March–April 2015

“The Life” Cel e b ra t i n g t h e a r t s, c u lt u re, a n d sust a in a bilit y o f t h e H a wa iia n I sl a nds For those who love life on Hawai‘i Island

March–April 2015 Malaki–‘Apelila 2015

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

“The Life” Celebrating the a r ts, culture, a nd susta inabilit y of the Hawa i i a n Is l a nds

March–April 2015 Malaki–‘Apelila 2015

Art 39 The Man Behind The Makery Dr. Neil Scott

By Le‘a Gleason

Business 69 Managing with Aloha: Ho‘ohanohano

By Rosa Say 79 Celebrating a Long Time Advertiser with Ke Ola Keauhou Veterinary Hospital, LLC

Health 51 Healing Plants: Vervain Don’t whack that weed!

Vervain packs a practical punch all its own

By Barbara Fahs

Home 19 Puakea Ranch Sustaining the land, and the story

By Catherine Tarleton

Land 12 From Seed to Soul: North Kohala’s Eat Locally Grown Community Initiative

By Gayle Kaleilehua Greco 33 Growing Sustainability How some Puna residents are becoming self-sufficient as lava approaches their community

By Denise Laitinen 83 Wing Beans Soar with Possibility

By Sonia R. Martinez

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Music

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73 Voices of the Bamboo The ‘ohe hano ihu, Hawaiian Nose Flute

By Leilehua Yuen

celebrate

Ocean 53 Pacific Tsunami Museum Promoting awareness and research

By Alan D. McNarie 67 Worldwide Voyage Update We are Led by a Great Man

By Pomai Bertelmann

People 25 Kona’s “Grama Lee”

By Kate Kealani H. Winter

45 Lovely Hula Hands of Sammi Fo From New York to Las Vegas to Hollywood and Waikīkī, a dancer remembers romance

By Karen Valentine 59 Every Store Has A Story The Greenwell General Store becomes ChoiceMART

By Le‘a Gleason

Spirit

life APRIL 26 - MAY 2

Visual Arts Week

MAY 3-9

Puna Music Festival

MAY 25-29

Awakening Self Expression

JUNE 27 - JULY 3

Cornerstone Doula Training

11 Leilehua

By Kumu Keala Ching

Ka Puana -- Refrain 90 Images of America HILO

By Karen Valentine

Departments

65 71 80 82 84 86 88

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Crossword Puzzle Featured Cover Artist: Sarah Week Island Treasures Farmersʻ Markets Hawai‘i Island Happenings Community Kōkua–Volunteer Opportunities Talk Story with an Advertiser

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Advertiser Index

Mahalo to our advertisers! By recognizing the value of Ke Ola for their marketing, they enable us to perpetuate and immortalize these important stories that deserve to be shared. Please visit them (in person, online, or by phone) and thank them for providing you this copy. Without them, Ke Ola magazine would not exist.

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ACCOMODATIONS Dragonfly Ranch Healing Arts Center and B & B 85 Holualoa Hostel 88 Kalani 5 Kīlauea Lodge 81 Shipman House Bed & Breakfast 43

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ACTIVITIES, CULTURE, EVENTS Aloha Performing Arts Co. Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden Botanical World Adventures Dolphin Journeys FairWind Big Island Ocean Guides Haute Trash Fashion Show Hawaii Museum of Contemporary Art (EHCC) Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Tours Home Tours Hawaii – Culinary Tours Ka‘u Coffee Festival Kohala Zipline Kohala Grown Farm Tours Kona Boys Kona Harp Ensemble Local Food & Local Farms in North Kohala Palace Theater Terry Taube Art Exhibition

84 36 37 23 66 72 42 60 87 4 16 81 68 84 22 42 2

ART, CRAFTS, JEWELRY Akamai Art Supply Blue Sea Artisans Gallery, LLC Cindy Coats Gallery Cliff Johns Gallery Donkey Mill Art Center Dovetail Gallery & Design Glass Rose Harbor Gallery Hawi Gallery Art & Ukuleles High Fire Hawaii Gallery & Studio Holualoa Ukulele Gallery Isaacs Art Center (at Hawaii Preparatory Academy) Ipu Kane Gallery Jason Wright, Artist Lavender Moon Gallery Lucinda Moran Studio Kailua Village Artists Gallery Mary Ellen Clagett, Artist Mountain Gold Jewelers Pat Pearlman Designs Pura Vida O’Kohala Quilt Passions Sassafras Jewelry & Interiors Showcase Gallery & Beads Simple Elegance Gems Susun Gallery Treasure Island Gallery of the Exotic Wright Gallery

74 76 40 58 44 64 76 49 16 43 64 44 16 70 58 52 86 77 76 64 16 63 75 58 40 41 41 70

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AUTOMOTIVE Big Island Honda BMW of Hawaii Precision Auto Repair

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BEAUTY, HEALTH, NUTRITION Bailey Vein Institute Douglas Dierenfield, DDS Grace’s Braces (Orthodontist) Joan Greco, DDS, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Island Spirit Healing Center & Day Spa Kalona Salon & Spa Kohana ili Skincare & Waxing Primordial Sound Mediation by Marlina Lee Progressive Medical Randy Ressler, DDS Reiki Healing Arts

91 60 56 88 77 31 50 87 61 46 86

BUILDING, CONSTRUCTION, HOME FURNISHINGS Aloha Metal Roofing 56 Closets ‘N Things 47 Concrete Technologies 20 dlb & Associates 14 Fireplace & Home Center 89 Hamakua Canvas Co. (Upholstery) 41 Hawaii Water Service Co. 29 Hawaii Electric Light Co. 28 Indich Collection Hawaiian Rugs 7 Mason Termite & Pest Control 54 Pacific Gunite 54 Plantation Interiors, Teak Garden & Lanai 48 SlumberWorld 63 Statements 70 Tai Lake Custom Furniture 48 Trans Pacific Design 27 Water Works 54 Yurts of Hawai‘i 46 BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Action Business Services 89 Allstate Insurance, Steve Budar 38 Ano‘ano Care Home 28 Hawaii Trust & Estate Counsel 85 Homes Group-Hawai‘i 27 Hawaii Island Recovery 50 Lee Mattingly, Attorney 34 LKS Services (Bookkeeping and Payroll) 61 The UPS Store 29 What To Do Media 3 PETS Captain’s Paw Pantry Maika‘i Veterinary Clinic, LLC Keauhou Veterinary Hospital, LLC

60 85 10

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REAL ESTATE Coldwell Banker-Daylum Properties Lava Rock Realty Kelly Shaw, RS, Koa Realty Kimi White, RB, Rainbow Properties Koa Realty Phyllis Sellens & Co. Real Estate Opportunities Ralph Harrison, World Class Properties Rebecca Keliihoomalu, RB, MacArthur | Sotheby’s The Real Estate Book

55 8 92 61 64 78 4 15 87

RESTAURANTS AND FOOD Ahualoa Farms Mac Nuts and Coffee Blue Dragon Restaurant Cakes by Korie at Mahina Cafe Flyin’ Hawaiian Coffee Glow Hawaii Inspired Foods, Products & Services Gypsea Gelato Holukoa Gardens & Café K’s Drive In Keauhou Farmers Market Kenichi Pacific Kona Coffee & Tea Kona Sweets Custom Cakes Lucy’s Taqueria Peaberry & Galette South Kona Green Market Sushi Rock & Trio

52 24 80 29 75 58 64 42 14 31 57 58 42 31 50 16

RETAIL AND GIFTS Aloha Crystals & Gems Aloha Kona Kids Basically Books Hawaii Marine Center Hawaii’s Gift Baskets Boutique High Country Farm Kadota’s Liquor Kealakekua Ranch Center Keauhou Shopping Center Keauhou Store Kick Ass Bags Kiernan Music Kings’ Shops and Queens’ MarketPlace Kona Commons Shopping Center Magic Garden Paradise Found Boutique Parker Ranch Store South Kona Macadamia Nut Co. The Spoon Shop Vera’s Treasures and Mall

74 38 43 55 47 52 42 18 30 64 52 58 32 26 52 31 78 14 21 52

TRAVEL Jet Vacation Travel Agency Mokulele Airlines

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Ke Ola recognizes the use of the ‘okina [‘] or glottal stop, as one of the eight consonants of (modern) Hawaiian language; and the kahakō [ā] or macron (e.g., in place names of Hawai‘i such as Pāhoa).

Ke Ola respects the individual use of these markings for names of organizations and businesses.

UA MAU KE EA O KA ‘ĀINA I KA PONO.

The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.

[Its sustainability depends on doing what is right.] Proclamation by Kona-born King Kamehameha III in 1843. Later adopted as the Hawai‘i state motto.

Publisher, Marketing, Operations Barbara Garcia Bowman, 808.329.1711 x1, Barb@KeOlaMagazine.com

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Aloha from the Publisher Our cover theme for this issue is mālama honua—taking care of the earth.

I was reminiscing about the first year that I became aware of what is now called the sustainability movement. It was 1972, and the third annual nationwide Earth Day celebration was observed on April 22, my dad’s birthday. I was 13 years old. My two older brothers were already environmentally aware and had planted a garden in our backyard years earlier. I can still remember the feeling of getting dirt underneath my fingernails, the way it smelled, planting the seeds, watering them, and watching them grow. I have a vivid memory of the first time we recycled glass on a large scale. My eldest brother had just gotten married and afterwards we took all the empty champagne bottles to the recycling center. I can still hear the crashing of the glass as we flung the bottles into the large bins. It had a lasting effect on me—my brothers were teaching me about being responsible for my actions, and I “got” it.

As an adult, I have strived to practice the values that are important to me, and to teach anyone who would listen. As I’ve written in previous issues, my husband Eric and I have given up most of our worldly possessions and are living off the grid, as is our employee and friend Sharon. I’ll admit it has its challenges from time-to-time, when there is not enough sun, not enough rain, or the satellite Internet goes out. We make concessions and it’s not always easy running a homebased business this way.

When former editor and co-founder Karen Valentine and I created Ke Ola, one of our goals was to tell inspiring stories about the sustainability of this land and its people. A myriad of these stories have been told in more than six years of publishing Ke Ola and we plan to tell many more, so we can help educate our readers about the amazing things that are happening on this island to perpetuate and sustain the land.

Everyone can do something, even if it’s not to the extreme that we’ve gone to. One enjoyable way to learn more about living a more sustainable life is to take tours of the farms around the island. We’ve

From Our Readers

Aloha pumehana, Barbara Garcia, Publisher

Mother Nature

by Sarah Week See her story, page 71

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

✿ Dear Editor, BEST EVER! I don’t know how you do it, but Ke Ola is my only magazine subscription and worth every penny.

Kathleen H. Capitan, New Mexico ✿ Dear Editor, Just wanted once again to say mahalo for having Ke Ola delivered to KHR [Kona Hawaiian Resort]. Moreover, we are seeing it everywhere we go, even up at Tex in Honokaa.

Keep up the great work!

Louis Harris Hawai‘i & California

highlighted the North Kohala Farm Tours, along with what some lower Puna residents are doing to prepare themselves in case the lava crosses the highway, forcing their community to be more self-reliant.

We look forward to featuring more stories of this type in future issues. If you have story ideas about any kind of sustainability projects, please email them to our editor Renée Robinson at HIeditor@keolamagazine.com.

If you aren’t ready to make the commitment to grow your own food, I encourage you to buy it at any of the farmers’ markets and local grocery stores island-wide. More of them are carrying fresh island-grown food, which makes it very easy to buy local! You can use Ke Ola as a resource as we update our farmers’ market listings in every issue. We also hope that you will experiment with the local agriculture Sonia Martinez writes about in every issue.

Please, recycle, and repurpose everything you possibly can. The County of Hawai‘i has made it so easy to recycle, and to reuse as well.

Have you seen the reuse “stores” at the tranfer stations? The one in Kea‘au, in particular, is magnificent!

When it comes to the bottom line, there really should be little going into the standard rubbish bins, between home composting, recycling, repurposing, and reusing being so easy for us all.

One of our stories in this issue is about how Manu Josiah has turned invasive bamboo which is growing on he and his wife, Leilehua’s, Hilo property into musical instruments. That’s what I call a sustainable concept!

Also, read about Kona’s “Grama” Lee, one of the early adopters of “green” practices.

I’m sure you’re going to enjoy every story in this issue as much as we have enjoyed telling them.

Mahalo again and again to our advertisers who literally make these stories come to life!

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Leilehua

| Na Kumu Keala Ching

Aia i Ha‘eha‘e Ka lehua ‘ena‘ena ‘Ena‘ena a‘ela Ke ‘ike aku Kupukupu ka ‘Ōpua I kai ala ‘Ā maila ka ‘ike

At Ha‘eha‘e A radiant lehua appears So bright indeed When observed Formed are the ‘Ōpua Upon the sea Shared wisdom

iā Papahonuamoku

Of the honor Mother Earth

Mokumoku ke aloha

Severed with compassion

I ka lani ē Maluhia laha‘ole Ke ola aku Ku‘u mauli ola I mālama ai ‘Ae wale ka pili A ke Akua Ua ola ke ola I ku‘u maka

From high above Pronounced peace When lived Deep within life That is cared for Agreed relationship Of the Highest Spirit Lived the life From the beginning

Ma ka hana iho nō

With action indeed

No nā kau a kau ē

Forever and ever

He ‘a‘ala pau‘ole Ke honi aku Ua pili iho nō ‘O ka leilehua la Alaka‘i ka ‘i‘ini O loko nei

When presented Unified indeed With the radiant lehua A desire to lead Found deep within

Nene‘e ke ola

A progressive life

I ke ‘ala Akua

In the heavenly path

Ua laha ka ‘ike

Announced wisdom

I ke ola ke aloha ē

A

Unconditional journey

Living compassionately

ia i Ha‘eha‘e, kahi ola a ke Akua i hō‘ike mai ke aloha a na kākou e ‘ike aku ai ke ‘ala o nā kūpuna mai ka ‘āina ‘o Papahonuamoku. He aloha aku, he aloha mai i loko o ke ola kānaka. Pili nō kākou me nā mea like ‘ole a ke Akua. He ola!

At Ha‘eha‘e, a place of the Higher Spirit, which represents compassion and everyone observed this path of the elders from the land of Mother Earth. Give love, receive love from within as people. A strong relationship for all creation of the Higher Spirit. Is Life!

Inspired by the radiant love of a loved one always looking upon you, love can only be observed by identifying love from within.

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From Seed to Soul: North Kohala’s Eat Locally Grown Community Initiative | By Gayle Kaleilehua Greco

T

he churning sound of mixing wet cement shovel-byshovel, two able bodies continuously mixing in rhythmic timing, are met by the words of David Fuertes, “we need ‘em, we make ‘em.” Uncle David is referring to the cement that he and his helper are preparing in order to make a trough for the pigs.

Here at the Palili ‘O Kohala farm in North Kohala, Uncle David captures a time where if you needed something for your family, farm, or business, the drive to Hilo was not always an option.

“You broke ‘em, you fixed ‘em,” Uncle remembers while feverishly mixing the cement—reminding us that there is a purpose and history in what we today call sustainability.

Palili ‘O Kohala is an agricultural cooperative comprised of primarily Native Hawaiian families. The cooperative is a natural farming learning lab and a producer of taro, pigs, and chickens.

Here, families are trained to take care of the land, grow their own provisions, and be part of a cooperative that sells their products as an income stream.

This working farm is one of several farms and businesses that participate in and support the North Kohala Eat Locally Grown community initiative that was created in 2009 in order to “Keep Kohala Kohala”—to maintain a rural, agricultural lifestyle for its residents. North Kohala has a strategy and goal in its county

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mandated Community Development Plan (CDP) to produce 50 percent of the food it consumes.

North Kohala is a geographically isolated community located at the end of the road on the northernmost tip of Hawai‘i Island. As you venture to the well-traveled towns of Hawi and Kapa‘au, you experience the green hills, the magnificent forests, the groves of macadamia nut orchards, and the possibility of a whale sighting off the coast in winter months.

The area has a population of about 6,500 residents in 1,800 households, a blend of seven diverse ethnic cultures—Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Portuguese, and Caucasian. This rich diversity brings with it the history of each culture, the stories, and the traditions that provide the knowledge for farming and taking care of the community.

In pre-contact times, Hawaiian agricultural systems in North Kohala fed a population of 30,000. During the plantation era, community life was rooted in sharing and bartering from individual homesteads and gathering and hunting from the mountains, gulches, and ocean.

The community today is still rural with 98 percent of the land zoned for agricultural use. In North Kohala, growing, hunting, gathering, and bartering is still alive and well. However, like most of Hawai‘i Island, the majority of the food bought and

consumed in the community is being brought in from outside of the state. The increasing awareness in where our food comes from, coupled with the origins of agriculture in the breadbasket of North Kohala, provide a compelling example of where history and community meet.

Andrea Dean, Project Manager of the North Kohala Eat Locally Grown Campaign, expresses her belief in sustaining agriculture and unifying the food system in North Kohala.

“For me, projects that help localize the food system also bring the community together. I think that is the heart of the local food movement. Kohala people have always traded and bartered their food. It’s a cultural exchange and builds community resilience,” Andrea says.

The campaign’s objectives include expanding agricultural tourism in North Kohala, conducting public education initiatives to increase the market for locally grown food, and expanding opportunity for both the low-income population and the farmers by offering an EBT booth at the Hawi Farmers Market.

In 2014, the Growing Agricultural Tourism in North Kohala initiative was developed as a way to attract visitors to North Kohala who are seeking an authentic, educational, rural experience in Hawai‘i and to bring an additional revenue stream to the farmers. Nothing brings the agricultural tourism initiative to life more than visiting the businesses that participate in the project.

In the hills of the ‘Iole ahupua‘a (land division), is the Kohala Institute at ‘Iole, a historic property once the homestead of missionaries Ellen and Reverend Elias Bond.

Dave Fuertes Palili ‘O Kohala

Andrea Dean Project Manager

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Signing in at the front counter, we are met by Maya Parish, Program Director, whose exuberance immediately stirs an anticipation of what is to come. As an introduction Maya shares, “We are the stewards of 2,400 acres in North Kohala on the island of Hawai‘i that includes the historic ahupua‘a, ‘Iole. Our initiatives focus on sustainability, education, arts and culture, and contemplation. We are guided by our core values GRACE.” G = Gratitude: recognize everything is a gift or a lesson.

R = Respect: be open and truly listen.

A = Accountability: take responsibility for ourselves

and the impact of our actions.

C = Courage: act with integrity.

E = Engagement: contribute our gifts to benefit others.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Of course, grace is the distinct feeling that is present as you walk the grounds at ‘Iole.

The tour explores the connection between traditional and contemporary agricultural practices through experiential learning. Walking through historic lo‘i kalo (wetland taro patch), the macadamia nut orchards, and rich vegetation, a deep respect for the ‘āina and history emanates from the property.

