many other conditions, all of which are expensive to treat as well as unpleasant to have.

Now we’re looking for a recipe for a long and healthy life. We want to look young, feel young, and live without discomfort. Research funding  from insurance, health foundations and government sources seeks solutions with the same enthusiasm Ponce de Leon may have looked for the Fountain of Youth.

BLUE ZONES COME TO HILO

One result is the discovery of what Dan Buettner calls Blue Zones. The concept came to my attention when the official Blue Zones Hawaii Community Program Manager spoke at my Rotary Club. East Hawai`i, which includes my home town of Hilo, is an official Blue Zone Project Demonstration Community. HMSA, a major health care insurance company, brought Blue Zones to Hawai`i, starting with the island of Kaua`i in 2013.

Buettner coined the term Blue Zones for the five communities where he found people living long, healthy lives: Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; Ogliastra Region, Sardinia; Loma Linda, California; and Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. I note that with the exception of Loma Linda these were places without many temptations for easy rides or fast food. And the Blue Zoned folks in Loma Linda have religious reasons for their healthy lifestyle.

BLUE ZONES POWER 9

From the experiences of people in the five Blue Zones, Buittoner distilled what he calls Power Nine. – Nine behaviors to improve the quality and quantity of life. None of these is a new idea, but all of them are good for us. Whether we choose to follow this health advice or not is up to us.

1. Move Naturally

The good news is moving naturally doesn’t require sweaty gym workouts or Triathlons. It means ambient physical activity as mundane as getting up to change the television channel instead of using the remote control. Of course, you’d have to change channels frequently to get the benefit.

2. Have a Sense of Purpose — Get up ready to face the day with focussed activity. It might be nurturing your tomato plants, volunteering to coach your kid’s soccer team, or joining the community chorus. The point is not to get up with a negative attitude.

3. Downshift & Destress. Pray, nap, sit by the sea, or contemplate a zen garden.
4. Follow the 80% Rule — Eat until you’re 80% full. We’ve been told for years that our stomachs are full before the brain tells us to stop eating.

5. Plant SlantDo what the USDA advises. Put more beans, vegetables and fruits on our plates. Reduce meat intake.

6. Wine @ 5 — or tea, or lemonade. The point is to share a glass with food and friends. It’s not about the wine or even the time. It’s hanging out with your Tribe and talking story.

7. Join the Right Tribe

Hang out with friends that support you & healthy behaviors. People you can cook with, walk with, laugh with. People with a positive attitude.

8. Community

Seems redundant, but this refers to a faith based group – could be your tribe. Don’t try and do everything yourself.

9. Family First

Take time to eat together, chat, shoot hoops in the driveway –  that sort of thing.

So What’s New?

What Buettner contributes to the discussion is a community aspect. We know we should reduce our fat intake, but if all our friends are eating jumbo fries, we probably will too. So the trick is to have friends with good behaviors and everyone mutually reinforces each other. That sort of thing.

Buettner’s most recent book is The Blue Zones Solution. He lays out the changes that have happened in demonstration communities. Which brings us back to Hilo.

Blue Zones in Hawai`i

HMSA has been urging us to walk with a friend for some time. The organization believes small changes can result in longer, healthier, happier lives. And HMSA hopes Blue Zones can make this happen.

Here’s what’s supposed to happen.

The goal for Blue Zone Communities is lower healthcare costs, increased productivity, and a measurably improved quality of life. Citizens, schools, employers, restaurants, grocery stores, and community leaders are supposed to join together to improve community environment so it’s easier to make healthy choices. Sounds good.

So, what’s been happening since Hilo became a demonstration project earlier this year?
– Chiefess Kapiolani Elementary School met requirements to become the first Blue Zone School in Hawai`i
– Sweet Cane Cafe is the first Blue Zones Project Approved Restaurant
– Three other food outlets and one other school are involved in the project
– Cooking and gardening demonstrations have taken place

And the first time I heard about the project was at my Rotary meeting last month. – That’s not the way it sounds in the book. In the book, the whole town gets excited. I feel like I’m in the wrong reality TV show.

