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
Sometimes you want to getaway without going anywhere. That’s a good time to explore areas close to home that people travel hundreds of miles to visit. Last week I decided to travel thirty miles to Volcano Village, and to look at it as if I’d never been there before. The
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
Twice a week I treat myself to a morning walk around the perimeter of Liliuokalani Gardens, one of Hilo’s best known landmarks. On a perfect morning, the combination of morning sun, glittering sea, and the emerald lawn of the Japanese Garden are the perfect renewal for body, mind and spirit.
My recent visit to the Honolulu Museum of Art was prompted by two exhibits on women artists in Territorial Hawai`i. One exhibit focused on Women Artists in Hawai`i: 1900-1950, which encompasses most of the Territorial period. Both residents and visitors to the islands, these women had much to contribute to
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
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.
For generations sugar production dominated the political, economic, and cultural profile of Hawai`i. At the end of this year the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company, better known as C & H, will process its last crop and lay off its last worker. Parent company Alexander & Baldwin will divide 36,000
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.
Hapa-haole technically means half-foreign, or half Hawaiian and half something else. Musically the term refers to a type of music founded on traditional Hawaiian mele with something added. James Revell Carr suggests King Kalākaua sponsored hula ku`i, a new style of hula accompanied by western instruments, including the guitar, banjo,
On Sunday, December 3, 1939 the Hilo Tribune Herald noted that “being a very popular bride-elect of the winter season, Miss Helen Henderson is being entertained at one party after another each week by her many friends and relatives in Hilo and the Big Island. The wedding will take place
This is a story about family, love, and history, with a light touch of scandal. The story happened at the Eva Parker Woods Cottage Museum, a wooden structure that rises above fishponds to face the sea. But the story isn’t about Eva. It’s about Francis Hyde I`i Brown, a public
Kilauea Lodge may be the most famous structure in Volcano Village. Visitors and tourists comment on the excellent food and serene atmosphere. Only a mile from Volcano National Park, the lodge is a pleasant place to stay while exploring the area. Hiloans often drive approximately thirty miles southwest on Highway
Goddess Pele, creates land and destroys whatever impedes the process, whether vacant forest or inhabited towns. The land is hers, and she does with it as she likes, when she likes. The goddess can be beautiful and loving as shown here in Arthur Johnson’s depiction of Pele carrying her embryonic
ORCHIDS. The very word conjures up exotic flowers and romance. At one time, every girl hoped her escort to the high school prom would give her a large orchid corsage. Ideally, the corsage should look like this. The blossoms screamed expense, status, and an adoring boyfriend. Alas, most
In 1820 a company of fourteen New England missionaries with three Hawaiian protégés arrived at Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawai`i. Seven men, seven women – all determined to bring Christianity and American know-how to islands most of them probably couldn’t point out on a map. Two men were
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