In the past two years of the program, more than 1,000 children have visited the property to learn the importance of culture, Keiki planting lo'i

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sustainability, values, and responsibility. Maya describes the ‘Iole Ag Journey as a way to provide families an experience of Hawaiian farming, perhaps more so than they have in their current environment; an opportunity to reflect on the stories of how their kūpuna (ancestors) grew up; and a vision of their part in perpetuating culture and sustainability.

A few miles outside of Kapa‘au is Hawai‘i Institute of Pacific Agriculture’s main farm and headquarters. The Hālawa educational farm site is located on 25 acres, rich with bamboo groves, extensive banyan tree networks, ancient lo‘i (taro) terraces, and farming operations. As part of a community outreach program, field trips for students K–12 provide workshops featuring the propagation of traditional Hawaiian and Polynesian crops, composting, and harvesting fruit and macadamia nuts. HIP Ag also hosts a two-month adult internship program offering full experiential immersion in hands-on farming and community living experience. Raising their family on the property, Dash and Erika Kur, the Directors of HIP Ag, live the daily life of organic farming while teaching children and adults the benefits of environmentally focused living.

Driving through Hawi town, we find ourselves traveling up a long windy road, past forested groves, pastures, and a barn, arriving at Lōkahi Garden Sanctuary. Located on 10 lush acres, sits a striking residential holistic healing and wellness center.

Richard Liebmann and Natalie Young, owners of the property, have perpetuated ‘lōkahi’ (harmony and balance within and without) in their retreat center, working organic farm, and tropical botanical sanctuary. From the majestic ocean views, sweeping green landscapes, a reflective pond, fresh organic produce, and happy sheep, one can imagine the possibilities of a direct healing experience with the land and elements.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Lōkahi Garden Sanctuary

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The Art of Fermentation

Jeannie-vie and Leo Woods, owners Kohala Grown Market

For people interested in the health benefits of fermented foods, guests harvest from a private orchard and garden and are then mentored in the art of making probiotic and enzyme-rich fermented foods (including fermented vegetables, kombucha, and beet kavas) at the Always in Season Farmstead perched at a 1,500foot elevation above Hawi town. Weekly tours by reservation.

Rio Polynesian Supper Club In 2014, Leo and Jeannie-vie Woods opened Kohala Grown Farm Tours and Market in Hawi. Their engaging commitment to the North Kohala agricultural community is evident as they talk about “passionate sustainability.” Farmers themselves, the Woods imagined having a local market where farmers could sell their goods and local products could be featured.

The Kohala Grown Market is a beautiful example of that vision with fresh produce, coffee, macadamia nuts, and local artisan fare. The farm tours developed as a unique way to enhance the education of visitors while supporting the farmers.

Leo explains, “People can experience each farm, meet the farmers, learn about the products, and take part in food tastings: it’s a win-win for everyone, the guests and the farmers.”

Kohala Grown Farm Tours conclude with lunch at a local restaurant that uses food from the farms visited and a stop at the market to purchase local products. In keeping with the agricultural tourism initiative, this value-added business model allows the farmers to keep farming and visitors to have an experience of where their food comes from.

As the day ends in North Kohala, there is a sense of true community, a fusion of generations teaching each other in equal measure, a cultural respect for the land, and a sustainable model for agriculture production and income. In the preface of the strategic plan for growing the local food system, the authors state, “Relationships are at the heart of a local food system.

At the end of the day it is not about the food, it is about the people who grow the food, buy the food, teach our children and teach each other. Growing a local food system is about nurturing strong relationships in order to sustain a healthy and resilient community.” ❖

Contact Andrea Dean: andrea@andreadean.com Contact writer and photographer Gayle Kaleilehua Greco: gayle.greco@gmail.com

The Coastal Oven

Sweeping views of the North Kohala coastline are the backdrop to an elegant multi-course feast with live entertainment in a rustic farm setting. Local producers are on hand to answer questions about the foods used in the meal. Dinners are the last Saturday of each month.

Palili ‘O Kohala

This farm is an agricultural cooperative that uses chemical free Natural Farming methodologies to grow taro, pigs, and chickens. The project is aimed at increasing community food self-sufficiency as well as economic development for Hawaiian families through the sales of value-added products from taro. Farm tours educate visitors about Natural Farming and the cultivation and cultural aspects of taro.

Weekly tours by reservation.

Kohala Institute at ‘Iole

‘Iole is a historic ahupua‘a that is home to a historic lo‘i kalo (taro patch), the largest organic macadamia nut orchard in the State of Hawai‘i and a Polynesian agroforestry demonstration. The farm tours include Hawaiian ‘oli (chant) and mo‘olelo (cultural history) as well as locally sourced snacks. Weekly tours by reservation.

Lōkahi Garden Sanctuary

Lōkahi Garden Sanctuary is a working organic farm, garden sanctuary, and wellness retreat that includes extensive vegetable, medicinal and culinary herb gardens, fruit and nut orchards, and small tree forests with native and “useful” trees.

Founded by husband and wife health care

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Additional information on North Kohala farm tours, culinary events and to make reservations: FarmToursNorthKohala.com

North Kohala born and raised Chef Rio Miceli serves up a six course “field-to-fork” menu accompanied by selected wine or beer pairings. The dinner is located at the private farm and garden of Starseed Ranch and begins with a walking tour. Custom dinner by reservation.

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practitioners, their farm tours can also be paired with spa and massage treatments. Weekly tours by reservation.

Kohala Grown Farm Tours and Market

Tours starts at their market in Hawi town and transport visitors in their 15-passenger van to select farms that feature exotic fruit orchards, gourmet vegetables, botanical gardens, and traditional Hawaiian agriculture. The market features a premium selection of grown and made on Hawai‘i Island agricultural products. Tours daily by reservation.

In addition to the farm tours and dinners, community events are held seasonally focused on local agriculture, culture, and culinary experiences.

The Taste of Kalo by Palili ‘O Kohala

A favorite local event featuring Hawaiian music, Natural Farming workshops and demonstrations, and an all Hawaiian lunch with food grown on the land.

This annual spring event is held at the Natural Farming Learning Lab in Hawi and is a benefit for the Palili ‘O Kohala project.

The Kohala ‘Aina Harvest Festival

This annual event held in the Fall is a benefit for Hawai‘i Institute of Pacific Agriculture’s youth education programs.

The event boasts local, organic meals, music all day, organic gardening workshops, local craft vendors, traditional Kahiko Hula performance, and HIP’s Niu Lani Juice Bar.

The Hawi Farmers Market

Open Tuesdays and Saturdays under the banyan trees in Hawi Town across from the Hawi Post Office. Here, you can talk story with the community residents, find fresh Kohala-grown produce and locally prepared foods, seasonal fresh roasted macadamia nuts from local Kohala growers, Kohala made crafts, and other unique treasures.

Puakea Ranch

Sustaining the land, and the story

| By Catherine Tarleton

T

he high green hills of North Kohala have evolved over generations, from forests and farms to blankets of sugarcane and rolling ranch country. As do most places here, Puakea Ranch has a story to tell in its current incarnation as a lovingly restored vacation homestead of paniolo cottages, 100-year-old trees, horses, goats, laying hens, and even a friendly resident pig.

At Puakea, influences of many cultures—from old Hawaiian, European, American, and Japanese—blend into one like a rich garden, fragrant, colorful, and nourishing. Surrounded by pasture overlooking the ocean, a rope swing beckons from a tall shade tree, curious chickens mutter, and three imperturbable horses graze. Visitors step into a very different place and time.

Puakea has deep roots in the Kohala District, reaching back more than 1,000 years. These lands were part of the centuries-old Kohala Field System, studied by early explorers and applauded for its terracing of the land to maximize rainfall and prevent soil erosion. Farming families may have lived here for generations growing sweet potatoes, dryland taro, bananas, breadfruit, and more.

Not far away, Kamehameha I was born in 1758, the year Halley’s Comet enlightened the night sky as a hō‘ailona, a natural sign or omen. As king, Kamehameha eventually controlled and united all the islands under one rule. Thus, Kohala was his and

Miles Away, a two bedroom bungalow with furo tub.

Painting by Mary Sky Schoolcraft photo courtesy Giselle Thompson

passed down to his descendants until 1870, when a shipwreck off Māhukona brought the Wight family to Kohala and with them the next chapter of both Puakea and Hawaiian history.

A gentleman of Scotch-Irish lineage, born in India and schooled at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. James Wight practiced medicine in Australia before setting sail to California for the Gold Rush. Shipwrecked off Māhukona, Wight and his very pregnant wife struggled to shore. Sadly, their 13-month-old daughter was drowned, and Mrs. Wight gave birth that same night, in a grass-thatched hut with their daughter’s body in the next room.

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After a tragic beginning, the Wights made a home in Kohala and raised six children. The doctor opened a shop and pharmacy and served as a community leader, postmaster, circuit judge, representative to the territorial government, and member of the house of nobles. Wight eventually bought Puakea from Kamehameha’s granddaughter. He planted sugarcane, built a processing mill, and began raising cattle, as well. As did most planters at the time, Wight brought in laborers—part of a wave of 185,000 Japanese immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th Century.

The wave included Zenjiro Kawamoto and wife Wasa Watabayashi from Hiroshima. They moved into what is today called the “Cowboy House.” They converted it into a bunkhouse for single men, with a separate cookhouse, privy, and bathing house with a traditional Japanese furo tub.

Puakea’s organic garden allows guests to share in the fresh vegetables and herbs.

Children especially love to pick their own food and work with their hands in the earth.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Angus welcomes guests from the comfortable lānai at the Cowboy House, a former dorm for single cowboys

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The Kawamotos raised three children at Puakea: Yoshi, Masa, and Thelma, who grew up with other paniolo families. The Kawamotos oversaw Ranch operations for four generations.

More cottages sprang up and Yoshi built his own home (now “Yoshi’s House”) in the 1940s, about the same time Parker Ranch purchased Puakea. In the 1980s, they sold Puakea and some 200 acres to a local developer who planned a subdivision.

Things changed. The Kawamoto family and others moved away.

Though some of the cottages were rented out, Puakea was all but forgotten.

James Cottage is a cozy suite exclusively set apart. Complete with separate bath house and hot tub, it’s a romantic retreat for two.

Then in 2005, Christie Cash, owner-operator of a successful post-production studio in Los Angeles, was driven by her selfproclaimed love affair with Hawai‘i to look for a unique piece of real estate. Her idea was to create a “low impact, ecominded, low-density place for families that was an alternative to the resorts.”

While viewing a nearby property, Christie caught her first glimpse of Puakea’s tree-lined drive and graceful rock walls. She found and contacted the owner, asked for a walk-through, and the next chapter was underway.

“It was nearly abandoned,” says Christie. “I got to walk around and go in the little houses... I was completely taken. My vision adapted to the property.”

Christie says that consultants and contractors encouraged her to bulldoze the cottages and start over. Friends also had doubts: giving up a prosperous career, uprooting two children and her commercial editor husband Jay Nelson for a falling down cowboy compound on Hawai‘i Island. Undeterred, they moved forward.

By the next term, both kids were enrolled in Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy, Jay was commuting back to the West Coast for work, and Christie was knee-deep in restoration.

In the foyer of Yoshi’s House is an authentic Hawaiian tree saddle made by Yoshi’s brother Alvin.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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ORGANIC

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“It needed so much work, so much historical research,” says Christie. “I gave my time to talk about the land, experience the land, and adapt the vision based on the land.”

Part of her research included meetings with the North Kohala Community Resource Center as to what would make the community happy with the historic property. She was introduced to Margaret Kawamoto, Yoshi’s wife, who gave Christie copies of family photos, and relived stories of happy days at the Ranch.

“I have so much love and respect for her,” says Christie.

Deciding to keep Puakea Puakea as much as possible, she went to great lengths to restore every square inch of roof, floors, walls, and more. Where it couldn’t be saved, it was replaced with recycled vintage materials from the same era and the same region, when possible.

In October 2007, Puakea Ranch welcomed its first guests into Yoshi’s House (two-bedroom with pool) and Cowboy House (three-bedroom with hot tub). Later, they would open the intimate “James Cottage” suite with hot tub and “Miles Away,” a spacious two-bedroom with large lanai, pūne‘e (Hawaiian daybed), plunge pool, and waterfall.

Perhaps inspired by her movie background, Christie immaculately detailed the bungalows, allowing fantasy to play out in crafted stage settings rather than mere rooms. Four-poster beds, revitalized ranch kitchens, and cowhide rugs give a sense of place. Just inside the door of Yoshi’s House is a Hawaiian tree saddle—made by his brother Alvin—draped with lei. Family photos remind visitors they are between the walls of history.

Kids have the run of green lawns with swings and fruit trees plus the excitement of being around horses, goats, chickens,

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North Kohala has farm tours and farm to fork culinary events for the whole family!

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

TARO

C U LT I VAT I O N

H AWA I I A N

FARMS AL

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TRADITIONAL

Freshwater plunge pool with trickling waterfall adjacent to Miles Away cottage has a gently sloping entry

dogs, and a pig. Families can go swimming, pick herbs and vegetables from the community garden, or get fresh eggs from the bin at the chicken coop. And with more than a nod to modern convenience, each bungalow has high speed wireless Internet, telephone, cable television, and the “Toy Box,” a lending library of Lego®s and lots more.

If the Ranch bungalow is a work of art, the bathhouse is a masterpiece. Set within the footprint of the original, today’s bathhouses are updated with slate tile walls, smooth, pebbly floors, and elegant fixtures. Yoshi’s House has an indulgent copper tub for two and rainshower with ocean view; Miles Away has a modern Japanese two-person soaking tub. Crafted by a specialized carpenter, the bathhouses have rough-hewn wooden shelving and toiletry nooks and fixtures in wood and bamboo (some harvested from the property). Framed art, cushy, monogrammed towels, and locally made bath products add to the serenity of luxury-spa-meets-upcountry-rustic.

With brains as well as beauty, Puakea remains true to Christie’s vision for a low-impact, eco-minded resort alternative—applying sustainable practices from the past to the present. To save electricity, cottages are naturally cool, with no air-conditioning; energy-efficient lighting and appliances are used throughout.

Yoshi’s House was the first to have solar power, with more planned, to enable the Ranch to transition completely “off grid.”

Guests are encouraged to hang beach towels and swimsuits on their clotheslines—prepped with whimsically painted clothespins by a local folk artist.

Water is conserved with low-flow toilets, faucets, showers, and washing machines, and visitors participate by reasonably reusing

Fresh eggs are gathered every morning and placed in a convenient bin for guests to help themselves

Interacting with farm animals— Pili the pig, goats, chickens, horses and dogs—is a favorite for (human) kids

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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Puakea Ranch is a unique location for weddings, elopements, vow renewals, and romantic getaways

History, craftsmanship, and sustainability all nourish Christie’s vision and the remarkable sense of place at Puakea Ranch.

Says Christie, “It’s really beautiful, and really simple. You can’t reproduce that. It doesn’t translate.”

Puakea Ranch is located just off Akoni Pule Highway in the North Kohala district, two miles south of Hawi. ❖ For more information and reservations: PuakeaRanch.com, 808.315.0805 Contact writer and photographer Catherine Tarleton: catherinetarleton@gmail.com

photo courtesy Brandon Chesbro Spectacular sunset with ocean view from the pool at Miles Away photo courtesy Andrew Hara

bed and bath linens. Gray water is recycled in the gardens and landscaping, much of which is “xeriscaped,” using plants native to the region with lower water needs.

Cottages are equipped with recycling bins; sink-top composters; eco-friendly cleaning products and durable plates, cups, glasses, etc., as opposed to disposable. Christie and her team always recommend shopping at farmers markets in Hawi and elsewhere for fresh local food and flowers to support both economy and environment. Additionally, some bath products, room accessories, art, and other items are purchased from island makers, connecting a visitor more closely with the community— whether they are entirely aware or not.

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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Father Lio celebrating Grama Lee’s 90th birthday, June 29, 2007 on the grounds of Hulihe‘e Palace.

Grama Lee with grandson Jeff and his wife Marlina at Hulihe‘e Palace.

Irene as a child in England.

he first thing you might notice about Grama Lee is the fire in her eyes. It matches the colorful language that she uses freely in conversation. Grama Lee, now 97 years old, was born Irene Pearl Potbury and named after St. Irenaeus, whose feast day is the day before her birthday, and Pearl White, the adventurous actress of the Perils of Pauline movies. She combines some of both namesakes into a charming, tell-it-like-it-is character well loved in Kona.

She grew up believing that she was English by birth, yet Irene learned later that she was actually born in Honolulu and at five months old taken by her mother and English father to live in England. She says, smiling, “I was a cute baby—but a cuter one now.”

During her childhood in England, she gained a reputation as a girl who played with fire. Taking a stick from the fireplace, she

| By Kate Kealani H. Winter

would set the curtains ablaze, acquiring a reputation as a fire starter that made it difficult for her mother to find places to rent.

When she was five years old in 1922, she and her mother returned to Honolulu without her father and moved in with her grandmother. Her mother had to go to work, so Irene was sent to Sacred Heart boarding school, spending only visitors’ days at her grandmother’s house. It was an all-girl school and even though Irene begged to be allowed to go to school where there were boys, she stayed at Sacred Heart until she graduated.

Adventurous and independent, Irene enjoyed her youth in Honolulu despite the rigid discipline at the Catholic school. As a left-handed student, she was forced to use her right hand to write, but she remembers being a very popular partner at jacks and beanbag games because of her dexterity. She played volleyball and baseball, but never hooky—if you were sick, you had to stay in bed all day doing nothing—not at all Irene’s style.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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A bit of a scamp, Irene was a teenager when President Roosevelt visited Hawai‘i in 1934. On his drive along the Pali road to the North Shore, the motorcade passed Kawananakoa School where she had briefly been a student. Irene climbed into a tree for a better view, and in her enthusiasm and daring, she went too high and couldn’t get back down. The fire department had to be called to the rescue.

While other girls were hiding out in the girls’ bathroom “smoking” rolled up newspaper for practice, she preferred to ask her boyfriend 15-year-old Irene, 1932. to teach her to smoke. He refused, explaining, “lips that touch cigarettes will never touch mine.” She remembers that she really wanted to kiss him, so she never did learn to smoke.

Years later, an old friend from those school days reminded her of lunchtime “cigarettes” in the girls’ room, and when she told that boyfriend—who was by then her husband—that he had stopped her from smoking with his caution, he burst out laughing that he had only been joking.

In those days in Honolulu, dating meant dancing—Friday nights at the Palama Gym and Saturdays at Armory Hall. Young men paid a twenty-five cent admission, and girls got in free! She would sit at the edge of the dance floor, forcing an interested young man to come to her to request a dance while the other girls boldly asked the guys. The fellow she had her eye on was an excellent dancer who was pursued by the other girls. Irene played hardCharlie and Irene at a family wedding. to-get. It was always her way, following her own advice: “Don’t do something just because someone else is doing it!”

The strategy worked. Arthur Chuckleong Lee began courting her earnestly.

He called her “sweet”—not because she was sweet, but because she was a habit he did not want to break. The two dated for what seemed to her like a long time, but their relationship

remained chaste because Irene was afraid of getting pregnant.