So what am I saying? 

Would I like the Blue Zones Project to take off?

Absolutely. Then maybe we could move forward more quickly on the Hilo Bayfront Trails project, and maybe we could get bike lanes somewhere besides the street that runs by the university.

Do I think Hilo will make the grade as a Blue Zone Community?

Hard to say. I found no data on how successful Kaua`i has been since being designated three years ago. I don’t see even our most community-minded grocery store touting Blue Zone foods. I don’t see publicity about other schools taking the challenge.

Word-of-Mouth is the one way to get things rolling. Hence this blog.

How did I do on the Power 9? — Pretty well.

Could I do better? — Absolutely.

What do you think about Blue Zones? 

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Featured Image: Liliuokalani Park, Hilo. Author’s favorite place to walk. Photo by Author.

Pictures:

Ponce de Leon. Public Domain.Wikimedia Commons.

Vanderbilt Tenements. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Pauline Betz Smoking. An advertisement by R.J. Reynolds. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Blue Zones Power 9. Blue Zones. bluezones.com

Toddler by nathanmac87. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

Balboa Park Japanese Garden by Lhimec. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

USDA Food Pyramid. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Glass of Port Wine by Jon Sullivan. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Soldiers and civilians of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, with their spouses and children, came together for a great family event in the spirit of the season at Patton Hall for the Family Readiness Group holiday party Dec. 14. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Tim Meyer, U.S. Army Central Public Affairs.)Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

“Big Island ‘Blue Zones Project’ Demonstration Communities.” Big Island Now. Feb. 17, 2016.

“First Blue Zones Approved School in Hilo.” Big Island Now. May 26, 2016.

Blue Zones. Live Longer, Better. Webpage.

“HMSA and Healthways Launch Blue Zones Project to Improve Well-being of Hawaii Residents.” HMSA Media. Sept 9, 2014.

“HMSA designated as Hawaii’s first Blue Zones Project Demonstration Worksite.HMSA Media. Dec 19, 2014.

“Hawaii Blue Zones Project. Blue Zone Project by Healthways.” Hawaii Blue Zone Project.

Hilo Bayfront Trails

Eliza Barclay. “Eating to Break 100.” NPR: The Salt. April 11, 2015.

Dan Buettner. The Blue Zones Solution. Washington D. C. 2015.

Bill Gifford. Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (or die trying). NY: Grand Central Publishing. 2015.

Kirsten Johnson. “School first in state to earn Blue Zones Approval.” Hawaii Tribune Herald. May 30, 2016.

The post Blue Zones Come to Hilo first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Liliuokalani Gardens sit on 30 acres on the Waiaikea Peninsula of Hilo Bay. Within that acreage is a 17 acre Japanese Garden designed in the Edo Style. The original plan for the gardens envisioned a “strip of land that stretches in front of the kerosene oil warehouse and on to the harbor line bordering Coconut Island.” The kerosene oil warehouse is long gone, but Coconut Island, now connected to the Gardens by a bridge, extends the area.

The 1917 Report from the Legislative Committee on Public Lands described the area as one that “After and careful consideration we find that the object of the bill is to provide a park in the suburbs of the City of Hilo where can be constructed gardens surrounding silvery lakes and about rock-bound inlets of the sea of great beauty on the order of Japanese landscape gardening that will add greatly to the beauty of this approach to the city and further the txt land desired is of little value for other purposes.”

In 1917 Queen Liliuokalani dedicated the Gardens to Japanese immigrants who came to Hawai`i to work on the sugar plantations.

Interest in Japanese garden design for public spaces in Hawai`i may have begun with a 1914 visit to Japan by people from Hawai`i with an interest in economic development and beautification projects.

The Japanese Garden is said to be the largest Edo style garden outside of Japan. The central water feature is Waihonu Pond which is surrounded by foot bridges, traditional gazebos, weeping willows, azaleas and a bamboo grove. A traditional Japanese tea house called Shoran is also on the grounds. The 15th Grand Tea Master of Urasenki donated the tea room. The Urasenki Hilo Association conducts tea ceremony classes here in both Japanese and English.