As it was, her family did not approve of her being involved with a “kanaka” as they called the Hawaiian-Chinese beach boy Chuck Lee. In those days, a girl had to be 21 years old to marry without parental permission. When her father refused to give it because he did not want her to wed “that kanaka,” Irene and Chuck decided that they would not wait and instead took advantage of another law: a girl over 16 and pregnant and a willing boy were permitted to marry without parental consent, and so Irene and Chuck started their family.

She graduated from school in June and married in July at a “five pig wedding,” one large enough to need five kālua pigs in the imu.

Prejudice among races and social classes were sad facts in Honolulu back then. As an interracial couple, Irene and Chuck faced it just walking down the street. She clearly recalls the couple passing men jingling the coins in their pockets, signalling their assumption that Chuck was the pretty woman’s pimp.

In the early days of World War II, Chuck was the “boss” or warden of the neighborhood near the public baths, and he had

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

been given a baseball bat for a weapon to maintain order. Local men didn’t like haole (caucasian) soldiers, and once when a gang was preparing to beat one of them up, Chuck used his bat to stop them, choosing to fight the dislike and distrust that was common.

While those experiences are part of her life story, Grama Lee prefers to recall how the Chinese, Japanese, and hapa or half-Hawaiian families were one big ‘ohana growing up together.

They lived on Williams Street in a house with a dirt floor for which they paid $25 a month rent. There was no hot water and no telephone. The stove was a cracker can outside where kiawe wood was burned to heat water.

In addition to her own six children, she took in three of her sister-in-law’s. She smiles widely remembering her rollicking around Honolulu with all the kids in the military surplus weapons carrier that they bought after the war for $25.

When Irene was only 22, her mother was stricken with cancer, and Irene was pressed to go back home to her father’s house and take care of her. Considering her family’s feelings about her marriage, she insisted that her father build a room onto the house to create a space for them to keep her husband from being “treated like a kanaka” again. She says now that one of

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Grama with Stephanie and Malika, hānai granddaughters, at the Hanauma Bay beach concession stand on Oʻahu, which they ran from 1959-1978.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

the things she most appreciates about Kona is how democratic it is, with much less racism and class-consciousness than they experienced on O‘ahu.

Chuck was fascinated by bow and arrow artistry, even though he knew that many people considered archery “a haole sport.”

He wanted so much to learn to use a bow that he taught himself, and then he taught others, eventually starting the Diamond Head Archery Club, which was open to anyone. Irene was obviously an apt student, winning women’s archery competitions like the Diamond Head Shoot in 1952.

They worked hard together and enjoyed it when they ran the concession stand on the beach at Hanauma Bay from 1959 to 1978, meeting visitors from all over the world including the rich and famous like Johnny Carson and Elvis Presley.

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When they left O‘ahu for Hilo in 1975, it was to help out a daughter-in-law, and eventually they moved to Kailua-Kona for family reasons as well.

In Kona, Irene has been a presence at The Club since it opened in 1988. Club members didn’t expect to see an older woman in a fitness center, and her nametag said “Grama Lee,” so she became Grama Lee to everyone. The Club’s owners—her grandson, Jeff Lee and his wife, Marlina—gratefully gave her work to do at The Club. When someone needed to be scolded for breaking gym etiquette, they sent Grama Lee to do it.

She recycled and saved long before it was fashionable to be “green.” She never threw things away—not even a bucket of water—and the family often found that the exact thing they suddenly needed had been stashed somewhere by Grama Lee. She was also invaluable as the bookkeeper and personal bank Grama Lee at The Club.

her saintly namesake, she has held to her strong Catholic faith and practice. Her home at the Regency is brimming with photos, icons and symbols of the love of God and family. She says that grandson Jeff and his wife Marlina have kept her alive, but Marlina quietly adds that “her faith has kept her alive.”

When Grama Lee says “God bless you” to someone, that person feels blessed. In conversation she shifts from reverence to laughter like the quick lick of flame. When I thanked her sincerely for her generosity towards me while researching this article, she retorted, “I haven’t sent you my bill yet!”

We parted laughing, and she called out, “God bless” after me. ❖ Great-grandchildren Kyle and Kira, Father Lio, Grama Lee, grandson Jeff and his wife Marlina at The Club.

courier for The Club, walking up to the bank at Lanihau at the end of the day with receipts and deposits.

She was the “team mother” for the basketball team that The Club has had for more than 20 years, collecting the team jerseys after a game to wash them so that they would all have them for the next time. These days, she still goes to every single game they play.

One of her favorite jobs was being an important part of raising Jeff and Marlina’s children, with her home known as “the party house” where treats and good fun could be found.

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Growing Sustainability

How some Puna residents are becoming self-sufficient as lava approaches their community

S

ustainability is a buzzword bandied about by a lot of people these days. Residents in two lower Puna communities believe the region, which is facing new realities as it is impacted by the lava flow, can serve as a model for the state and the entire country.

Some people, such as Graham Ellis, who has lived in Puna for three decades, have spent years building the foundation of selfsufficient communities, working at a legislative and community level.

Others, like Smiley Burrows of Kapoho, who is involved in farming, are now rapidly expanding their work due to the lava threat impacting lower Puna.

With plentiful rainfall and relatively inexpensive land, Puna, an area that covers roughly 500-square miles, has a long tradition of agriculture and tropical flower production. More than two-thirds of all papayas in Hawai‘i are grown in Puna, and the region is also home to the Graham Ellis largest grafted tree nursery in the state.

According to a 2012 study, Puna supports 200 acres of banana production, more than 762 acres of tropical fruits, 2,709 acres of papaya, and more than 775 acres of tropical flowers and foliage (Delparte and Melrose).

Lower Puna, an area including the communities of Hawaiian Beaches, Kapoho, Pu‘ala‘a, Opihikao, Kehena, Kaimū, Seaview, and Kalapana, among others, is home to more than 9,400 residents. Because of the way several of the region’s subdivisions were planned and built over the past several decades, many of the region’s 3,891 households already use some form of sustainable energy practices, such as solar power or catchment water systems.

“We already have the highest rate of photovoltaic usage and the highest rate of water catchment systems,” says Graham. “And we can grow food year-round. We’re already at an advantage down here.”

What does it mean to be sustainable?

“Usually when people think sustainability, they think of food,” says Graham. “But food is about growing food, distributing food, and preparing food,” he continues.

Graham is one of the founders of the Hawaii Sustainable Community Alliance (HSCA), a grassroots, nonprofit organization created in 2010 dedicated to encouraging rural self-sufficiency,

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Green Mountain is a veritable Garden of Eden in Kapoho.

It’s caretaker Smiley Burrows has spent more than a decade restoring the property and increasing sustainable farming on the land. photo by Denise Laitinen

| By Denise Laitinen

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Tucked within the 256-acre property of Green Mountain lies Green Lake, one of only two natural lakes found on Hawai‘i Island. photo by Denise Laitinen

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the use of ecological practices, expanding food production, meeting the needs for affordable housing, and reducing transportation costs. The group is comprised of more than 600 members, more than half of which are Puna residents or representatives of local community organizations.

Graham says HSCA decided to focus on changing local laws in order to better address the need for affordable housing. In 2011 they were successful in getting the Hawai‘i County Council to pass a resolution addressing an alternative building code: Sustainable Habitat Building Res #167-11. The Resolution requests the Department of Public Works to allow the use of substitute materials, procedures, and alternatives in the home building process and seeks to establish waivers and exemptions for owners/ builders of rural dwellings on agricultural lands.

“The resolution said that DPW should pass an alternative building code. That was our first success,” says Graham.

The resolution is currently being reviewed by the Department of Public Works.

In 2012, the group successfully worked to have the county council pass a second resolution urging the state legislature to support a bill for sustainable living resource sites: Sustainable Living Research Site Res. #302-12.

The sustainable living research site bill was passed in both the State House and Senate last year, but failed to make it out of a conference committee. Months later, the Puna community was devastated by Hurricane Iselle.

“The hurricane was a short-term disaster,” says Graham. “The number

Smiley Burrows, caretaker of Green Mountain, is spearheading a community-wide effort for Kapoho to become more sustainable. She operates a farmers market every Friday at the entrance to Green Mountain. photos by Denise Laitinen

Part of that comes from working with elected officials. For instance, in terms of infrastructure, Senator Ruderman told Puna residents during a January legislative update meeting that he is preparing bills this session to allocate funding for a harbor and an airstrip to be created in Puna. Those projects might take years to be completed, but in the meantime, smaller business and groups are working on ways to support lower Puna.

In terms of medical care, should Highway 130 and evacuation routes become unusable, Graham says Bay Clinic will have a mobile clinic to serve lower Puna. Dr. Chris Lavinsky is moving his clinic from Hilo to Puna.

“We know that Pahoa Battery and Propane will have an outlet in Kaimū and that Kalani Honua is pursuing the opening of a commercial food store. SPACE (Seaview Performing Arts Center for Education) is planning to expand the school there,” Graham explains.

A local radio station serving the Red Road area is in the works and a network of local bulletin boards for posting community notices has already been created.

In the off weeks when HSCA is not meeting, members go on neighborhood farm tours to learn about local production capabilities. They also reach out to other organizations across the island. For instance, HSCA is in contact with a North Kohala group called No Food Left Behind, to learn about their projects gleaning food from fruit trees that are not being harvested.

Regardless of the impact of the lava, Graham says HSCA will continue to work toward creating communities where people are self-reliant, resource conserving, equitable, and ecologically restorative, while providing a good quality of life for community members and future generations.

“This is a lifestyle we need to move towards and Madame Pele is encouraging us to move towards it,” says Graham.

The lava flow is also serving as an impetus for residents in the Kapoho community to become more self-reliant.

Smiley Burrows, caretaker for the 256-acre property known as Green Mountain in Kapoho says, “My vision is to emulate a system where we are micro-economically working and the majority of the needs that we have are going to be met by the individuals that live here in the lower Puna area. We definitely have the farmers, as well as a wide array of incredibly gifted and talented people.”

As caretaker of Green Mountain, Smiley is uniquely positioned to spearhead community sustainability efforts.

Rising 400 feet above sea level, Green Mountain is a wellknown landmark in lower Puna steeped in historical and cultural

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

one lesson learned is that we can not rely on outside agencies.”

In the days after the storm, more than 33,000 Puna residents were without electricity or water; in some of the hardest hit neighborhoods, it took days before roads were cleared and people could leave their homes and neighborhoods.

HSCA began meeting weekly to address how communities could become more sustainable, bringing together a wide range of organizations and groups.

“We’ve had Hawai‘i Senator Russell Ruderman, Steve Harakami (principal of HAAS charter school in Pāhoa), former Mayor Harry Kim, representatives from local businesses, such as the Tin Shack Bakery, as well as organizations like Hawaiian Sanctuary, Kalani Honua, Hawai‘i Island United Way, the Department of Health, the Food Basket, and others.”

“Networking has proven to be the key,” Graham says. “That was a big lesson after the hurricane. Outside agencies did not know who the leaders were in the community here in Puna.”

Three weeks after Iselle, lava from the June 27 Kilauea lava flow began approaching the town of Pāhoa, sometimes advancing several hundred yards a day.

“The lava flow has been a huge wake up call,” says Graham.

“What will the new normal become if the highway is cut off?” he asks.

It is estimated that should Highway 130 and the two evacuation routes makai (ocean side) of the Highway, Railroad Avenue and Beach Road, become unusable, lower Puna residents will have to drive more than 100 miles round trip to reach Hilo via Chain of Craters Road through Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. If that scenario becomes a reality, it will create increased hardship on an economic, societal, and personal level for residents throughout lower Puna.

Faced with this very possible reality, HSCA formed 11 different committees to address everything from communications to education and medical care in terms of how the community could become more self-sufficient.

Food was such an important component it was broken down into three committees.

“It’s no good if you’re growing food that people do not know how to prepare or cook. And it’s no good if you have no way to get the food to them,” Graham says, adding that HSCA recognizes the need for more local stores, not in the traditional sense of creating shopping centers like on the mainland, but more akin to decentralized village centers, similar to the sugar plantation camps of years past.

Should the lava prevent people from reaching Pāhoa or from easily reaching Hilo, “we’ll need to buy propane and gasoline,” says Graham. “We’re looking at shared transportation and shuttle services. We’ll need services, like if we need a tire fixed or a car repaired. We’ll need a medical clinic, a school. There are no commercially zoned lots in our district for that. So how do we resolve that? We’re in the process of addressing that right now.”

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Rising to an elevation of 400 feet, Green Mountain is the first peak touched by the sun as it rises over Hawai‘i every morning. photo by Denise Laitinen

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Smiley Burrows (with pink shirt around waist) and volunteers working during a community gardening day at Green Mountain. photo courtesy Kevin Kushel

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significance. The top of Green Mountain is called Ha‘e Ha‘e in Hawaiian, meaning gateway to the sun. It’s the first peak the sun touches in Hawai‘i every morning as it rises. In 1823, missionary Robert Ellis described Green Mountain as a, “singularly beautiful scene” with “luxuriant gardens” producing bananas, sugar cane, taro, and breadfruit.

Green Mountain is also home to Ka Wai of Pele, (the water of Pele) known as Green Lake, one of only two natural lakes on Hawai‘i Island.

A midwife by training, Smiley befriended William Appleton, the owner of Green Mountain, shortly after moving to lower Puna in 1997. Since 2001, she and her family have cared for the property, slowly restoring it.

Although Ellis described a veritable ‘Garden of Eden’ when writing of his travels to Kapoho in 1823, the land had fallen out of use by the time Smiley became caretaker.

“People would literally bring their kitchen sink and squat here,” says Smiley. “We could not hold a wedding here without 10 naked hippies popping out of the woodwork.”

In 2006, Smiley and her husband, Jerald, gated the entrance to Green Mountain and increased their farming efforts.

1/2 page (3.5w X 9.75v) Proof 3: 2/3/15. ©Design Copyright by MARKETING SOLUTIONS NORTHWEST. All rights reserved.

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Four years ago, she started a Friday farmers market with fruit and vegetables grown both at Green Mountain and nearby farms.

“We started out cleaning up the banana patches, which had become overgrown. We had a large field of corn, so we decided to sell that at the market, too; then, started working on the coconut groves, and we planted lots of avocadoes.

Currently, they are growing kalo, tomatoes, arugula, pineapples, eggplant, turnips, radishes, beets, cucumbers, green peppers, among other fruits and vegetables.

As lava from the June 27 Kilauea lava flow was making its way down the hill and approaching Pāhoa, residents realized they would face increased hardships if Highway 130 became impacted by the lava flow and rendered unusable.

Last October, more than 50 area residents gathered at Green Mountain to discuss how they can become a self-sufficient community.

We asked ourselves, “What are the top 50 things you need to live in lower Puna?” says Smiley. “What are the top things that we need to live? What do we need to bring in—what can we create here? How do we go about doing it appropriately?”

Food production is a large part of becoming sustainable, which is why Smiley has made space available for people to grow their own food at Green Mountain.

“We’ve opened it up to anyone who wants to join us and start growing their own food,” says Smiley.

Volunteer gardening days are held every Monday, and nearby Kapoho residents like Kevin Kushel are already generating produce from crops planted last fall.

Like Graham, Smiley knows it is not enough to grow the food; they have to make it easily accessible to area residents. “Here in Kapoho we are in need of a community store,” says Smiley.

“We want to create a larger market for the community from Kapoho to Kalapana. We really want to be able to create a market that’s going to benefit the vendors and merchants down here if they’re blocked from accessing Maku‘u,” she adds.

Maku‘u Farmers Market is held every Sunday in Maku‘u Farm Lots. At press time, the lava was .4 miles from reaching Highway 130.

More than just growing fruits and vegetables, members of the community are looking at other way to be self-reliant.

Smiley explains, “We have a lot of pastures that could facilitate ranching to supply meat to the local community. We have the resources for our own building materials from bamboo and several different varieties of woods. We’re looking at composting systems, increasing use of solar energy, and building a green house, as well as a community gathering place.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Alternative Energy Forum hosted by HSCA November, 2014.

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For more information on HSCA:

HawaiiSustainableCommunity.org For more information on Green Mountain,

contact Smiley Burrows: 808.965.5500 Contact writer Denise Laitinen: Denise@DeniseLaitinen.com Donna Delparte, Ph.D.; Jeffrey Melrose, MURP. Hawai‘i County Food Self-Sufficiency Baseline 2012. Hawai‘i County Department of Research and Development. University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Geography and Environmental Studies Department. 25 January 2012. geodata.sdal.hilo.hawaii.edu/techgis/coh/BASELINE_ FOOD_SUSTAINABILITY_WEB.pdf

Graham Ellis speaking during the Oct. 2014 sustainability meeting held at Green Mountain. photo courtesy Smiley Burrows

“There are a lot of facets to bring together. It’s been incredible to watch it unfold and see the ability that a group of people working together can accomplish versus people struggling on their own. It’s brought us closer together and transformed our lives in a better way.”

Like Smiley, Graham sees the impending lava flow, not as a negative, but as a positive experience that is bringing about change.

“This is a great opportunity and one that only happens through necessity,” says Graham. “Many of us look at this as a chance for lower Puna to become a role model for the state and for other rural communities in the United States. That’s why it’s so exciting.” ❖ Sunset over Green Mountain. photo by Denise Laitinen

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The Man Behind The Makery:

Dr. Neil Scott

| By Le‘a Gleason

“I

Dr. Neil Scott shows the body of a steel lap guitar made at The Makery.

chips as tools for things like turning a light on and off.

“A few weeks later, I got a call asking ‘can you bring some of those things down to the annual general meeting of the crippled children’s society?’ They said, ‘we’ve got this little girl we don’t know what to do with,’ ” Neil says.

Neil had never seen disabled kids en masse before, and he remembers thinking weʻd put men on the moon yet still couldn’t do anything to help those kids.

When Neil met Jackie, he watched her therapists struggle to help her communicate.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

f you can dream it, you can do it.”

The old Walt Disney quote is very much alive today at Hilo’s The Makery, where a new workshop-meets-art-gallery inspires innovation and empowerment.

New Zealand native Dr. Neil Scott set out to become a doctor, then after a year at a University, an unexpected turn of events led him to leave school to pursue his first love: electronics.

He went on to spend the next eight years gaining firsthand experience in the field.

“During [those] eight years I did night school and ‘real work.’

That’s what I feel is missing here in Hawai‘i. The community colleges in New Zealand prepare what is the middle of our economy. They’re the technicians and the food technologists and nurses…the occupations that keep the economy going,” he says.

At 28, Neil returned to college for an engineering degree.

When he went back, he knew why he was there. Feeling a sense of purpose and helping inspire that in others would become a major theme in his life. In his mid-thirties, as head of the engineering department, he spent time helping design students learn the science and math behind their ideas which would make building them realistically feasible.

In the 70s, microprocessor technology was developing and Neil spent time teaching the general public how to use computer

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Neil shows a pile of steel lap guitar bodies he began building with a group of kids through his grant program The Invention Factory.

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“The thing about engineering is, you have to figure out what’s wrong and then you can fix it. So, I put my hand out [above her knee] and said, ‘can you hit my hand?’ I said to the staff, ‘we can teach her [to] send Morse code with her knee,’ and then I made her this little box,” Neil remembers.

He designed and built a computer system attached to a TV screen that would allow Jackie to communicate by hitting several triggers on a wooden box with her knee. When everyone gathered to watch her speak for the first time, her first words were this: N-e-i-l i-s o-k-a-y.

“I thought to myself ‘this little girl just spoke for the first time and she thinks I’m okay,’ so my life sort of did this big right angle turn,” Neil says.

He continued to work as an engineer, but found that no matter where he went, there was always an eventual pitter-patter of feet running up to him, a tap on the shoulder, and then a voice: “can you help my son/daughter?”

The first disabled adult Neil worked with was 35, fluent in five languages, and had traveled the world. Multiple sclerosis had left her lying on her back unable to communicate in any way except to blink.

After designing an eye-tracking computer system to help create written messages for people, he received a message saying: “Dear Neil, I’m pissed off at having no uppercase letters or numbers, because how can I write my book?”

“Things like that give you motivation big time…I just kept having experiences like that with people who were on a starvation diet and three weeks later were having home visits,” Neil says.

When a problem with import taxes made it difficult to continue on this path in New Zealand, Neil moved to San Francisco and hung up a sign that read: I know how to make computers work for kids.

He went on to work at California State University, Northridge using grant funding to create accommodations for disabled students and was later offered a job at Stanford, where he worked for 12 years doing research on human disabilities. “[At Stanford] I met legendary people [who] wrote the books on engineering…there were halls named after the people who wrote the books I’d studied at University,” Neil says.

Then, a friend who worked at the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa reached out. Again it was the same message: we’ve got a problem! Can you help?

This time the challenge was to keep graduates in Hawai‘i.

Neil secured a grant from the National Science Foundation and created The Invention Factory.

“We got an inquiry from the job counselor at Sacred Hearts Academy, and the normal thing is you go and talk about [engineering], but we said, ‘let’s do something different. Let’s get some toys and teach them how to make them work for disabled kids.’ We did this one Saturday and about three weeks later, the phone calls came from schools all over O‘ahu. It went from that one event to once a month…[to] every Saturday,” Neil remembers.

He figured out a way to challenge kids by presenting them with a toy, and then having them make it work without typical capabilities like sight or touch. During the first year, they made toys work for disabled kids, and in the second year, they made appliances work for the elderly. In the third year, Neil felt it was time to offer the kids a bigger challenge.

“I took my steel guitar and said, ‘when I was your age I desperately wanted one of these, and the only way to get it was to make it.’ I said the difference was that my dad had a workshop, but since they were so into computers, I’d buy a little computer controlled machine and we’d teach it how to make the parts for the guitars,” Neil remembers.

Through The Invention Factory, 20 guitars were crafted in the first year. The kids were thrilled about what they’d made, but since the guitar bodies were so large, they’d had to outsource to someone with a larger machine who could cut the wood.

“This was the perfect way of getting them motivated. At the end, they said, ‘why can’t we build a machine where you don’t have to go to somebody else to make it?’ So I got another grant and came up with The Makery,” Neil says.

Today, The Makery stands on the corner of Kalakaua Street in Downtown Hilo. The concept for the space has grown out

A display case at Hilo’s The Makery shows a variety of projects made in-house.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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Wooden pieces like this are made at The Makery through large laser cutter and Computer Numerically Controlled machines.

of Neil’s multiple passions; the desire to help the disabled; to help kids in general become capable and self-sufficient; and most importantly, to help all people learn that if they can dream something up, they can acquire the skills to build it themselves.

In a workshop behind the storefront space, large Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines do most of the work.

They operate through computer programs to administer commands based on designs. The result? Perfectly articulated steel lap guitars, just like the one Neil first built at 15.

More than 250 kids have built these guitars to date.

Today, the workshop is primarily in the production of steel lap guitars and koa wood urns. Starting off with these two marketable products is another part of Neil’s plan.

“So many of the organizations that are available to help people are struggling because their funding comes from somewhere else, so I want to see to it that [people] get involved in creating things that they can sell to make them self-sufficient, so it becomes normal that part of your business plan is ‘what are we going to be making and selling?’ My endgame for this was in five years I could step back and say this is a model resource for training and manufacturing that is driven by the community and is self-funded,” Neil says.

One person already making and selling his creations is 23-yearold Michael Nizo, who sustained a spinal injury driving off Hanalei Pier on Kaua‘i in 2004. Michael is a part of the Technology for Untapped Talent (TUT) program at The Makery and is responsible for the intricately designed wooden three-dimentional puzzles that sit in the gallery.

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This intricately carved sculpture was engraved by a CNC at The Makery.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

“Everyday I wake up and the first thing I think about is, ‘what am I going to make at The Makery?’” he says.

Joe Gimen is another TUT program member, who moved to Maui in 2006 in hopes of becoming an electrician. Two weeks before his interview, he fell off a sidewalk, resulting in a spinal cord injury which left him paralyzed from the neck down. Joe is able to design intricate patterns using computer programs like Corel Draw using special tracking software that recognizes a dot on his glasses.

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THE ISAACS ART CENTER at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy, 65-1268 Kawaihae Road, Kamuela, Hawaii. Adjacent to the HPA Village Campus.

HOURS: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Tue. - Sat. Admission is free.

For information, or to arrange group visits, call 808-885-5884.

WEB: http://isaacsartcenter.hpa.edu &

In the front-of-house, a gallery showcases the work made and sold at The Makery by its volunteers and employees, as well as work by other local artists.

Another retail element of the business is a custom frame shop where Neil hopes he’ll be able to train students to learn framing as a marketable skill.

“The group that is here has melded into this wonderful environment in terms of everyone finding their place and supporting each other. Everyone’s got this common goal of figuring out how to make this all work,” Neil says.

“We need food, water, and need to feel we’re part of something. We’ve got to make it possible for people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to earn enough, to make a living.

With these machines it becomes possible for them to make incredible things. What I see evolving is people coming through the door and saying, ‘this is a product I’ve got an idea for how can I make it?,’ ” he says.

Then, they team up. Neil provides the capital and the wisdom, and the other person is full of enthusiasm.

“I’ll give a scholarship to run the machine at one-fifth of its cost so they can start manufacturing a product, and if they make sales, they can pay another percent on the machines. Eventually, they can afford to have their own machine, and that’s when I say my part is done,” he says. ❖ For more information or to get involved: 808.933.8571, TheMakeryHilo.com, 126 Keawe St., Hilo Contact writer Le‘a Gleason: lgfreelancehawaii@gmail.com

The Isaacs Art Center features some of the finest Hawaiian and Asian art from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. All proceeds benefit the HPA Scholarship Fund, which assists promising young people from Hawai‘i in realizing their educational goals.

Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy’s 21st Biennial Scholarship Auction will be held on Saturday evening, April 25, 2015, in the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Ballroom. Hosted cocktails and auction preview begin at 5 p.m. with dinner at 6 p.m.

The main event opens at 7:30 p.m. with a live auction of fine art and specialty items.

For more information, or to purchase a ticket, contact the PICTURED: Alfred R. Gurrey, Sr., Isaacs Art Center.

Ala Moana Beach, 1915, oil on canvas.

Performing at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s Monarch Room in the 1960s with the Martin Denny Orchestra, Sammi Fo wears a traditional holokū gown with crown flower lei she made herself.

Lovely Hula Hands of Sammi Fo

From New York to Las Vegas to Hollywood and Waikīkī, a dancer remembers romance | By Karen Valentine

B

uddy Fo had an impeccable ear for music…and a sharp eye for a beautiful woman. The popular musician and Lifetime Achievement Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner from the 1960s was recognized for his tune, rhythm, and complicated harmonies.

It was no wonder he chose the most talented hula dancer to accompany his artistry.

As luck would have it, Buddy and Sammi Fo composed a beautiful love score while they were at it.

Sammi Fo was already an accomplished professional dancer and choreographer who had performed with Elvis Presley, Don Ho, and in Broadway shows, when they paired up, and she was happy to let Buddy be the star. She says that everything Buddy touched was a success that turned to gold, yet in truth, her ideas and contributions were just as valuable to the duo’s success as live performers and radio personalities.

An incomparable hula dancer and timeless beauty, Sammi Fo herself may not realize the starlight she carries on stage and the impact she has on an audience. From New York to Las Vegas to Hollywood, from Waikīkī to Maui and, finally, Hawai‘i Island, Sammi has been gracing stages and the big screen for six decades. She hasn’t lost one iota of her grace, figure, personality, or beauty, neither inside nor out. Her ability to interpret a story through hula is truly exquisite.

As a young, local girl growing up on O‘ahu, Sammi wanted to be a dancer. She often imagined she was on the big stage and organized shows with an imaginary troupe of dancers in her

backyard. She was taking jazz and tap dance lessons at Punahou School when she met another student who had been in the original Broadway cast of West Side Story. She thought, “Yes, that’s what I want to do. I want to be in a Broadway show!”

She reached for the top and moved to New York where she continued dance lessons, and it seemed everything fell Buddy and magically into place Sammi Fo for her everywhere produced she went. a lū‘au at Walking down the Kapalua street one day, she on Maui heard a voice behind her: “Hey, tita!”

(Hawaiian pidgin slang for sister). Flipping her black, waist-length hair around she answered sassily, “Who you calling one tita?”

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Buddy and Sammi Fo had fun creating the radio personalities “Maui Bud” and “Hula” for several radio stations on Maui.

It was another transplant from Hawai‘i, who directed her to the Lexington Hotel’s famous Hawaiian Room. During the ‘40s through ‘60s, the best of the best Hawaiian performers worked there.

Sammi walked in and the manager asked her if she could dance hula.

“Oh, yes, I can do anything,” she remarked. Today, she laughs at her 18-year-old naiveté and bold confidence, because in reality she had never danced hula. “I went home and thought, ‘Oh, my god. They’re gonna fire me before they hire me.’”

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In town at the time was Keola Beamer (not the famous musician of today, his uncle). He choreographed for the Hawaiian Room as well as the Broadway show, 13 Daughters.

“Keola Beamer was such a nice guy. I just loved him,” said Sammi. “I had heard about the Beamers, and was so embarrassed when he said, ‘I understand you dance hula.’ I confessed, ‘No, I don’t know how.’ He touched my arm and said, ‘Ne’ mind; I teach you.’ And that’s how I learned to dance hula.”

Sammi still uses what she calls the Beamer method, characterized by a graceful swaying and rolling of the feet.

“All the dancers were Maiki Aiu dancers,” says Sammi. “She was the number-one hula teacher and choreographer in the islands. Her dancers taught me, and later I took lessons from her when I came back to Hawai‘i.”

Sammi would also take private lessons from Keola’s sister, Aunty Nona Beamer. Along with Maiki Aiu, all three provided the hula foundation upon which she built her own style.

Sammi remembers a fire dancer at the Hawaiian Room named Kui Lee. He also became famous as a Hawaiian singer-songwriter who composed songs for Don Ho. “He used to talk about Buddy Fo and how talented he was, saying Buddy Fo this, Buddy Fo that, and ‘Don’t you know Buddy Fo?’” Another education for Sammi came with auditioning on New York’s big stages. After a series of incidents of good fortune, Sammi soon landed in the chorus of the traveling show, Flower Drum Song, and headed for Las Vegas.

“It was my dream come true,” she says.

Playing in Las Vegas was a grand new experience for the young Sammi. She met a lot of famous entertainers there and learned to survive.

“In Vegas, I heard about Martin Denny playing at the Sands Hotel. There was this good-looking Hawaiian in the group who had so much personality, and they were all so animated playing the gongs and bird calls and all kinds of exotic noise makers.

I thought, ‘That guy’s really cute.’”

She and her friends went to see the show often, and eventually they met the musicians, including Buddy Fo. He and Sammi hit it off, and they developed a casual friendship that heated up over time.

Flower Drum Song eventually closed, and Sammi decided to try her luck in Hollywood.

“My friends said to go to the Seven Seas—a famous Hawaiian night club where I got a job dancing, and that’s how I got to be in the movies, meet Elvis Presley, and be in his movies, Viva Las Vegas and Fun in Acapulco, plus work as an extra in a lot of others.” Later, in Honolulu, Sammi would become the featured solo dancer in Elvis’ Blue Hawai‘i TV special. “Elvis was very friendly and down to earth.”

Sammi was called back to Vegas when Flower Drum Song reopened. She danced in other shows, too, and spent more time with Buddy Fo. “I was so impressed with his ear for music. He could tell exactly who was out of tune in a large group. I was fascinated.”

He soon left town, however, and returned with Martin Denny to Honolulu.

“One day during an audition, I got a phone call,” Sammi said.

“It was Buddy. He asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

He was putting his popular group, The Invitations, back together and planned to make Sammi part of their show. It was the first Hawaiian music group to record on a mainland label and

Sammi dances with late husband Buddy Fo’s group, The Invitations at the Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel on Maui.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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bring the island flavor, romance, and nostalgia to audiences both in Hawai‘i and abroad. Sammi’s pregnancy with their son, Kana‘i, soon after they married delayed her for a while, but soon she was back on stage.

“Waikīkī in those days was a very romantic era. It was relaxed and all the musicians hung out together,” Sammi says.

“The dancers were all tall, slim, beautiful Hawaiian women, never overweight. The holokū was the main dress for solo hula dancers. It had a train and you had to learn to kick it as you danced. We danced everything, including comedy hula and naughty hula, all very animated. The songs were so romantic, with the feeling of Hawaiiana of that time. There were not as many people. The streets were lined with plumeria blossoms.

You’d drive down Kalakaua Avenue with windows open and the fragrance wafting everywhere.”

She joined the John Rowles Show as lead dancer and choreographer at the Monarch Room at the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel when Buddy decided to take a break from performing. She and Buddy also put together a show for Don Ho at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Sammi was in several episodes of the original TV show, Hawai‘i Five-0.

After spending 10 years in Honolulu, Kui Lee invited Buddy to join his show on Maui, where the entertainment business was beginning to boom. The couple decided to relocate and spent the next 25 years on the Valley Isle. Having perfected all the elements of a successful act with the best music, best personality and best hula dancing, they played at the Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel, Wailea Hotel, and the Maui Tropical Plantation at Waikapu, where they developed a Hawaiian country show.

Another successful gig was created when Buddy was challenged to be a DJ on KAOI radio after he criticized the station for not playing Hawaiian music. This started a period of heightened competition by Maui radio stations to have more fun and be the best at Hawaiian music. Not wanting to use his real name as an entertainer, Buddy adopted the name, Maui Bud, which had several connotations. It was a hit. Sammi joined the show as a sassy sidekick Buddy called “Hula.” Of course the audience couldn’t see them and he often teased her about her large size.

Sammi says, laughing. “After our live show each evening, we went to bed at one or two in the morning then got up at four to read the newspapers and put together the radio show. We went on at six.”

There was time for fun, too, especially when the couple rode their motorcycle around the island during full-moonlit nights.

At age 65, Buddy decided to retire, and the couple went to the mainland where they toured the country in an RV, then settled in Montana where son Kana‘i was stationed in the Navy.

That changed again when Don Ho wanted Buddy to return as an advisor for his Waikīkī show. Sammi followed, and they also performed several nights at the Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

“It was fun, we loved it,” says Sammi.

However, she adds, “The high cost of living there was difficult, and I think we both knew that Buddy didn’t have long to live.”

He had already had several heart attacks.

Friends suggested they move to Hawai‘i Island where they could buy land and build a house in Ocean View.

Even though it was miles from Waikīkī in more ways than one, the couple played live gigs around Ka‘ū with high style being the professionals they are.

Buddy passed away in April 2011 on the day they were scheduled to perform in the Spring Fling at Na‘ālehu. The year before, Sammi had been asked to teach a hula class, which she hadn’t considered up until then, she says.

“When things like that happen, I feel it’s meant to be. Now I love teaching. I don’t know what I’d do without it. Whenever I feel down, I come to the class and feel better, and I’m so glad I came.”

Sammi teaches in Ocean View her special style of ‘auana and still performs whenever invited.

“I feel each and every one of my students was chosen for me.”

Two years in a row, Sammi, who also uses the Hawaiian name Kahōkūkauahiahionalani, or Hōkūlani for short, was selected to be the Lei Day Queen for the Hilo celebration at the Palace Theatre.

“My Hawaiian name is a ‘dream name,ʻ” she says. “Translated it means, ʻThe Evening Star of the Heavens.ʻ The meaning behind the name is that I will come into ‘my own’ late in life.”

In her description, Kumu Hula Leilehua Yuen wrote, “In conveying the story, Hōkūlani is a master of translating for the non-Hawaiian-speaking audience.

“Not only do her hands tell the story, but also she translates as she dances—a difficult technique that she executes flawlessly.

While her kolohe, “frisky,” hapa-haole hula are a delight to see, her hula ‘auana are so exquisite that at her most recent performance in Hilo, she received two standing ovations.” ❖ Contact Sammi Fo: fowatproductions@gmail.com Contact writer Karen Valentine: karenvalentine808@gmail.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Sammi Fo, kumu hula and performer, dances at the 2014 holiday party for Ka‘ū School of the Arts.

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Healing Plants: Vervain

Don’t whack that weed! Vervain packs a practical punch all its own |

V

Landscaping with Vervain

Verbena officinalis and blue vervain, or Verbena hastata, are often used in landscaping. Hawaiian vervain attracts bees and butterflies, so it is an important plant for providing food and habitat for several species of pollinating insects.

EatTheWeeds.com reports the common butterflies that like vervain include skippers, viceroys, monarchs, and queens.

Vervain is a very hardy plant and can thrive on lava flows that have little soil. To introduce it to your garden, locate a young plant along the roadside or in a friend’s yard, carefully uproot it, and then transplant it to a sunny spot. Keep it watered until it becomes established.

Medicinal Applications

We know the medicinal properties of other members of the Verbena family, so we can use this knowledge to teach ourselves about the benefits of Hawaiian vervain. Botanical.com states that “official” vervain is an astringent and that it induces sweating, increases milk production, reduces muscle spasms and liver congestion, and is helpful for ailments such as painful or irregular menses, fevers, ulcers, and pleurisy. These uses are backed up in the Physician’s Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines, which adds that it also has been used for treating burns, malaria, and dislocated bones.

In Hawai‘i, vervain has been used to help heal infections such as staphylococcus: both teas and poultices were used in former times. The leaves have been used for cuts, bruises, and other uses.

Dr. W. Arthur Whistler mentions in his book, Polynesian Herbal Medicine, that the related Verbena litoralis, also known as ha‘uoi and ōwī, was more commonly used as medicine than cayenne vervain. Both plants were used in poultice form for the same medicinal purposes: that is, cuts, bruises, sprains, and rashes.