In honor of the United States Centennial Celebration, a traditional rock garden joined other garden features.

Liliuokalani Gardens is the center for numerous community events, including the annual Queen Liliuokalani Festival honoring the monarch’s birthday in September. The one day festival opens with the presentation of ho`okupu with members in attendance from the Queen Liliuokalani Trust, the Royal Order of Kamehameha, the Ka`ahumanu Society, Hale o Na Ali`i and hula halau.

The festival itself features hundreds of hula dancers dancing in unison, taiko drumming, musicians, crafts, and food.

To give you a sense of what the festival is like, I’ve included a video by Big Island Video News from the 2008 Festival

But on a quiet morning, the festival seems far away. And the road into Liliuokalani Gardens beckons walkers to begin their day.

???

Photos by Author. All Rights Reserved.

Stephanie Salazar. “Queen Liliuokalani Festival Held in Hilo.” Big Island Video News. Sept. 20, 2012.

Dave Smith. “Group Preparing for Liliuokalani Garden’s Centennial”. Big Island Now. April 24, 2013.

The post Liliuokalani Gardens: An Oasis in Time first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Days of Grace: California Artist Grace Hudson in Hawai’i introduced me to an artist who achieved commercial success with her portraits of native peoples in California and Hawai`i. Grace’s interest in art and ethnography came naturally. Her parents were deeply interested in the Pomo Indians near their home in Uziah, California. They were also talented photographers.

About 1890 Grace married Dr John Wilz Hudson who encouraged her to focus her work on the nearby Pomo Indians

Grace’s first professional portrait, National Thorn, was exhibited at the 1891 Minneapolis Industrial Exposition.

By 1895 Grace had become so successful, John was able to give up medicine to develop his own interests in archeology and ethnography. Unfortunately the stress of producing enough saleable art began to affect Grace’s mental and physical health. She was exhausted, anxious, and unable to sleep soundly. On the advice of friends, Grace and John concluded she would be able to recover in Honolulu. She would travel alone.

Grace arrived in Honolulu on January 2, 1901 and took up residence at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on the corner of Hotel and Richards Streets. With letters of introduction and the connections she had made aboard the Zealandia out of San Francisco, Grace quickly became part of Honolulu’s social and art scene.

Grace called this portrait Emma Square after the park near her hotel. It was a popular place for lei sellers. Grace wrote that one of the lei sellers had taken a fancy to her, but whether she was the subject of Grace’s portrait remains unknown.

In June Grace traveled to Hilo aboard the Kinau, a vessel she referred to as an “evil smelling craft.” Initially Grace stayed at the Hilo Hotel. She briefly relocated to Volcano House and then returned to Hilo where she began painting.

One of the pictures begun in Hilo was Punahele which was shown at Grace’s October art exhibition at the Pacific Hardware Company in Honolulu. The portrait was well-received and later shown at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle.

In 1901 Hilo was a pretty quiet town, and though Grace found plenty of subjects for painting, she missed the social life in Honlulu. She returned to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in August, later moving to the hotel’s annex in Waikīkī which featured cottages with seaside amenities. In Waikīkī Grace encountered the model for Aloha.

Grace didn’t assign a title to this portrait in her painting diary, but the custom made frame is embossed with the name ‘Aloha.’ Grace gave the portrait to her husband. There were only three paintings that remained in the Hudson household until their deaths. Aloha was one of them.

Grace arrived back in San Francisco on November 16, 1901. She was rested, had a new enthusiasm for her art, and was apparently happy to return to her husband.

???

Featured Image: Grace Hudson. U.S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons

Photos:

John & Grace Hudson. U.S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Paintings:

National Thorn by Grace Hudson, 1891.

Emma Square by Grace Hudson, 1901.

Punahele by Grace Hudson, 1901.

Aloha by Grace Hudson, 1901.

All paintings in U.S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
Days of Grace: California Artist Grace Hudson in Hawai’i. Honolulu Museum of Art.

Grace Hudson Museum and Sun House.