Culinary Uses

The small purple flowers taste like mushrooms. If you have a few minutes, collect a handful of these pretty little flowers and scatter them over your next salad or omelet as a colorful, tasty garnish.

A similar species, Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, is used to make a stout, dark beer in areas of Central America. It begins as tea, and then sugar and yeast are added. It’s worth a try with our cayenne vervain if you want to use some of your plants instead of mowing them.

Photos courtesy Forest and Kim Starr Contact writer Barbara Fahs: hiiakas@lava.net Sources: Physician’s Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, 2000.

W. Arthur Whistler. Polynesian Herbal Medicine. Lawai, Kaua‘i: National Tropical Botanical Garden, 1992.

Plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=STUR Botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/v/vervai08.html WildlifeOfHawaii.com/flowers/1211/stachytarpheta-spp-porterweed EatTheWeeds.com/blue-porterweed-bottom-up

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

ervain looks a bit like mint, which is its relative, so it’s easy to identify. However, it has no distinctive minty fragrance.

Called ha‘uoi and ōwī in Hawaiian, vervain’s botanical name is Stachytarpheta urticifolia. The common name “cayenne” vervain refers to the long, thin flower stalk, which is reminiscent of a cayenne pepper. Other common names include porterweed, snakeweed, nettleleaf velvetberry, and rat’s tail. It’s a perennial subshrub or herb that has been introduced to Florida, Puerto Rico, and Hawai‘i from tropical areas of Asia and the Americas.

It has become naturalized on Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, Maui, and Hawai‘i and was first identified on O‘ahu in 1908, according to the University of Hawai‘i. Vervain is commonly found on the sides of roads and in disturbed areas at lower elevations.

Plants have woody stems and can grow to six-feet tall. The flower stalks can reach 12 to 18 inches: small tubular flowers with four or five petals can range in color from white to pale blue or purple, and are borne one-by-one along the stalk. Seeds readily form and disperse, quickly creating new plants.

You might have this plant growing wild in your yard if you live near sea level on either side of the island. You might even consider it a pesky invader because of its tendency to spread.

Some people find it necessary to mow or weed whack areas where vervain can choke out other plants.

It’s also related to verbena, with which it shares a plant family, Verbenaceae. Our Hawaiian vervain is one of about 250 species included in this family. Several other species of vervain exist, some of which are native to England and the U.S. mainland.

By Barbara Fahs

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Honoka`a

A Historic Plantation Town

Take the lush scenic northern route, and you’ll find Honoka`a only 15 minutes east ofWaimea, 30 minutes northwest of Laupahoehoe, and 1 hour northwest from Hilo.

It’s the gateway to Waipi`o Valley, so come over and spend some time at our restaurants and shops.

Pacific Tsunami Museum Promoting awareness and research

| By Alan D. McNarie

I

t was April of 1946, and U.S.S. LST-731 was on her way home. In the three previous years, she’d pushed her huge bow doors up against the shores of Guam and Iwo Jima to unload tanks and troops under fire, then she’d been converted to a hospital ship and performed occupation duty in the Far East until just two months before. Now, she was a couple of days out of Honolulu on her way back to her home base in Norfolk, Virginia when a radio message caused her captain to reverse course.

On April 1, 1946, an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands sent a tsunami crashing into Hilo and the Hāmākua Coast. Hundreds of homes and businesses had been demolished in Hilo. In terms of percentage of population, no town had probably been hit harder than Laupāhoehoe, which until that day had been located on a low spit of land on the Hāmākua Coast. Much of the town had washed out to sea—including Laupāhoehoe High School and many of its teachers and students. U.S.S. LST-731’s new orders were to look for survivors.

Wall of water coming in at Keaukaha, 1946.

Johnston Collection

The ship had just finished rescuing a woman clinging to a door when someone spotted a boy in a life raft.

Fifteen-year-old Yoshikazu “Kazu” Murakami was one of the Laupāhoehoe students. A plane had spotted him earlier and dropped the raft, however he was in bad shape, suffering from

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Yoshikazu “Kazu” Murakami being rescued by David Cook onto the U.S.S. LST-731, 1946.

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dehydration and severe sunburn. The U.S.S. LST-731 dropped a cargo net over the side, but he likely wasn’t strong enough to climb it by himself. A sailor named David Cook went down the net to retrieve him.

David was only 19 himself, yet no stranger to life-or-death situations. The previous year, he’d been on the U.S.S. LST-731 when it unloaded amid the gunfire on Iwo Jima, and had watched from the deck as the marines raised the flag atop Mount Suribachi. Then, he’d been engaged in the grim business of killing Japanese. Now, he was risking his life to save a JapaneseAmerican boy.

“The first pass they went by, the boat missed me; my heart sank,” Kazu would recall later.

The ship came around for another try, even though it was now perilously close to shore. Kazu must have endured a long, agonizing wait; LSTs were capable of only ten knots, and their flat bottoms made them clumsy on the open ocean. Their sailors joked that LST stood not for Destroyed teacher cottages at “landing ship, tank,” but for “long, Laupāhoehoe. Bruce Collection slow target.”

On the second pass, David managed to snag Kazu’s arm and helped him up the net to the deck.

Another sailor, Texan Louis Beago, snapped two photographs of the rescue.

“I passed out because I had to use all my strength to be saved,” recalled Kazu, later. “That was the last thing I remember. The next

A fishing boat was beached in the Waiākea area of Hilo, 1946. Fujii Collection

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Coming Soon! thing I knew, I was in a bunk bed” in a Hilo military hospital. He was one of the lucky ones. Nineteen of his classmates and five teachers perished.

He would never have met his rescuer again if it weren’t for an unlikely sequence of events and a dedicated group of people: the founders, staff, and volunteers of the Pacific Tsunami Museum in Hilo, which has made a concerted effort to gather the stories of tsunami survivors.

It began in August of 1998, when the museum got a letter from Louis describing the rescue and including his two photos.

He didn’t know the name of the boy on the raft or the sailor on the net.

Then, a remarkable coincidence: in October of 1999, Glenn and Teresa Murakami, on holiday from California, visited the museum. Glenn saw one of Beago’s photos and wondered if it was of his father, Kazu. Then, only eight days later, David and his wife visited the museum. He recognized himself clinging to the net in Louis’ picture.

The museum invited both Kazu and David to a landmark event—its first “Tsunami Story Festival,” in which tsunami survivors recounted their tales. Neither knew that the other one was coming until they were introduced. Kazu finally got to thank the man who saved him.

The Story Festival has since become an annual event, a highlight of Tsunami Awareness Month that the museum and Hawai‘i County Civil Defense sponsors every April. This year’s festival will focus on stories of downtown Hilo and will take place on April 19 at Hilo Hongwanji’s Sangha Hall. Other events will include commemorative ceremonies for Laupāhoehoe and for Shinmachi, the primarily Japanese community that once stood where Wailoa State Park now stands; a student poster contest; a “tsunami survival fair;” and free admission to the museum on

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Ocean side buildings in downtown Hilo were pushed across the street.

Bishop Bank (Museum today) by palm tree, 1946. Tamaru Collection

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Friday, April 3. Dates for some of the events haven’t been set yet, and will be upcoming on Tsunami.org.

It’s all part of the museum’s larger mission to prevent more deaths by promoting tsunami awareness and research. Over the years, PTM has amassed a huge archive with hundreds of narratives by tsunami survivors.

“We’ve been actively trying to do that before these people pass on—especially the survivors from 1946,” says Barbara Muffler, the museum’s archivist. Survivors typically come to the museum where “we set a camcorder…and basically have them tell their story.”

The stories are transcribed and become part of the archives.

Parts are used in events and exhibits. Several appear on the website and are used in the museum’s educational programs.

Researchers can view the archived narratives by appointment.

“I’ve assisted NOAA,” says Barbara. “I’ve assisted writers and filmmakers for a fee.”

And the archive, along with the museum’s other activities, has expanded beyond Hawai‘i, thanks in large part to the museum’s science advisory council chair Dr. Walter Dudley.

Dudley has traveled the world, collecting data and advising other organizations about tsunamis. Wherever he’s gone, he’s also interviewed survivors. The archives now hold survivor narratives from four towns in Alaska that suffered a huge tsunami in 1964.

After the massive Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 14 countries, Dudley interviewed survivors and gathered data in Thailand, the Maldives, Indonesia, and India. With other PTM staffers, he has helped set up other tsunami museums in Alaska; Ranong Province, Thailand; and Kerala, India.

Today, the museum in Hilo is packed with exhibits presenting a worldwide picture of both the science and the horror of

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Debris piled high, 1960.

Pierce Collection

Destruction of homes and cars in the Waiākea area of Hilo, 1960 Polhemus Collection

Downtown Hilo after 1960 tsunami photographer Hansen

Photos courtesy: Pacific Tsunami Museum Archives Contact Pacific Tsunami Museum: Tsunami.org Contact writer Alan D. McNarie: amcnarie@yahoo.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

tsunamis. Mention “tsunami” locally, for instance, and most people think of the 1946 waves (usually a tsunami is not one surge, itʻs a sequence of them that can take place over hours) or the equally devastating tsunami that hit Hilo in 1960 and wiped out the business district of Waiākea. (How many people under the age of 50 know today that there was a Waiākea business district?).

Museum visitors also learn that in 1837, a missionary used a tsunami in Hilo as a “sign from God” to persuade native Hawaiians to convert to Christianity; that an 1877 tsunami “virtually annihilated” the villages of Kawa‘a, Honu‘apo, and Nīnole; and also wiped out a quarantine hospital on Moku Ola (Coconut Island); that six died in a tsunami in 1952; and that in 1958 a tsunami generated by a local earthquake killed two campers and injured 19 at Halapē in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. And they learn that, although the devastation to property in the 1960 quake was even more horrendous than in 1952, there were only 61 deaths, as opposed to 159 in 1946.

The big difference? An early warning system was in place in 1960.

The big killer? Curiosity. Many of the casualties resulted from people rushing down to see the waves instead of fleeing.

Driving home all these facts and making them visceral, are the stories and quotes of the survivors: Donald Ikeda, whose family barely escaped by fleeing across rooftops in 1946; Tom Goya, whose family went back to check on their three businesses after the 1960 tsunami, and found only foundation slabs; Marsue McGinnis, a Laupāhoehoe teacher who lost five housemates and was pulled out of the ocean by her future husband; a survivor who remarked of a relative, “She was all bruised up. It was like somebody took a ball peen hammer or something to her…”.

And one survivor’s advice, echoed by many others: “Get the hell out of there fast…You don’t know how big it’s going to be.” ❖

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Historic Kainaliu, Kona’s original shopping village.

Located 5 miles south of Kailua-Kona.

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Every Store Has A Story:

The Greenwell General Store becomes ChoiceMART | By Le‘a Gleason

Henry Nicholas (H.N.) Greenwell

S

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Amy Greenwell, Arthur’s daughter

tanding on the event lawn at Kealakekua Ranch Center (KRC), looking all the way down to the sun-kissed Pacific Ocean, it’s easy to tell there’s something special about this place.

In fact, a rich history surrounds KRC, and it all began with one man: H.N. Greenwell who was born in 1826 in Lanchester, England. Henry Nicholas, commonly known as H.N., was the fourth son in a large and fairly wealthy English family. However, when the time came, his oldest brother Arthur Greenwell, one inherited the family’s wealth. Without any inheritance, H.N. of H.N. and Elizabeth’s chose a Naval career, then later decided that the military 10 children wasn’t for him. At that time, he began plans for opening a business in Australia. When that didn’t work out, he made his way to O‘ahu where he saw an opportunity to ship goods between there and San Francisco, because at that time, it was Honolulu that had a more developed infrastructure than the growing California city.

After becoming ill while traveling, H.N. returned to Honolulu for care. It was during that time it became clear that Hawai‘i would become his home. While spending time on O‘ahu, H.N. worked for a small general store and that’s when he discovered a need on Hawai‘i Island.

In 1870, he constructed a small general store on the then remote South Kona coast, which served the growing

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Sherwood Greenwell, Arthur’s son

community. He began growing and selling oranges and was also one of the pioneers in coffee cultivation in the Kona district. The new store carried all the necessities for the growing population, and a few luxury items, too. H.N. and his wife Elizabeth worked in the store and H.N. also served as customs officer and postmaster. Over time, H.N. reinvested profits from the store, coffee farming, and livestock products, becoming a large landholder with ranch lands stretching from the Kealakekua ahupua‘a (traditional Hawaiian land division system) to Palani Road in the North Kona district.

Kealakekua Ranch, established in 1881, encompassed 12,000 acres of the Kealakekua ahupua‘a and was one of three ranches held by the Greenwells. H.N. and Elizabeth had 10 children, and it was their son, Arthur, who later inherited Kealakekua Ranch. By this time, ranching had grown in importance to the family’s and the community’s livelihood.

Arthur’s children, Sherwood and Amy, ultimately inherited the ranch, running cattle for many years as their primary focus.

In the early 1970s, Sherwood and Amy guided the diversification of the ranch, building the Kealakekua Ranch Shopping Center in 1973. The shopping center included a 26,000-square-foot grocery store.

Today, Sherwood’s children, Meg and Nick, are President and Vice President of the Ranch, respectively.

When the original grocery store closed in 1999, the Greenwells thought it was important for the community to continue to have a supermarket. Rhonda Kavanagh, Chief Executive Officer of Kealakekua Ranch, recalls the story: “They put out a request to all of the supermarkets serving the island, and had zero interest. They didn’t know anything about the supermarket business, but felt so strongly that there be a real supermarket up mauka that they embarked on having an independent grocery store. They’re not the most lucrative thing—as an independent you don’t get the same

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wholesale pricing offered to the larger stores—so it comes back to being of service to the community. What were all those people going to do who used to work there? Where were they going to go?”

In 2000, Meg and Nick took a gamble by opening the privately owned ChoiceMART. Rhonda says the store and the shopping center are important in the community because of the jobs they support and because of the patrons who support them. Without ChoiceMART and the KRC, South Kona would be a different place, as it is a gathering place for the local community and routine stop for people to rest and refuel when driving around the south side of the island.

Rhonda says that since she joined the team a year ago, it has been her mission to share the special story behind KRC. “To me, the great story is H.N. Greenwell, the self-made man.

He kept working and reinvesting, made smart decisions, and built a thriving enterprise that has benefited his family and the community for four generations now. I find that terrifically compelling. I thought that if people knew the story and knew how important this place is to the community—what deep roots the family and the store has in the community—and the fact that we support local products and provide jobs for about 80 team members, that people would support us back,” she says.

KRC is community oriented and strives to support charitable interests by donating to causes like the recent Hurricane Iselle recovery in Puna and fundraising drives for The Food Basket, including a $6,000 contribution in January. For over 40 years the Center has hosted completely free community events on the events lawn. The Christmas and Easter extravaganzas are a particular favorite with food, music, hula, keiki games, free family photos, and other activities.

Nick and Meg Greenwell, Sherwood’s son and daughter

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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When it comes to the store, Rhonda says H.N. would have been proud to see what the Greenwell General Store inspired.

“I don’t think H.N. Greenwell could have imagined that the family would come full circle in the general store business. That little store is what fueled the entire development of the Greenwell organization. I think he would be delighted because it would have made him proud to know that the family is still serving the community,” she says.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

A Different Kind of Grocery Store

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“What we do differently than everyone else is have an emphasis on local—we support the community by employing people and making a market for local producers: ranchers, fishermen, farmers, anyone that produces anything on the island, you’re likely to find it in ChoiceMART,” Rhonda says.

In the produce section, local fruits and vegetables line the shelves, produced by both big and small farms. On one particular day, small packages of Poha berries are for sale, delivered by two ladies who live within five miles of the store.

“If you cruise down the aisles, you’ll find plenty of local things.

This changes daily based on what our farmers have available.

Some have bigger farms and have more of a supply, other times we will buy a handful of something, like Poha berries,” Rhonda says.

On another day, there are three kinds of sweet potatoes, and just down the aisle in the dairy section, local eggs produced by a woman with a farm right down the road. Her farm is organic and biodynamic.

In the meat section, there’s a full selection of Hawai‘i Island grass-fed beef and a large selection of fish.

“I like to say we’re a farmers market every day of the week.

We are extremely proud to be that market where [farmers] can bring their produce. It’s the same way with local fishermen—a huge selection of local fish, so fresh it could be only two hours

Contact ChoiceMart: ChoiceMART.net, KealakekuaRanchCenter.com Contact writer Le‘a Gleason: lgfreelancehawaii@gmail.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

from the time it was swimming. There are a number of local fishermen who call us first. It’s a great benefit for the community, knowing there’s this market right here,” Rhonda says.

On the shelves, many unique products stand out. This is because part of the mission of ChoiceMART is to provide excellent personal service. If something isn’t stocked that someone wants, they can special order it. Extras are put on the shelf to see if anyone else wants it too, and if they do, it becomes a regular product.

“The community has really shown their support for the store— that partnership is important because if we don’t have things people want, they aren’t going to shop here no matter how compelling our story is. I think we do a great job of listening to our customers,” Rhonda says.

ChoiceMART also features a fresh-daily bakery and a liquor section so well stocked that it may as well be called its own liquor store.

When she thinks about H.N. and his compelling past, Rhonda laughs, “I think he would have been quite pleased with the wine selection. I do have a record in one of his journals about his love of French champagne. In the 1800s, to get French champagne here onto the Big Island—think about what an endeavor that would have been.”

It’s all within the mission of the original Greenwell, H.N., who once opened a small shop on the remote Kona Coast because he saw a need for supplies there.

More than a century later, his legacy remains preserved on posters in a cool, shady hallway of KRC. And as for the four generations of Greenwells he affected? There are Greenwells scattered throughout the island and the state, and you’ll find Meg and Nick on the Kealakekua Ranch Center property nearly everyday. ❖

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Visit Historic Holualoa Village

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Crossword Puzzle | By Myles Mellor

This page is for Ke Ola readers to have FUN while learning about the Hawaiian culture and this wonderful island we call home.

Some answers are in English, some are in Hawaiian.

Some answers will be found when you read the stories and ads in this issue.

Feel free to use the online Hawaiian electronic library.wehewehe.org Oh yes, you can find the answers on page 85.

Your feedback is always welcome.

HIeditor@keolamagazine.com

DOWN 1 Place of a higher spirit in Kumu Keala Ching’s

oli “Leilehua” 2 Archaeological find 3 15 year old boy who was rescued at sea when the

1946 tsunami destroyed the Laupāhoehoe school,

“____” Murakami 4 Martial arts expert 6 Study of the relationship between living things

and their environment 7 First-Aid ____ 8 You and I 14 To breathe in Hawaiian 15 It means thick in Hawaiian 17 Short variety of banana in Hawaiian 18 Hawai‘i’s Gunpowder-tree is from this family of trees 19 Hawai‘i, abbreviation 22 Threatened 23 Vegetable known as kapiki, in Hawaiian 24 Eco-friendly ranch open to guests in North Kohala 26 Hawaiian word for leader 27 Sharks that frequent Hawaiian waters 28 Negative vote 29 Popular and beautiful hula dancer, ____ Fo 30 Lua is the Hawaiian word for____ 32 Puts down 38 Royal Academy, for short 39 Medical, abbreviation

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

ACROSS 1 Iconic painter of Hawaiian history and mythology

(2 words) 5 Ke Ola’s cover artist, Sarah ____ 9 Moray sea creature 10 School of Buddhism 11 Founder of “The Makery” in Hilo and inventor

of devices for disabled people, Dr. Neil ____ 12 See 16 across 13 Rainbow’s shape 14 See 16 across 16 Hawaiian words for nose flute

(goes with 12 across and 14 across) 19 Hawaiian word meaning fruit or tuber 20 Young lady 21 Hawaiian word for a hula step with hip revolutions 23 Head cover 25 Thanksgiving side dish 27 Tropical legume vine growing abundantly on

Hawai‘i Island (2 words) 31 Hawaiian word used to refer to morning-glory vines 33 Initials for shopping center in South Kona built by

the Greenwell Family in 1973 34 Mauna ___ 35 Floor covering 36 Abbreviation at Kona airport 37 Hawai‘i Islands Kahulanui was nominated

for this award 40 Blue 41 Concept 42 Satellite receiver

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© Polynesian Voyaging Society Photo: ‘Ōiwi TV . Photographer: Nā‘ālehu Anthony

© Polynesian Voyaging Society Photo: ‘Ōiwi TV . Photographer: Nā‘ālehu Anthony

Worldwide Voyage Update

I

We are Led by a Great Man

n many ways he is the kaula—the rope that binds, the man who possesses many intuitive skills. He is one of a few who can harness the energies of the ocean, land, and sky and center them all on the deck of the canoe.

We come from a place that has some of the highest peaks on this planet. We just sailed over one of the deepest trenches that this planet has to offer as well.

In that, there is a reciprocation that we feel, sense, and carry with us from Pago Pago to Vava‘u and Tongatapu in the Kingdom of Tonga. It is profoundly deep-to-deep.

Without even knowing it, we have transformed from a life of daily friendships into that of family for life.

Once again, Hōkūleʻa has re-entered us into the watery womb that we once knew, and birthed us out into the world as brothers and sisters. A bond that we will share for the rest of time.

We are led by a great man. There are many thoughts that he owns that we will never know. The ones that he does let us enter into are the ones that sustain our life here on the open ocean. His intentions are pure and selfless; his work is seamless in fluidity and articulation.

What he demands is commanded by the ease of his voice, not playful and not fearful. Just intentionally easy.

| By Pomai Bertelmann

Our debriefs of days events are meaningful: • complete the cycle, • be diligent in your work, • keep it light, • keep the energy flowing.

His love for Hōkūleʻa can be seen as he has led us in quiet confidence to our destination.

In many ways he is the kaula—the rope that binds, the man who possesses many intuitive skills. He is one of a few who can harness the energies of the ocean, land, and sky and center them all on the deck of the canoe. He is surrounded by kūpuna both seen and unseen whispering in quiet reassurance.

© Polynesian Voyaging Society Photo: ‘Ōiwi TV . Photographer: Nā‘ālehu Anthony

© Polynesian Voyaging Society Photo: ‘Ōiwi TV . Photographer: Nā‘ālehu Anthony

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His hourly journey to the ihu, the bow of the canoe, is a solitary one. We do not follow. In our minds, it is enough to observe his ritual from afar.

Whether he’s communing with the universe or having his own quiet conversations with our Hōkū, it is a dance that is imprinted in our minds in hopes that in time that we each might choose to learn the cadence too.

Birthed out of the darkness, the child emerges and becomes the light.

Ensnared in a hei played out on the hands of great teachers, he steps into their world effortlessly and

transforms, becoming one of them.

The masters hands have willed into him the gift

of sight even in the darkest of nights.

Build and take down.

Give life and take life.

Heal where healing is needed.

Mend where mending is needed.

Grow sustenance and medicine for your people.

Be the light in and through all the shades of obscurity.

Learn more and connect with the Worldwide Voyage Hokulea.com LearningCenter.Hokulea.com Hokulea.com/track-the-voyage plus.google.com/communities/110379392890701432261

The star paths are the map, the waves his companions, the deck of the canoe his home, the wa‘a his best friend on this path of life chosen for him. ❖ Used with permission by Pomai Bertlemann.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

© Polynesian Voyaging Society Photo: ‘Ōiwi TV . Photographer: Nā‘ālehu Anthony

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Ho‘ohanohano

The value of dignity and respect.

Honor the dignity of others.

Conduct yourself with distinction, and cultivate respectfulness.

Mo‘okini Heiau

Fourteenth in an ongoing series.

Managing with Aloha: Ho‘ohanohano | By Rosa Say

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efforts, and see ourselves and our actions the way others will, or as we’re hoping for.

As former Ritz-Carlton President Horst Schulze explained, he “had to go out and create Capella Hotels,” opting out of an easier path to retirement. “I knew I should have been better…

The moment you step out of where you were, at that moment you know what you did wrong. It’s hard to see that when you are in it. Knowing what I knew, and having to sit there for the rest of my life knowing it, would’ve made me crazy.”

The good news is that we need not retire to have a similar aha moment. To diligently, purposely focus on learning Ho‘ohanohano gives you a step up in self-development and a fortuitous edge in managing. You create good habits, and your edge is an attractiveness: When you cultivate the better behaviors of Ho‘ohanohano demeanor, you wear a magnetic personality people seek to surround themselves with. You are selected to lead and chosen as mentor for all the right reasons.

Your practice of ethics, dignity, and respect is seen as personal and professional value conviction.

Much as I’d love to have you there, you need not sign up for our new supervisors’ workshop. Immerse yourself in this value by keeping it in your intentions with the guidance Ho‘ohanohano can give you. Here’s an easy self-coaching practice to make habit of: Start a WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE? notebook, wherein you reflect on how you would have better handled situations that go awry, whether one of your faux pas, or a misstep done by another manager. Intensifying notice of them helps you empathize, and better see those things which seem so visible to others.

The common thread to our series on Hawaiian values has been this: Values drive desired behaviors. If you want to work on a value that resonates as example extraordinaire of that assertion, choose Ho‘ohanohano. Make it specific to your own situation and choose precise personalized behaviors you immediately commit to as affirmations of who you are, and who you want to be as an Alaka‘i Manager. In choosing Ho‘ohanohano, you can allow yourself to be a fresh-scrubbed beginner. No manager starts off excellent, they behave with nobility to get there. ~ Rosa Say Next issue: Alaka‘i, the value of management and leadership.

Contact writer Rosa Say: RosaSay.com, ManagingWithAloha.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2013

h, Ho‘ohanohano! I’ve looked forward to showcasing this lesser known value in our series, for learning it is pivotal in self-efficacy, believing in oneself. Foundational to Alaka‘i, the value of management and leadership, Ho‘ohanohano is crucial to anyone who aspires to manage and lead.

As a pragmatic example, Ho‘ohanohano is the guiding value of every workshop I do which has been scheduled as training for supervisors and new managers. We dig into the specific scenarios they’ll encounter early in their areas of responsibility, and Ho‘ohanohano shapes our analysis with appraisal questions; “How will your decision affect that employee’s desire to continue performing well? Were you as respectful as you could have been? Will his sense of dignity be left intact? How about his selfconfidence: Will he be on sure footing going forward?”

Hanohano is dignity. To Ho‘o-hanohano is to ensure it—to make dignity happen, for yourself and for others.

Dignity and respect should not be elusive concepts in any workplace, and every manager can make them tangible and performance-measurable at any get-go. You can start the habit of talking about them as best-case outcomes in task management, in supervisory scenarios, and in decision making so that Ho‘ohanohano “gets real” in a manager’s toolkit. To practice Ho‘ohanohano is to deliver what others perceive as the Aloha Spirit and signature of working with Aloha. It’s certainly a nice-guy strategy, yet it’s one with concrete deliverables.

When managers work on Ho‘ohanohano we elevate the entire profession of management, for we work on grooming distinctive behaviors in dignity and respect as true north in our moral compass. We concentrate on setting a good example, and on gaining our credibility through thoughtfully executed task management and career experiences. Within Ho‘ohanohano, we craft favorable reputations. And what is reputation to a manager or leader? Ticketing to future influence and effectiveness.

Success seen as ethical behavior, achieved with dignity and respect, is exceptional leverage.

Yet the beauty of Ho‘ohanohano is that it’s not seen as selfishness or a calculated and manipulative behavior. As far as everyone else can tell, we are learning to be more thoughtful, and we are. As we constantly keep dignity in mind, the demonstration of this value becomes our demeanor. We’ve improved our brand with the human touch.

As we focus on Ho‘ohanohano we gain the beneficial awareness of our visibility. Managing and leading are highly visible pursuits, yet it can be difficult to step outside current

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KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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Featured Cover Artist: Sarah Week

makes you think it would be excellent to sit and have coffee with her.

When she is creating, Sarah’s visual process depends on the piece, but usually begins with a quick sketch and a rough watercolor or pastel study. If it’s a digital piece, she scans and paints over it in Adobe Photoshop. If it’s a painting, she moves on from the rough painting to adding details.

It’s hard to believe that some of Sarah’s paintings are just that. They seem more like dreamy memories of reality. And although her work already has a polished edge to it, she knows she has a lot of growing to do.

Early on, she was inspired by local artists. “I was very inspired by Herb Kāne’s iconic paintings of Hawaiian history and mythology. I also really admire Penny Gupton and Kathy Long.

Recently, I’ve been interested in studying the work of Tyrus Wong, Mary Blair, and Eyvind Earle,” she says.

For Sarah, her art will always be the thing that gives her a voice.

“It’s really important for me as a way of expressing things to people because I do have a hard time expressing myself with words. I think it’s more of a genuine expression. There is no language barrier. People can still get it if they look at my paintings hopefully, and that’s the goal,” she says.

Contact Sarah Week: 808.990.4407, SarahWeek.com, thesarahweek@gmail.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

arah was born and raised in Kailua-Kona and lived in San Francisco for about five years while attending the Academy of Art University, where she graduated with a BFA in animation.

She recently moved back to Kailua-Kona.

Although she has only worked professionally as an artist for two years, she’s always wanted to be an artist.

“I am extremely lucky to have a very supportive family who have always encouraged me to pursue art as a career,” she says.

Specifically, it was Sarah’s grandma who was a painter and always encouraged her to pursue her art.

Today, her work is a visual description of moments in nature captured in her sketchbook and then later revisited to fine-tune.

“For me, a lot of my art is a way of expressing the beauty that I see in the world. I’m always admiring nature and interacting with it, so I’m going on hikes, or going to the beach, or going for a swim, or stargazing so I can kind of access experiences I’ve had and exaggerate that so other people see what specific things that I think are beautiful,” she says.

The studio where she details her work is a modest space with two desks pushed together, one for traditional painting and the other for digital painting. Often she’s accompanied by two cats, one white and fluffy and a bit standoffish, and the other a yellow tabby with a vibrant personality. Both, however, are extremely nosy studio-mates.

And when she’s not creating? She’s drinking coffee. It’s the lilting laugh and the smile that’s constantly in her voice that

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Voices of the Bamboo

The ‘ohe hano ihu, Hawaiian Nose Flute | By Leilehua Yuen

Manu Josiah plays traditional Hawaiian flute photo courtesy Daniel Nathaniel

T

he ‘ohe hano ihu, or bamboo nose flute, is found on many island groups in the Pacific. In Hawai‘i, it is considered a sweetheart’s instrument. It is not a loud instrument; rather, the tone is intended to be soft and gentle. Traditionally, it is not played in concert for a large audience, but played in a quiet place for someone special.

A few generations back, a Hawaiian youth interested in courtship would fashion a simple flute. The romantic would take a length of bamboo and cut it, leaving a node on one end and cutting the node off the other. He would take a burning hardwood twig and char a breath hole and finger holes in the side of the flute.

The spacing of the holes and the length of the flute were entirely a matter of personal taste, determined, by what the suitor believed would please the object of his affections. He

would then carefully sand the flute and burnish it with oil. Each flute and its song was as unique as the swain who crafted it.

In the evenings, the young man would take his flute and play it softly within hearing of his sweetheart. If she liked him, she would make a point of remembering the distinct sound of his melody. Then, when he wanted to attract her attention, he would play his flute to entice her to join him. Sometimes, a young woman would make a flute of her own to entice or reply. Sitting together, the couple might play duets or whisper to each other as they played, the words disguised to other listeners, but intelligible to the pair.

According to one legend, a god taught a young chief to make the nose flute so that he could court a beautiful girl from the valley below his upland court. The nose flute is found in many Hawaiian stories of courtship and romance.

The bamboo is cut to preserve the node at one end

Manu began flaming and wrapping his flutes to protect them from the rigors of travel and from damage due to temperature and humidity change

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Manu plays flute as his wife, Leilehua Yuen, chants

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

In the Hawaiian language, the flute is known by a number of names: hano, nose flute, (Pukui and Elbert); by the more specific term ‘ohe hano ihu, bamboo flute [for] nose; ‘ohe hanu ihu, bamboo [for] nose breath (Nona Beamer lectures); and the evocative term, mea ho‘oipoipo or thing for lovemaking.

When the ancestors of the present-day Hawaiian people arrived to these islands almost 2,000 years ago, they brought with them useful plants, including two varieties of bamboo known as ‘ohe [OH-heh] in the Hawaiian language.

Bambusa vulgaris is a thick-walled lumber bamboo.

Schizostachyum glaucifolium is a thin-walled bamboo used in Hawai‘i for containers and musical instruments. As well as the nose flute, bamboo instruments traditional to Hawai‘i are the pū‘ili (split bamboo rattles) and the kā‘eke‘eke (bamboo xylophone).

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Hawai‘i’s Bishop Museum has flutes from Hawai‘i, the Caroline islands, Fiji, the Marquesas, Tonga, Niue, Futuna, and Tahiti.

The Samoan people played their courting flute using the mouth.

In Aotearoa, the flutes were made of wood or human bone. In Hawai‘i, it is used as an accompaniment to hula as well as in courting.

According to Arts and Crafts of Hawai‘i by Te Rangi Hiroa, old flutes in the Bishop Museum collection have a hole at the node area for the breath and two or three fingering holes. In the three-finger-hole specimen, one fingering hole is placed near the breath hole. Lengths range from around 10 inches to over 21 inches.

Oral tradition in various families states that numbers of fingering holes ranged from one to four, and location of the holes varied depending on the musical taste of the player. Though primarily a courting Manu and Leilehua combine his music and her instrument played storytelling in their performances privately and for personal enjoyment, it also could be used in conjunction with chants, song, and hula (Emerson, 1965).

Some kumu hula were said to have been able to make the flute sound as though it were chanting or to chant and play at the same time. photo by Renée Robinson

Manu makes his flutes from invasive running bamboo to reduce stress on traditional resources

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In 1948, Nona Beamer, her brothers, cousins, and haumāna introduced the nose flute to the North American public in Canada, the USA’s 48 contiguous states, and Mexico in an 18-month performing tour. Other than as a curiosity, few people held an interest in the instrument.

One person who was interested was Calvin Hoe, who in the early 1960s began making pre-European-contact traditional Hawaiian instruments. A water-rights activist with genealogical ties to Hakipu‘u, O‘ahu, he also is a strong proponent of Hawaiian culture and has taught Hawaiian music and instrument making to Hawai‘i’s school children in numerous settings since that time. He is responsible for much of today’s popularity of the instrument, helping students to craft almost 2,000 instruments each year through the Kamehameha Schools Exploration program.

During the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance of the 1970s, the flute—free to make (if you can find bamboo), simple to play (if you can breathe), and easy to carry (in a backpack, purse, or pocket)—surged in popularity in Hawaiian music and hula.

Largely due to the efforts of people like Nona Beamer and Calvin Hoe, in the 1970s the Hawai‘i public school system slowly began to incorporate Hawaiian culture and arts into its curricula.

By the 1980s, kūpuna (Hawaiian elders) were invited into most schools to teach traditional Hawaiian music, arts, and crafts.

In 1977, American television audiences were treated to the melodies of the ‘ohe hano ihu when Keola Beamer and Mr. Snuffleupagus (Snuffy) performed a duet during a Kaua‘i filming of Sesame Street. In general, though, the instrument was primarily used to accompany chant during ceremonies and occasionally to ornament or introduce slack key guitar pieces.

Nelson Ka‘ai of Hanapēpē, Kaua‘i was another of those who perpetuated the instrument in the 1970s. He began making traditional instruments in support of his wife’s hālau hula and has continued to do so, inspiring others to take up the art for four decades.

Near the end of the 20th Century and in the first decade of the 21st, the simple instrument began to develop a stronger following. The Beamer family of musicians was highly influential in its popularity. From the middle of the 20th Century, Mahi Beamer; Nona Beamer; her brother, Keola Beamer; and her two sons, Keola and Kapono Beamer have been incorporating the instrument into their performances.

At the close of the 20th Century, several Hawaiian musicians were incorporating the ‘ohe hano ihu into their music, but only one in the public eye used it as his primary instrument. The late Anthony Natividad was one of the kids who was first introduced to the nose flute through those 1970s Hawaiian culture programs.

In 1975, while in the fifth grade, Anthony participated in a leadership camp at Camp Erdman on O‘ahu’s North Shore.

He remembered the camp as being run by Hawaiians, with all

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Hawaiian activities. One was playing the ‘ohe hano ihu, taught by the late Uncle John Naone. Intrigued for a time, but unable to play the instrument, he lost interest and moved on to other things. Years later, out of school, an adult, and married, he was given an ocarina by his wife. It sparked a love of wind instruments that eventually led him to the ‘ohe hano ihu. Among his inspirations was Native American musician Carlos Nakai.

At the turn of the century, Anthony was breaking new ground in the music using the ‘ohe hano ihu, performing in the stage production ‘Ulalena on Maui, collecting flutes from around the world, recording CDs, and crafting instruments from the traditional bamboo as well as cardboard, aluminum cans, water bottles, and anything else he could find. His musical explorations with the instrument led him to develop a style that appealed to the modern audience, introducing the flute to the new millennials.

As a youngster, Moku Hawai‘i (Hawai‘i Island) musician Manu Josiah spent 30 years traveling around the world before returning to his roots. Originally trained in classical guitar, he left the music world for a time to serve in the US Navy, retiring as a Chief Petty Officer.

He moved back to Hawai‘i Nei, settled on O‘ahu, and began participating in the activism and cultural causes then sweeping that island. He then taught financial management skills for the US Marines before returning to his ‘ohana’s (family’s) home island in 2008. Today, he is internationally known for his skill on the ‘ohe hano ihu.

In 2003, opportunities to begin performing Hawaiian music on Moku Hawai‘i opened up and he decided to take them. In 2008, he finally realized his dream of returning to live on his ‘ohana’s home island, and moved fulltime to Moku Hawai‘i.