Women Artists in Hawai`i 1900-1950. Honolulu Museum of Art. 

Karen Holmes & Sherri Smith-Ferri. Days of Grace: California Artist Grace Hudson in Hawaii. Ukiah CA: Grace Hudson Museum & Sun House. 2014.

The post Days of Grace first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

The Honolulu Museum of Art is an oasis in busy Honolulu. The institution was founded by Anna Rice Cooke. She and her husband Charles Montegue Cooke collected art. Eventually the collection outgrew their home on Beretania Street and Anna decided to establish an art museum on the site. She wanted it to be multi-cultural to reflect Hawai`i’s people.

Whenever I travel to Honolulu, I hope there will be enough time for me to stop at the museum to view the current exhibitions. Last week I viewed a display on Harajuku – Tokyo Street Fashion. You can see the exhibition poster on the right side of the museum’s entry way above. I can’t help but wonder what Mrs. Cooke would have thought of the doll-like fashions on display.

Harajuku appeared in 1990s Tokyo as a combination of the cuteness of Hello Kitty with a so-called British new wave. The name Harajuku is from the district in Shibuya near the Harajuku Station, an area that has become a center for extreme teen culture. All the fashions include accessories and bold make-up to enhance the look.

There are several variations of Harajuku. The Lolita look channels a Victorian look with flat shoes and lace bonnets as if plucked from Alice in Wonderland. The white collared dress below is called Wonder Queen. Inspired by Alice’s experience at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, the dress has playing card motifs.

Gothic Lolita is a variation on the theme with its severe black dress. I couldn’t help but wonder if these were the dresses many of us have tried to avoid – constricting and corseted.

Another aspect is the Visual Lolita which has a more androgynous look.

Another display held several manniquens on a revolving platform. The fashions are known as Otome which is also the Japanese word for maiden. These dresses were popular in the 1970s and are a sort of precursor for current Harajuku.

In case you’re wondering if people really wear Harajuku on the street, here are three photographs I located on Wikimedia Commons. Were the subjects posing? I would say yes. But don’t we all pose a bit when we select our clothing for the day?

Once again Japanese teen-agers have created a look that is creative and playful. Maybe we should play more with our own appearance.

???

Featured Image: Entrance to the Honolulu Museum of Art. Photo by Author.

Photographs:

Photographs of museum displays by Author, with permission.

The group of Harajuku girls by Peter Van den Bosscha. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

Karol and Die of Dir en grey cosplays, the photo featuring the red dress, by Nicholas Wang. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

The Gothic Girl is by Carolos Castillo. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

Harajuku. Japan-guide.com

Harajuku Exhibition. Honolulu Museum of Art.

The post HARAJUKU: Hello Kitty’s Fashion Successor first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

This is a story about hard work, commitment, and a family owned business marking its 100th anniversary this year. It is a Hawai`i story and an American story. It’s a story worth telling.

Koichi Taniguchi left Japan in 1907. He was seventeen years old when he arrived in Honolulu. The young man worked at Heeia Sugar Plantation for six years before his bride Taniyo arrived. The couple moved to Waiakea Town, a district in Hilo. They bought a two-story building on Lihiwai Street, and opened K. Taniguchi Shoten in 1916.

The enterprise was a 500 square foot grocery and dry goods store serving Waiakea Town and the plantations along the Hamakua Coast. Taniyo operated the store while minding her son Yukiwo. Koichi took orders from around Hilo and from plantation workers, and then delivered the items by bicycle. Both the business and the family grew.

Koichi Taniguchi’s business philosophy still infuses KTA Superstores. Mr. Taniguchi supported the community because the community supported the store. Plantation workers were paid once a month. When they were on strike, the workers weren’t paid at all. Mr. Taniguchi extended them credit. The policy continued in World War II when the store extended credit during times of rationing. The debts were paid.

By 1939 the Taniguchis had saved enough money to open a second store, this time in downtown Hilo at the corner of Keawe and Mamo Streets.

In 1946 a devastating tsunami struck Hilo without warning. Waiakea Town was destroyed completely. Much of downtown was also damaged. Hiloans, including the Taniguchis, rebuilt. The Taniguchis expressed confidence in the future by opening a store in Kailua-Kona.

In 1960 another tsunami struck Hilo. When the wave appeared Yukiwo Taniguchi was parked in front of the downtown store. He was loading his car with merchandise to take across the island. Fortunately Yukiwo had time to rush to the second story of the store. He survived. The wave moved his car twenty-five yards.

Today KTA Superstores remain a family owned enterprise with six stores on the Island of Hawai`i. Barry Taniguchi, grandson of Koichi and Taniyo, is Chairman and CEO. Their great-grandson Toby Taniguchi  serves as president and chief operating officer. KTA’s business model continues to be service to the community.

One hundred years is a long time for a family owned business to flourish. For generations Big Island residents have shopped at KTA. It looks like future generations will have the same privilege.

Congratulations KTA

???

Featured Image: KTA Super Store downtown location. Photo by Author.

Pictures:
Hilo Beach in 1892. U.S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
Hilo Suburbs in 1907. U.S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
1946 Hilo Tsunami. U.S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Downtown KTA Super Store. Photo by Author.

Wanda Adams. “Family Owned KTA Superstores Committed to Hawaii Products. Honolulu Advertiser.com Dec. 3, 2008.

John Burnett. “Happy Birthday, KTA.” Hawai’i Tribune Herald. Jan. 17, 2016. Pp. 1, 8.

KTA Super Stores.

Jason Y. Kimura. “Family Calling for Hall-of-Famer.” Hawaii Retail Grocer. 2015.

Rod Thompson. “Support of Local Products Propels KTA.” Star-Bulletin.com. Sept. 29, 2002.

The post CENTURY OF SERVICE first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

The closure of C & H shouldn’t be a surprise. In 2015 Hawai`i was the third largest sugar producer in the U.S. with 1,422 tons. Florida, the largest American producer, harvested 15,278 tons. Parent company Alexander & Baldwin said it expects to lose $30 million dollars in fiscal year 2015.

If you, like me, associated cane sugar with Hawai`i, one of the reasons could be C & H’s very successful advertising campaign.

Sugar production required a docile labor force – one that would endure harsh conditions in the hope of a better future. Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Puerto Ricans, Filipinos, Portuguese, Germans, and Norwegians created the multi-ethnic culture of modern Hawai`i.

The work was excruciating. Ronald Takaki in Pau Hana, his book about life on the sugar plantations, quoted one worker’s determination:

The only reason I’m doing
This tough and painful holehole work
Is for the sake of my wife and children
Who live back home.

The history of the plantation era is not romantic. But it is an integral part of what Hawai`i is today. Strange to remember that Kōloa plantation on Kaua`i was the first commercial sugar plantation in the then Kingdom of Hawai`i. In 1980 there were fourteen sugar plantations with another 550 independent sugar growers on 220,000 acres of land. They produced about a million tons of raw sugar annually. In 2017 after 182 years of commercial sugar production, the industry will be gone.

?  ?  ?

Featured Image. Pu`unene Mill. Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company. Maui. Photo by Joanna Orpia. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Chinese contract laborers loading sugar cane onto a wagon. U.S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Olivia Lowenberg. “Why Sugar, Once a Big Business in Hawaii, is Now Disappearing.” The Christian Science Monitor. Jan. 8. 2016. Here.

Alexander and Baldwin Announces Transition of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company to a Diversified Farm Model. Press Release. Honolulu. Jan. 6. 2016.

Grove Farm Sugar Plantation Museum. 

Sugar Cane Production in the U.S. Statistica.com 

Worker’s quotation in Ronald Takaki. Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 1983. p. 90.

The post No More Sugar From Hawai`i first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

To date there are tens of thousands of orchid species and over 150,000 hybrids.

Local artist Shelby Smith faced a new challenge designing this year’s Hilo Orchid Society display for the show. Smith designed a contemporary 360 degree sculptural piece with moving spaces into which Orchid Society members could integrate their blooms. The challenge? Smith had no idea what plants would be available.