Manu had spent his teenage years in the Pacific northwest and developed an appreciation for Native American culture. He had attended many powwows over the years, and so made a point of going to the Hilo Inter-Tribal Powwow, then organized

by Troy and Liz De Roche.

Troy, a renowned Blackfeet flute player, invited Manu to accompany him, and the two “brothers from another mother” began experimenting with combinations of Troy’s traditional and original Blackfeet melodies and Manu’s guitar stylings.

Intrigued by the anthropomorphic qualities of the flute’s voice, Manu Manu recalls began studying the the sounds of instrument under Troy’s the native direction. Troy also played Hawaiian forest and made ‘ohe hano ihu with the music of his flute and shared that with Manu

as well. Manu found the Hawaiian flute a perfect match and began exploring its many voices and moods.

In 2011, Troy and Manu released a CD, Journey Across the Water, currently available on CD Baby. Troy plays traditional Native American flutes, and Manu plays guitar and ‘ohe hano ihu.

The melodies weave native American with Hawaiian tradition, just as the musicians do in their own lives.

Manu Josiah crafts his flutes by hand from invasive running bamboos, which have become problematic in Hawai‘i. The traditional native Hawaiian ‘ohe (Schizostachyum glaucifolium) is a clumping species.

Manu says, “The invasive bamboo used to make this flute is very detrimental to the native forest because it overtakes the environment it grows in, making it difficult or impossible for native plants in the forest to grow. This invasive species is also very prolific. So rather than pouring poison on it, which would be hazardous to our own health and environment, I use them to make instruments.”

While traditional Hawaiian flutes of old were not bound or decorated in any way, Manu decided to start wrapping his with fine twine or thread after a trip to Missoula, Montana.

Troy and Manu had traveled to Missoula for the release of Journey Across the Water. During the first night in Missoula more than 30 of the flutes Manu took for workshops and to sell cracked due to temperature and humidity changes. Throughout the night, the sharp snaps and pops of the flutes breaking kept him awake. He now binds all of his flutes before considering them pau (finished).

Two additional differences between Manu’s flutes and those of old are the tunings and the decorations.

“I started decorating the flutes with wood-burned designs because I wanted to flame-dry them. Reducing the water content makes the flutes stronger, destroys the eggs of insects that would start eating the flutes, and gives them a better tone. I also like the colors I get when I run a flame over them. At first, I was making abstract and random designs. Now, I’m finding symbols that mean something to me, that tell a story I want to add to the flute. But yes, all of the designs are still burned into the flute.”

He adds, “Today, because many people are used to hearing harmonic tunings (western tunings), I have modified the flutes to be more aesthetically appealing to the modern ear. I’ve also added more holes to give the player more options to play different songs.

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“Traditionally,” he says, “only one or two holes were used.

Flute lengths varied from ten inches to twenty-one inches.

There is no written sheet music for the flute. Just let your spirit lead you. The more you play, the more you will become comfortable coming up with original music.”

Manu says that playing the Hawaiian flute is easy and simple. “Rule number one, relax. This flute will not play if you try to force air into it. You need to be relaxed and breathe normally.”

He explains that the breath is allowed to flow across the hole, not forced into it. Think playing a soda bottle, not a whistle. ❖

Manu gives the following steps to play the ‘ohe hano ihu:

Manu’s latest release, Hano—Breath of the Flute, is available through Music.LeiManu.com.

3. Gently place the pad of your index finger over the hole closest to your face (not including the nose hole, of course).

Contact writer Leilehua Yuen: Leilehua@LeiManu.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Bibliography Buck, Te Rangi Hiroa Peter; Arts and Crafts of Hawai‘i Craig, Dr. Robert D; Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology Beamer, Winona; Nā Mele Hula Beckwith, Martha: The Hawaiian Romance of Laieikawai Gutmanis, June; Na Pule Kahiko, Ancient Hawaiian Prayers Thrum, Thomas G; Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1902 Westervelt, WD; Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes Beamer, Winona; Interviews, 1997-2007 Josiah, Manu; Interviews, 2005-2015 Natividad, Anthony; Interview, 2011

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1. Holding the flute with your right hand, place the flute under your right nostril, so that the nose hole is under your right nostril, holding it perpendicular to your nose and about 30-degree angle to the right. You can adjust to find the best tone quality.

2. Gently place the pad of your middle finger over the hole farthest from your face.

Remember, relax and don’t press too hard.

Use just enough pressure to cover the hole.

4. Gently place your left thumb under the flute for support.

5. Gently place your left index finger on your left nostril and gently apply pressure to close the airway of your left nostril.

6. You are ready to play. Gently breathe in through your mouth and breathe out through your right nostril. Remember to relax, don’t force it. You can adjust the position of the flute until you hear a nice full sound.

7. Gently lifting and moving your fingers on your right hand will give you different notes.

Keauhou Veterinary Hospital , llc

Celebrating a Long Time Advertiser with Ke Ola

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eauhou Veterinary Hospital is an AAHA accredited hospital in Kailua-Kona dedicated to the care and wellness of dogs and cats.

Dr. Jacob and Jolene Head started Keauhou Veterinary Hospital in July 2007 after purchasing an existing practice that had been in operation since 1963. Dr. Head was raised on Hawai‘i Island and they wanted to raise their children here. After numerous years of practice on the mainland, they determined that buying the practice would be the perfect means to that end.

Their practice is still located in the hills above Keauhou, and a lot has changed. When the Heads purchased it, they made it their goal to upgrade it and offer state-of-the-art medicine to the patients who come through their doors.

The upgrades on the building were no easy task. From a leaking roof to outdated equipment, they had their work cut out for them.

They added digital radiology, including digital dental radiology; ultrasound; a full in-house laboratory; and brand new surgical equipment and pharmacy capabilities to the practice. They also knew they wanted their practice to be more environmentally friendly. They added computer systems right away and went to all digital data storage for records. This was also in 2007, just before the recession, so it was challenging those first couple of years trying to keep improving because as Dr. Head says, “There is always new equipment to buy and new tools to implement.”

The Heads also set out to rebrand the practice.

Jolene knew just what to do: advertise. Advertising and letting people know about the skills and tools that Dr. Head brought to Kona would be a driving force in the success of their business.

Dr. Head has advanced training in orthopedics and specialized surgeries. He brought with him eight years of emergency critical care, general care, and surgical experience. After Dr. Head completed veterinary school, he did a small animal surgical internship and numerous courses on fracture repair Pike and soft tissue surgery. office mascot Jolene, a veterinary nurse, has worked in the industry since 1998 in both emergency critical care and general care. She began marketing to the residents of Kona,

Keauhou Veterinary Hospital, LLC 78-6728 Walua Road, Kailua-Kona 808.756.9621 infokeauhouvet@yahoo.com KeauhouVet.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Dr. Jacob and Jolene Head with Conner and Elaina

and also island wide, offering services that had not been available before. Soon, the Heads saw more and more new clientele and started a referral option for other veterinarians to send patients who needed additional medical and surgical care.

The Heads also decided to set themselves apart in another way by the first AAHA accredited veterinary hospital on Hawai‘i Island.

The Heads also wanted to be able to give back to their community and started to sponsor events they thought would best impact the community.

Both being athletes, they currently sponsor various running races and athletic events that they participate in throughout the year, offering youth awards and sponsoring events for the younger runners, as well. They have also gotten involved with the Kona Brewers Festival and the Bill Healy Foundation. They sponsor events like the HIHS Tropical Paws and offer donations to several other groups in the community. With three children of their own, they want to see that this community continues to grow and offers things for the children to do, allowing them to learn and be part of something bigger than themselves.

Keauhou Veterinary Hospital offers everything that is available on Hawai‘i Island, from general wellness for kitten and puppies, to geriatric care for the older cats and dogs, and everything in between. Some of the highlights; soft tissue surgery, orthopedic surgery, dermatology, radiology, ultrasound, laboratory, simple and complex dental care, oncology, and they even offer inspections at Kona International Airport (private aircraft and commercial airlines) for animals visiting or moving to Hawai‘i Island.

They tell their staff “you can always learn something new everyday,” and they have made it their goal to teach to others what they know.

The Heads are so grateful for all of their clients and staff. Dr. Head is especially thankful to be able to come back home to his roots and give back to the community that helped make him who he is today.

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Tai Lake Fine Woodworking—Holualoa

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or the last 35 years, Tai Lake has been creating finely crafted wood pieces here on Hawai‘i Island. Part of what sets him apart from the many excellent woodworkers that work and reside in Hawai‘i is his design ethic.

“My early background in music helps me with the rhythm and balance that is embodied in form. Goethe talked about architecture being frozen music…furniture is just a smaller version of that. A good piece has lines that harmonize and add balance to any environment,” Tai says.

Tai has a background in construction and architecture and was always drawn towards wood and woodworking.

His company was originally known for the technical and architectural woodwork that was part of the projects such as staircases, inlaid cabinetry, and special touches, and then made the move to full time furniture building in 1991.

His unique pieces far surpass the general term “furniture.”

Instead, they are beautifully articulated wood sculptures with strong design elements and are also functional. There are intricately carved gates, unique dining tables, stunning benches, and so much more.

Tai builds with wood harvested from local trees that needed to be removed, or from sawyers working with long-term forestry management plans.

Some of the common woods he builds with are mango, monkeypod, Norfolk pine, ‘ōhi‘a, eucalyptus, and what he calls, “the odd aromatic cedar” ‘opiuma.

On his website, Tai writes, “Castaneda talks about standing, breathlessly, awash in

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| Le‘a Gleason

the great possibilities that surround us. I’m ever more grateful that I’ve been able to stay on this path of making ideas real. It is a long standing conversation where the forest, the trees, the needs, skills and tools all play a part.”

His family is also a part of the building process. Wife Mary Jo keeps everyone “covered,” son Noa runs all the timber and machines and is a very talented carver, and son Jonah is with Tai in the shop full time every day. Their daughter, Kristin, is involved in creative arts as a theatrical lighting expert and spends time in the shop in their ever-expanding art metals and jewelry area.

Tai also holds the distinction of having crafted the chair the Dalai Lama sat on during his visit in 2012.

His creations really are something you’ve got to see for yourself. To view Tai Lake’s work, visit his website, Wishard Gallery in Waimea, or Tiffany’s Art Agency at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. For a real treat, book an appointment at his home gallery in Hōlualoa.

Tai Lake Fine Woodworking 808.324.1598 tai@tailake.net TaiLake.net

Isaacs Art Center—Waimea

| Le‘a Gleason

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saacs Art Center has developed a reputation over the years as one of the most important collections of Hawaiian art in the state. It’s part of Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy (HPA) and operates on a mission to raise money for the benefit of HPA students through its financial aid program, while simultaneously providing the community access to significant Hawaiian art and sculpture.

The building that houses the center was built in 1915 as Waimea’s first public school structure. Today, that history brings a certain architectural warmth to the existing display. The building was moved to its current location in June 2002, and received the prestigious 2003-2004 Historic Preservation Award from the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation after being placed on the State Register of Historic Places in March 2003. The restoration was completed in March 2004.

Bernard B. Noguès founded and operated the gallery since its inception, until Mollie Hustace took the helm in July 2014. Since 1994, Mollie served as faculty member, college counselor, and chair of the Fine Arts Department at HPA and has assisted at the Isaacs Art Center.

Her credits also include working as a visiting lecturer in art history at ‘Iolani School and a docent lecturer and gallery guide at the Honolulu Museum of Art. “Artists, students, and collectors of all ages will find treasures in this historic schoolhouse gallery of Waimea,” says Mollie.

Isaacs Art Center has its own permanent art collection with loans from private collectors as well as works of art for sale. The permanent collection includes about 30 oil paintings and 40 works on paper by Madge Tennent. Other Hawai‘i artists represented include Jean Charlot, Martha Greenwell, Herb Kawainui Kāne, D. Howard Hitchcock, Ben Norris, Louis Pohl, Huc-Mazelet Luquiens, Horatio Nelson Poole, Lloyd Sexton, Jr., and Lionel Walden.

HPAʻs 21st Biennial Scholarship Auction will be held on Saturday evening, April 25, 2015, in the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Ballroom. Hosted cocktails and auction preview begin at 5pm with dinner at 6pm. The main event opens at 7:30pm with a live auction of fine art and specialty items. To purchase a ticket, please contact the Isaacs Art Center.

Isaacs Art Center Hawaii Preparatory Academy 10am–5pm, Tuesday–Saturday 808.885.5884 IsaacsArtCenter.hpa.edu

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Hawai‘i Island Farmers Markets

Sunday and Thursday 2pm–dusk, Thursdays Dawn–2pm, Sundays Pepe‘ekeo Farmers Market.

Off Hwy. 19 on Ka‘akepa St. Produce and foods.

East

North

Sunday 9am–1pm Laupāhoehoe Farmers Market.

Next to the Minit Stop on Hwy. 19. Local products.

Saturday and Tuesday 2–6pm, Tuesdays 8am–6pm, Saturdays * Hawi Farmers Market, North Kohala, across from Post Office and Nakahara Store under the banyans.

Daily 8am–5pm Pana‘ewa Hawaiian Home Lands Farmers Market, Puainako and Ohuohu Streets

by Walmart, Hilo.

Saturday 8am–1pm Waimea Town Market at Parker School, 65-1224 Lindsey Rd., Waimea/Kamuela.

Saturday 7am–noon Waimea Hawaiian Homestead Farmers Market, 64-759 Kahilu Rd., located at Kuhio Hale Bldg. (off of Mamalahoa Hwy., two miles east of Waimea town).

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Saturday 7:30am–2pm Honoka‘a Farmers Market, Mamane St., Honoka‘a, Honoka‘a Trading Co., Old Botelho Bldg.

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Tuesday and Friday 2–5pm Kekela Farms Organic Farmers Market, 64-604 Mana Rd., Waimea. 100% organic.

Wednesday 9am–4pm Waimea Mid-Week Farmer’s Market at Pukalani Stables, site of the Paniolo Museum.

Pukalani Road in Waimea.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 7am–4pm Hilo Farmers Market, corner of Mamo and Kamehameha Ave., downtown Hilo. 30 vendors.

Wednesday and Saturday 6am–4pm * Hilo Farmers Market, corner of Mamo and Kamehameha Ave., downtown Hilo. 200 vendors.

Saturday 7am–noon * Kino‘ole Farmers Market.

Kino‘ole Shopping Plaza, 1990 Kino‘ole St., Hilo, Sunday 7am–2pm Pāhoa Village Farmers Market, Luquin’s/Akebono Theater parking lot in Pāhoa.

Sunday 6am–2pm * Maku‘u Farmers Market, Kea‘au-Pāhoa bypass road.

Daily 7am–5pm Kea‘au Village Market, 16-6550 Old Volcano Rd., Kea‘au Wednesday Evenings 5–9pm Farmers Market Kalapana end of Kalapana-Kopoho Rd, (Rte 137), next to Kalapana Village Cafe. Local grown produce, ono grinds and live music.

Saturday 7:30am–4pm Keaukaha Pana‘ewa Farmers Market. Railroad Avenue, across from Home Depot, Hilo. Homegrown produce offered by Hawaiian Homelands lessees.

Saturday 8am–noon * Outer SPACE Ho‘olaulea at Uncle Roberts Awa Club, Kalapana Saturday 8am–1pm * Hilo Coffee Mill, 17-995 Volcano Rd., Mountain View (on Hwy. 11 between mile markers 12 and 13).

South

Sunday 6:30am–10am * Volcano Farmers Market, Cooper Center, 1000 Wright Rd., Volcano Village.

Saturday and Wednesday 8am–2pm Na‘ālehu Farmers Market, Ace Hardware lawn.

West

Saturday 8am–noon * Keauhou Farmers Market, Keauhou Shopping Center, Keauhou.

Saturday 7:30am–10am Waikoloa Village Farmers Market, 68-3625 Paniolo Ave., Waikoloa Community Church parking lot across from Waikoloa Elementary School.

Saturday 9am–noon Holualoa Gardens Farmers Market 76-5901 Mamalahoa Hwy, Holualoa Sunday 9am–2pm South Kona Green Market Captain Cook, Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden Wednesday 8:30am–1pm Kings’ Shops Farmers Market Waikoloa Beach Resort Kohala Coast Wednesday 9am–2pm Ho‘oulu Community Farmers Market, Sheraton Kona Resort at Keauhou Bay Wednesday 2pm-Dark Kona Sunset Farmers Market In front of K-Mart, Makalapua Center Wednesday–Sunday 7am–4pm Kona Village Farmers Market, corner of Ali‘i Drive and Hualālai Rd.

* EBT accepted: KohalaCenter.org/ebt/markets.html Please send info on new markets or changes to sharon@keolamagazine.com

Wing Beans Soar with Possibility | By Sonia R. Martinez

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ing beans (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), also known as winged beans, Goa beans, asparagus peas, Manila beans, and winged peas, are a tropical legume vine native to New Guinea that grows abundantly in the lower and wetter areas of our island and can be found year ‘round in almost all of our island’s farmers markets.

In Hawai‘i the winged bean is an herbaceous perennial plant and recognized by those who grow it as a disease tolerant prolific grower.

All parts of the plant are edible and rich in nutrients, loaded with protein and tocopherol (an antioxidant that increases Vitamin A use in the body) also contains large amounts of potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium and other vitamins such as B-6 and B-12. It contains some carbohydrates and fiber and scant amounts of sodium.

The bean pod has four wings with frilly edges running lengthwise with slightly waxy skin. The young pods are partially translucent and produce a slight crunch when eaten whether cooked or raw. The taste is reminiscent of asparagus. They are best eaten when young and tender.

The leaves can be eaten like spinach, cooked, or in salads. The pale blue edible flowers can be used in salads or as garnishes.

Tubers can be eaten raw or cooked, and the seeds can be used in similar ways as the soybean.

Older pods get tough and fibrous, and should not be eaten, but saved for seeds. When left on the vine, the older pods will split when ready and release their seeds on their own, thus continuing the growing cycle by reseeding themselves.

Although edible, the seeds need 2-3 hours of cooking to destroy trypsin and other substances that inhibit digestion. Seeds contain 35 percent protein and 18 percent oil. The dried seeds can be ground to use as flour.

The root or tubers have a slightly nutty flavor and can be eaten raw as you would yacón, Jerusalem artichoke, or jicama. They can also be cooked as you would potatoes.

For those interested in growing the wing bean in personal gardens or farms, it can be planted as a vine on trellises or at ground level as a cover crop since it can function as a restorative and soil amendment crop. The vines can be chopped into the soil to restore nutrients into nitrogen poor soil. The vines can also become fodder for livestock…and chickens love the beans!

I had never heard of them before coming to Hawai‘i and fell in love with them instantly. I prefer to prepare them in salads or a simple sauté and have heard the tender young pods can also be pickled. They can also be added to a stir fry of mixed vegetables.