John Moir and his son Goodale established one of the earliest orchid collections in Hawai`i. Just before World War II, the Moir collection relocated from Honolulu to the Big Island when it passed to Herbert Shipman.

Today there are more than forty certified orchid nurseries on the island. Orchid exports from the Big Island are big business, generating more than $20 million annually.

In addition to supporting orchid growers, the Hilo Orchid Society reaches out into the greater community. Proceeds from the Annual Show support the Yasuji Takasaki Memorial Scholarship for University of Hawai`i at Hilo students studying agriculture or the natural sciences.

More visible service is the “Orchid Isle Project.” After World War II, Hawai`i Island became known as the Orchid Isle due to fields of vanda orchids cultivated for export. Orchid Society members hope to rekindle that spirit by encouraging businesses and homeowners to place orchids on their property where they can be admired by passers-by. Gazing at such beautiful blooms can put a spring in anyone’s step. I hope I’ve done my part by sharing these photos with you.

Acknowledgements:

Pictures by Dennis Ancheta and Author. All Rights Reserved.

Hilo Orchid Society.

“Hilo Show to put emphasis on orchids new, beautiful.” Hawaii Tribune Herald. June 18, 2015. Here.

In the Wild: Orchid Types & Their Natural Habitat. Here.

Orchids & Natural Habitat. April 2, 2013. Here.

“Orchids avant-garde: Hilo club hosting 63rd show and sale.” Hawaii Tribune Herald. July 4, 2015. Here.

Sandra Wagner-Wright. A Symphony of Orchids. August 4, 2014. Here.

Katie Young Yamanaka. “Orchids Avant Garde”. Island Beat. Hawaii Tribune Herald. Aug 6, 2015.

The post AN AVANT-GARDE ORCHID SHOW first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Do you ever see an announcement of an upcoming exhibit or event and think, ‘I’d like to see that?’ Last April, I saw an article about Nā Kuana`ike Pāheana o Hawai`i: Artistic Perspectives of Hawai`i. It’s on display at Lyman House Museum until September. Hmmm…I’d like to see that…sometime. I promptly forgot all about it until last week.

I was having one of those days – the kind where you want to abandon the computer and the to-do-list and do something out of the ordinary routine. Lunch, I thought, preferably by the water. And took myself down to Hilo Bay Café.

The view was wonderful. The food didn’t disappoint. I ate as slowly as I could. Fish tacos. Then I ordered dessert – salted caramel ice cream. But despite my efforts at procrastination, the meal was over.

Then I remembered the art exhibit. It was just up the road. I found a vastly different museum than I remembered. The last time I visited Lyman House was in 2009 for a traveling exhibit called Grandfather’s House, a replica of a rural Korean house in the 1930s. Grandfather must have been tired, because the exhibit is still there.

The art exhibit of paintings, prints, and photos from the 18th to 21st centuries was well worth the visit. I was surprised at the number of 18th century prints in the museum’s permanent collection. There’s something special about seeing a print by John Webber about Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawai`i next to a 20th century depiction of the same event by Herb Kane.

LYMAN HOUSE ORIGINS

Though the thatched roof disguises the archectecture, the house built by missionaries David and Sarah Lyman in 1839 was one of the first houses on Hawai`i Island to be built in the New England style with local koa and `ohia woods. On January 27, 1839, Sarah noted: “Moved into our new house today. The carpenters left last week, the mason still at work in the chambers.”

Writing thirty years later, Isabella Bird, peripatetic traveler, noted that in Hilo the missionary houses “combine the trimness of New England with the luxuriance of the tropics; they are cool retreats, embowered among breadfruit, tamarind and bamboo through whose graceful leafage the blue waters of the bay are visible.”

Over the years, Haili Street was extended, requiring the Lyman House to move to the side. A roof was added. The view has changed considerably. But from about the point where the house once stood, you can still look down Haili Street to the bay.

CORNICOPIA OF MINERALS

On the ground floor I revisited the permanent galleries and was astonished. Orlando Hammond Lyman, David and Sarah’s grandson, collected shells and minerals. Some had been in the family since the early 19th century. Orlando started his own collection in 1918. Not content with what he himself discovered, Orlando purchased smaller collections from throughout the world. In 1981, the collection was estimated at over 20,000 specimens. What was once a sterile almost overpowering display is now an artful arrangement glittering under tasteful lighting.

Of particular note is the only known specimen of a mineral called Orlymanite. First discovered in Orlando’s collection and native to South Africa, Orlymanite was officially identified in 1987 as a new mineral species. And it’s most famous sample is in the Lyman collection.

The Habitats of Hawai`i gallery imaginatively displays geological and natural features of Hawai`i. Particular stars are the model of a lava tube and displays of reef fish, including a ten foot shark. [I’d rather see a display shark than meet one while snorkeling.]

I returned home refreshed and ready for computer research. Like most people I travel to see exhibits in other places and overlook the delights in my own neighborhood. I drive by Lyman House several times a week on my way downtown, but it wasn’t until I rebelled from my usual routine that I took the time to pay a call.

Acknowledgements:
Featured Image: Hawai’i Visitors Bureau sign for Lyman House.
All rights reserved for photos by author.

For more photos of the Lyman Museum mineral collection, see Mineral Museums. Here.

Hawaii247. Lyman House Presents Grandfathers’s House. July 13, 2009. Here.

Hilo Bay Café.

Lyman Museum and Mission House.

The Mineralogical Record.

The Lymans of Hilo. Lyman House Memorial Museum. 1979.

Isabella Bird. Six Months in the Sandwich Islands. Charles E. Tuttle Company. 1978.

The post ART & MINERALS AT LYMAN HOUSE first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Joseph Kapeau Ae`a, a member of the Royal Hawaiian Band, was an early composer in the new genre. In 1881 he composed a classic hula ku`i – Ke `Ala Tubarose, more commonly known as the Hilo March. A film of the Danish musical group called the Four Hawaiians playing the Hilo March is available on YouTube here.

Sonny Cunha wrote the first well-known hapa haole song My Waikiki Mermaid in 1903. The lyrics evoked everyone’s Hawaiian fantasies. Cunha was one of the first Hawaiian entertainers to tour on the Mainland with his own group.

Every evening I meet her

On the beach at Waikiki I greet her

Nothing sweeter nor neater

Than my mermaid of the southern seas

Chorus: Auwë ta hu-a

Should you see her in bathing

She would surely set you all a raving

Rubber necking heart breaking,

Pretty mermaid of the Southern seas.

Chorus: Auwë ta hu-a

You should see her by moonlight

She’s the cutest little thing that’s living

Kisses giving high living,

Pretty mermaid of the Southern seas.

Chorus: Auwë ta hu-a

Should you ever go riding

Don’t be foolish let her do the driving

Nothing doing just cooing,

Pretty mermaid of the Southern seas.

 In 1926 the MacDowell Sisters recorded My Waikiki Mermaid. You can listen to it on You Tube here.

In 1912 Bird of Paradise opened on Broadway featuring five Hawaiian entertainers. The New York Times called the music “weirdly sensuous.” The play toured extensively in the United States and Europe

But it was the Panama-Pacific Exposition held in 1915 San Francisco that made what Americans called Hawaiian music nationally popular. A troupe of Hawaiian musicians called the Royal Hawaiian Quartet and led by George E. K. Awai performed in the Territory of Hawaii Pavilion.

The song fueling the new craze was On the Beach at Waikiki by Charles Kaipo. Listen to it here.

 “Honi kāua wikiwiki,” sweet brown maiden said to me

As she gave me language lessons on the beach at Waikiki.

“Honi kāua wikiwiki,” she then said and smiled in glee

But she would not translate for me on the beach at Waikiki.

“Honi kāua wikiwiki,” she repeated playfully

Oh those lips were so inviting on the beach at Waikiki.

 “Honi kāua wikiwiki,” she was surely teasing me

So I caught that maid and kissed her on the beach at Waikiki.

 “Honi kāua wikiwiki” you have learned it perfectly.

“Donʻt forget what I have taught,” said the maid at Waikiki.