Sautéed Wing Beans

1 T olive oil, avocado, or macadamia nut oil 1 large onion, cut in half and thinly sliced 4-5 garlic cloves, chopped 1-2 Hawaiian chile peppers, seeded and sliced 1 pound wing beans Hawaiian sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 1 T soy sauce (optional)

Contact writer Sonia R. Martinez: SoniaTastesHawaii.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Wash and trim the ends of the wing beans, then cut at a slant, Oriental style. Reserve.

Sauté the onion, garlic, and chile peppers briefly in the hot oil; do not let the garlic brown.

Add the reserved wing beans and continue sautéing for about two minutes—up to five for larger beans. Do not cover the pan, as you don’t want them to sweat or turn mushy; they should be crunchy.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and if you wish, drizzle with a small amount of soy sauce before serving.

Serve hot as a side dish. Leftovers can be eaten cold as part of a salad.

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Hawai‘i Island Happenings

Wondering what’s happening around Hawai‘i Island?

Visit these businesses and organizations websites for the most up-to-date event calendars.

Konaweb

KonaWeb.com shirley@konaweb.com Shirley Stoffer, 808.345.2627

Hawai‘i The Big Island

BigIsland.org calendar@bigisland.org Sherry Bracken, 808.334.1521

Quick Eventz

quickeventz.com info@quikeventz.com

Akebono Theater–Pāhoa

Facebook.com/AkebonoTheater 808.965.9990

Aloha Theatre–Kainaliu

Aloha Performing Arts Company ApacHawaii.org info@apachawaii.org 808.322.9924

Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden

BishopMuseum.org/greenwell pvandyke@bishopmuseum.org Peter Van Dyke, 808.323.3318

Basically Books

BasicallyBooks.com bbinfo@hawaiiantel.net 808.961.0144

Donkey Mill Art Center DonkeyMillArtCenter.org 808.322.3362

Downtown Hilo Improvement Association DowntownHilo.com 808.935.8850

Food Hub Kohala

FoodHubKohala.org karla@andreadean.com Karla Heath, 808.224.1404

Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network

‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i

Hawaii Museum of Contemporary Art/ EHCC

Kahilu Theatre–Waimea

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

Kailua Village Business Improvement District

HawaiiHomeGrown.net editor@hawaiihomegrown.net

EHCC.org arts@ehcc.org 808.961.5711

Volcano Art Center

VolcanoArtCenter.org julie@volcanoartcenter.org Julie Callahan, 808.967.8222

Holualoa Village Association HolualoaHawaii.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

KahiluTheatre.org 808.885.6868

HistoricKailuaVillage.com kailuavillage@gmail.com 808.326.7820

Kalani Oceanside Retreat kalani.com 808.965.0468

Honoka‘a People’s Theatre

Kona Historical Society

Hulihe‘e Palace

Kona Choral Society

HonokaaPeople.com hpt@honokaapeople.com 808.775.0000

daughtersofhawaii.org info@daughtersofhawaii.org 808.329.1877

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ImiloaHawaii.org vrecinto@imiloahawaii.org 808.969.9703

KonaHistorical.org khs@konahistorical.org 808.323.3222 KonaChoralSociety.org 808.334.9880

Hawai‘i Island Happenings

Wondering what’s happening around Hawai‘i Island?

Visit these businesses and organizations websites for the most up-to-date event calendars.

Kona Stories Bookstore KonaStories.com ks@konastories.com 808.324.0350

Lyman Museum

LymanMuseum.org ebenton@lymanmuseum.org Emily Benton, 808.935.5021

Nā Wai Iwi Ola (NWIO) Foundation NaWaiIwiOla.org kumukealaching@nawaiiwiola.org Kumu Keala Ching

North Kohala Community Resource Center NorthKohala.org info@northkohala.org 808.889.5523

One Island Sustainable Living Center One-Island.org/hawaii hawaii@one-island.org 808.328.2452

Palace Theatre–Hilo HiloPalace.com info@hilopalace.com 808.934.7010

Society for Kona’s Education & Art (SKEA) Skea.org 808.328.9392

UH Hilo Performing Arts Center ArtsCenter.uhh.hawaii.edu artscenter@hawaii.edu 808.974.7310

Resort and Shopping Center Cultural Events Log onto websites for event calendars

Keauhou Shopping Center KeauhouVillageShops.com 808.322.3000 KingsShops.com 808.886.8811

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

Kona Commons Shopping Center KonaCommons.com 808.334.0005

Kona International Marketplace

West Hawaii Dance Theatre and Academy

Prince Kuhio Plaza

whdt.org vh2dns4@ilhawaii.net Virginia Holte, 808.329.8876

ShopsAtMaunaLani.com/events.html 808.885.9501

Kingsʻ Shops–Waikoloa

Waimea Community Theatre

WaimeaCommunityTheatre.org 808.885.5818

The Shops at Mauna Lani

KonaInternationalMarket.com 808.329.6262 PrinceKuhioPlaza.com/events 808.959.3555

Queens’ MarketPlace–Waikoloa QueensMarketplace.net 808.886.8822

Hilo Kamuela Kona Honolulu

Let Our ʻOhana Take Care of Yours

Experienced estate planning attorneys helping people achieve peace of mind, by ensuring that their wishes will be carried out and their loved ones taken care of. Visit our website www.Hawaiitrustlaw.com and give us a call at (808) 334-3343 to set up a meeting to start the planning process or to update your current plan.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

(From L-R: Randy Roth, Kumu Belcher, John Roth.)

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To submit volunteer information for your nonprofit, kokua@keolamagazine.com

AdvoCATS Methodist Church Palani, Kailua-Kona

3rd Saturday, 10am Trap, neuter, spay, community education, colony feeding, management.

Contact Cathy or Nancy advocatshawaii@aol.org 808.327.3724 AdvocatsHawaii.org

Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island Hilo, Kea‘au, Pāhoa, Pāhala Oceanview, Hāmākua

Monday–Friday, 2:30–5pm Volunteers needed for after-school youth programs Contact Gail gail@bgcbi.org 808.961.5536 bgchi.com

Calabash Cousins Hulihe‘e Palace Grounds, Kailua-Kona

2nd Tuesday of the month 1–2:30pm Men and women who support the mission of Daughters of Hawai‘i.

Contact Sabine Andresen ccousinskona@gmail.com 808.329.9555 CalabashCousinsHawaii.com

CommUNITY cares Kailua-Kona

Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm Saturday, 9am–2pm

Community Kōkua Volunteer Opportunities

Community suffering from cancer, medical hair loss, domestic abuse.

Contact Tiana Steinberg communitycareshawaii@gmail.com 808.326.2866

Donkey Mill Art Center Holualoa Holualoa Foundation for Arts and Culture

Tuesday–Saturday, 10am–4pm Volunteers help in arts education program.

Contact Anne Catlin donkeymill@gmail.com 808.322.3362 DonkeyMillArtCenter.org

Hawaii Museum of Contemporary Art (aka East Hawaii Cultural Council) Hilo

Monday–Friday, 8am–3pm Volunteer in the art galleries, performing arts, classes, workshops, festivals. exec@ehcc.org 808.961.5711 ehcc.org

Friends of NELHA Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Keahole Kona

Monday–Friday, 9am–noon Share Ocean Science/Technology using deep ocean water.

808.329.8073 EnergyFutureHawaii.org

Hamakua Youth Foundation, Inc. Hamakua Youth Center, Honoka‘a

Daily, Mon. Tue. Fri. 2–5:30pm Wed. 1–5:30pm, Thu. 2–8pm Serving Hamakuaʻs school-age kids.

Contact T. Mahealani Maiku‘i HamakuaYouthCenter@gmail.com 808.775.0976 HamakuaYouthCenter.wordpress.com

Hawai‘i Island Humane Society Kona Shelter, Kailua-Kona

Monday–Saturday, 9am–5pm Need volunteers 16 or older, parent/child team 6 or older.

Contact Bebe Ackerman volunteer@hihs.org 808.217.0154 hihs.org

Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund Wai‘ōhinu Coastline, Ka‘ū

SE Hawai‘i Island beach cleanups.

Ongoing 7:45am Contact Megan Lamson meg.hwf@gmail.com 808.769-7629 WildHawaii.org

Hospice Care North Hawai‘i Hospice, Waimea

Monday–Friday, 8am–4:30pm Care for families facing serious illness.

Use provided contacts for information (Listings provided on a space available basis)

Contact Catrinka Holland volunteer.coordinator@northhawaiihospice.org 808.885.7547 NorthHawaiiHospice.org

‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i Hilo

Tuesday-Sunday 9am–5pm Assist with tours, shows, education programs and membership.

Contact Roxanne Ching rching@imiloahawaii.org 808.969.9704 imiloahawaii.org

Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center Kahalu‘u Beach, Kailua-Kona

Daily 9:30am–4:30pm ReefTeach Volunteers educate visitors on reef etiquette and protection.

Contact Rachel Silverman rsilverman@kohalacenter.org 808.887.6411 KahaluuBay.org

Kalani Retreat Center Kalapana

Varied Schedules Seeking volunteers: skilled trades/ maintenance, housekeeping, kitchen, horticulture.

Contact Volunteer Office volunteer@kalani.com 808.965.7828 Kalani.com/volunteer

Kailua Village Artists

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

GALLERY

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KATHLEEN JAEGER

STEFANIE CULBERTSON

Kona Marketplace 75-5729 Alii Drive, Suite C-110 Kailua-Kona ♦ Hawaii 96740

808-329-6653 ♦ kailuavillageartists.com

open Mon - Sat 9:30 am - 5:30 pm

To submit volunteer information for your nonprofit, kokua@keolamagazine.com

Kohala Animal Relocation & Education Service (KARES) Kamuela/Kona Shopping Area

Community Kōkua Volunteer Opportunities

Contact Lani 808.325.1973 lanika@hawaii.rr.com

Saturdays and/or Sundays, 11am–4pm Volunteers needed to assist with pet adoption events.

Contact: Deborah Cravatta pets@kohalaanimal.org 808.333.6299 kohalaanimal.org

Make-A-Wish Hawaii

Kona Choral Society Kailua-Kona

North Kohala Community Resource Center Kohala Welcome Center, Hawi

Seeking volunteers for help with box office and ushering at our concerts.

Contact John Week info@KonaChoralSociety.org 808.334.9880 KonaChoralSociety.org

Kona Toastmasters Kailua-Kona

1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 6pm Lynn Bell contact@konatoastmasters.com 808.989.7494 KonaToastMasters.com

Lions Clubs International Various Locations, Kailua-Kona

2nd Tuesday, 5:30pm “We Serve” is the motto of Lions Clubs International.

Ongoing Granting wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions. info@hawaii.wish.org 808.537.3118 Hawaii.Wish.org

Daily 9am–noon or noon–3pm Greet people to North Kohala with aloha.

Contact Juanita Rivera juanita@northkohala.org 808.889.5523 NorthKohala.org

Paradise Ponies, Carousel of Aloha Hilo Coffee Mill, Mountain View

Ongoing Seeking volunteers to create the Carousel of Aloha Pavilion.

Contact Katherine Patton carouselofaloha@gmail.com 808.315.1093 CarouselOfAloha.org

Use provided contacts for information (Listings provided on a space available basis)

Parrots in Paradise Sanctuary Kealakekua

Sundayʻs Child Foundation Kamuela

Rainbow Friends Animal Sanctuary Kurtistown

The Pregnancy Center Kailua-Kona (serves the entire island)

Snorkel Day for People with Disabilities Kahalu‘u Beach Park, Kailua-Kona

Therapeutic Horsemanship of Hawaii Kailua-Kona

Flexible hours Monday–Friday Sanctuary for displaced parrots.

Contact Dorothy Walsh Dorothy@parrotsinparadise.com 808.322.3006 ParrotsInParadise.com

Ongoing Volunteers needed to help care for the animals, repairs and maintenance to the Sanctuary, and help with the office paperwork.

Contact Mary Rose mail@rainbowfriends.org 808.982.5110 RainbowFriends.org

3rd Friday, 10am–2pm Volunteers needed.

Contact Stephanie Kovatch snorkelday@deepandbeyond.org 808.326.4400 x 4017 DeepAndBeyond.org

Serving at-risk youth aged 6 to 17 Volunteers needed islandwide.

Contact Lauren Rainier requests@sundayschildfoundation.org 877.375.9191 SundaysChildFoundation.org

Monday–Friday Volunteers needed and appreciated! Free pregnancy testing, ultra sound, and client support.

Contact Matthew Schaetzle, Director tpc@tpckona.com 808.326.2060 TpcKona.com

Volunteers are the heart and soul of this program. All levels of expertise needed.

Contact Nancy Bloomfield nannygirl@hawaii.rr.com 808.937.7903 ThhKona.org

Soroptimist International Kona Kailua-Kona

Monthly Meetings Enriching the lives of women and girls in our community for more than 40 years.

SIKona.org

LEARN PRIMORDIAL SOUND MEDITATION “Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. it’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there – buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day.” ~ Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Marlina Lee Chopra Certified Meditation & Yoga Instructor WWW.DAILYMEDS.NET

808-937-0783

marlina@dailymeds.net

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

87

Botanical World Adventures

Talk Story with an Advertiser

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

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88

ould you like to fly through a rain forest canopy, find your way through a maze, glide along a trail to view amazing gardens and waterfalls? You’ll find all of this and more at Botanical World Adventures on the Hāmākua Coast, about a half hour north of Hilo.

Development of the botanical gardens started in 1995, slowly growing to what Botanical World Adventures offers today.

The site was chosen due to the rainforest, its proximity to the highway and access roads. As caretakers of this ‘āina (land), Mark Robinson, General Manager and Kika Nixon, Operations Manager, are aware of their kuleana (responsibility) to share the history and beauty of this sacred place.

The gardens started with the Rainbow Garden Walk, the Children’s Maze, the world’s second largest permanently planted maze, and the clearing and paving of the Rainforest Trail. Guided garden tours, in addition to the existing selfguided tours, were added when the garden director, Dr. Lanny Neel, arrived in 2004. Guests are able to enjoy the impressive Kamae‘e and Hanapueo waterfalls along the River Walk Trail.

The tours identify the plants in the gardens along with the incredible history and lore of the ‘āina. BWA has created a catalog of over 1,000 of the approximate 5,000 plants in the gardens, so far.

In 2008, BWA was looking for other ways for people to enjoy the gardens and came up with some new, unique adventures.

Zip Isle Zip Line Adventure, a zip-line through the rainforest canopy, was born. The success of that led to yet another idea, using Segway Personal Transporters for off-road adventuring on trails they created in the rainforest. During the same time they launched a new self-guided tour called the Audio Walking Stick, which gives guests information about the gardens along the trail.

Mark comments, “We share the botanical gardens in ways others only have imagined. Each guest leaves enlightened on the importance of this place in the world. Our adventures give each guest interaction with our staff in an intimate setting to share their heritage and personal stories. We experience the challenges of any botanical garden, controlling the encroachment of the rainforest with ongoing maintenance, equipment and manpower costs. We are not a nonprofit entity so do not operate from donations or grants that other nonprofit botanical gardens have access to. We rely on our ability to provide fun and exciting adventures for our guests.”

Whatever level your sense of adventure is, Botanical World Adventures offers something for everyone! ­Botanical World Adventures 31-240 Old Mamalahoa Highway, Hakalau 808.963.5427 or 888.Zip.Isle info@BotanicalWorld.com BotanicalWorld.com

Closets ‘N Things

Talk Story with an Advertiser

| Le‘a Gleason

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Closets ‘N Things Kona’s Old Industrial Area 74-5626 Alapa Street, Suite 2A, Kailua-Kona 808.326.9200 ClosetsNThings.com

Paula Wilson, EA • Action Business Services

808-329-3403

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

ew to Kona’s Old Industrial Area is Closets ‘N Things, a business that provides affordable yet elegant solutions for closet storage systems. Owners Beth and Robin Wells offer customers an alternative to the production-line construction methods that the big-box stores sell. Each shelving system is individually handcrafted using hand selected premium hardwoods.

Robin has been a state licensed building contractor since 1989.

“I’ve been immersed in this construction roller coaster ride for quite some time. During that span of time after the last construction collapse in 2008 until its lethargic recovery of 2012, like all contractors, I had to somehow reinvent myself, as well as my company in order to survive. As luck would have it, my daughter, Austen, left a design magazine on our dining room table, and on the cover was a clever yet simple shelving design.

This magazine cover was really the birth of Closets ‘N Things,” he says.

The mission behind the business is to provide anyone who has a home, condominium, garden shed, dog house, chicken coop—or anything structural needing shelving for that matter— with another option for their organizational needs.

“There are other stores selling closet systems, but we are unique in the sense that we handcraft all of our closet systems and all systems are installed by a licensed contractor, thus providing all warranties and safeguards as provided by the Hawaii Contractors Licensing Board,” Robin says.

He admits that there’s the occasional time when he can’t meet a client’s needs, and that’s rarely a problem, because pricing at Closets ‘N Things is affordable and targets all economic levels.

Another part of their success is Robin’s management style.

“I definitely embrace a collaborative style of management and culture. I love working with clients and hearing their ideas and visualizing their dreams. A client’s creativity can be so full of clever ideas that it’s fun to embrace their design and give it life,” he says.

Robin adds that if you like affordable beauty and function while adding value to your home, you have to visit their showroom or website he and Beth will help you get started!

Tax planning is a year round event!

89

Ka Puana–The Refrain

Images ofHILO America

These excerpts are from Images of America HILO, by author Karen Valentine, a Na‘ālehu resident, and Ke Ola's co-founder and contributer.

| By Karen Valentine

A c. 1895 photograph shows a broad view of Hilo and Hilo Bay, with Mauna Kea in the background. In the foreground is a marshy area near Waiakea Stream and Pond, where taro was once grown and today is filled in.

Native Planters in Old Hawai‘i describes how, “in the marshes surrounding Waiakea Bay, east of Hilo, taro was planted in a unique way, known as kanu kipi. Long mounds were built on the marshy bottom with their surface two or three feet above water level. Upon the top and along the sides of these mounds taro was planted. Flood waters which occasionally submerged the entire mound are said to have done no harm, as the flow was imperceptible.” (Photo: Hawai‘i State Archives)

An aerial view of Hilo Harbor in the 1940s shows the entire harbor and the breakwater.

The calmer water inside the breakwater has a lighter shade than the water beyond the seawall. (Courtesy of Hawai‘i State Archives.)

Cracked and fragile, the photographs sit in folders waiting to be carefully handled. Peering at handwritten notes several centuries old, I see that someone cared enough to leave a trace of history.

KeOlaMagazine.com | March/April 2015

Contact author Karen Valentine: karenvalentine808@gmail.com Images of America HILO is available from the author and local bookstores.

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This postcard image shows the queen arriving in a canoe at Hilo Bay on an unknown date.

She donated the 30-acre site now known as Lili‘uokalani Park and Gardens on Banyan Drive adjacent to the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, Coconut Island, and Hilo Bay. Built in the early 1900s, the park now consists of Edo-style Japanese gardens, and is said to be the largest such gardens outside Japan. Each year, the city holds a celebration in honor of the queen’s birthday. (Courtesy of Lyman Museum.)