Hawaiian records sold more than any other type of music, and the song writers at Tin Pan Alley began churning out as many Hawaiian inspired tunes as they could.

One of these tunes was Making Wicky Wacky Down in Waikiki, recorded by Sophie Tucker in her suggestive style. Listen to her rendition here. 

 Pack up your troubles, come on along,

Where nights are dreamy and life’s a song;

In Honolulu across the sea,

Makin’ wicky-wacky down in Waikiki.

 *

Those hula dancers are sure good news,

Those joy dispensers a cure for the blues;

It’s absolutley the place to be,

Makin’ wicky-wacky down in Waikiki.

 *

No evening clothes,

Anything goes,

Believe it or not!

And when the night shadows fall,

That’s when they’re all

Getting hot,

On the ukelele!

 *

They use a moonbeam to light the night,

And every tune seems to sound just right!

It’s absolutely the place to be,

Makin’ wicky-wacky down in Waikiki.

 *

Come with me, all you wooky makers,

All you wideawakers, join me!

Oh boy, I’ve just found a spot,

Uh-huh, you’re gonna like it a lot!

 *

And it’s far away, hope in Honolulu,

Where the hula-hula greets you.

Hawaii’s the place,

Get a smile on your face!

 *

And I wanna go where they shake their hips,

That’s where the sailors all shake their ships!

You wouldn’t blame me if you could be

Makin’ wicky-wacky down in Waikiki.

*

You get a feeling of pure delight,

Your head is reeling, your heart is light,

Your eyes are dancing with revelry,

Makin’ wicky-wacky down in Waikiki.

 *

You never saw

Dresses of straw

Like they’re wearin’ there!

And all those dances they do,

There’s nothing you

Can compare;

What a revelation!

*

Hawaiian cuties with goo-goo eyes,

And they’re beauties, you’d be surprised!

You’re never lonesome for company,

Makin’ wicky-wacky down in Waikiki.

Harry Owens arrived in Hawai`i in 1934 as music director of the Royal Hawaiian Orchestra at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Owen became a father that October and wrote a song for his new daughter. Sweet Leilani became the orchestra’s signature song.

Two years later vocalist Bing Crosby and his wife Dixie Lee vacationed in Hawai`i. Crosby wanted to include Sweet Leilani in his 1937 movie Waikiki Wedding. It turned out to be a turning point Crosby’s career. Sweet Leilani won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Crosby’s recording became his first Gold Record. You can listen to Bing  sing Sweet Leilani on here.

 Sweet Leilani,
Heavenly flower,

Nature fashioned roses kissed with dew,

And then she placed them in a bower,

It was the start of you.

 *

Sweet Leilani, 
Heavenly flower,

Tropic skies are jealous as they shine

I think they’re jealous of your blue eyes

Jealous because you’re mine

 *

Sweet Leilani,
 Heavenly flower,

I dreamed of paradise for two

You are my paradise completed

You are my dream come true.

Owens and his orchestra performed Sweet Leilani in Fred MacMurray’s 1938 movie Coconut Grove. The unique sound was for many Americans the sound of Hawai`i.

Owens made the steel guitar an integral part of the new Hawaiian sound. He took his band and other entertainers, often including Hilo Hattie, touring on the Mainland. His motto: All Hawaiian, All the Time.

Owens did an even greater service to Hawaiian music by transcribing ancient and twentieth century Hawaiian songs into musical notation. Owens received the Na Hoku Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987.

Acknowledgements:

Featured  Image: Surf Riding at Waikiki by Frank Coffee. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

James Revell Carr. Hawaiian Music in Motion. University of Illinois Press. 2014.

Amy K. Stillman. Early Hapa Haole Songs. November 13, 2011. Blog.

Hapa Haole Songs. Lyrics to Hawaiian Songs Written in English 1916-1978. Here.

Makin’ Wicky Wacky in Waikiki by James Cavanaugh, Billy Curtis, Burton Lane, and Al Hoffman.

The post HAPA-HAOLE HAWAIIAN MUSIC – A SAMPLING first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.