Maui: June-July 2013

“The Life” Cele 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 sla nds Maui County Edition

Complimentary Copy

June-July 2013 • Iune–Iulai 2013

“The Life” Ce l 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 Isla nds

June–July 2013 Iune–Iulai 2013

Art 15 Mike Carroll A Lānai‘i Artist Creating a Sense of Place

By Linda Olds

Business 25 Managing with Aloha: Aloha is Our Rootstock

By Rosa Say

Land 11 The Children Shall Lead Us Grow Some Good

By Sherry Remez

Music 7 Renaissance Man George Kahumoku, Jr. Living in the Good Old Ways

By Linda Olds

Ocean 23 Celebrating Eddie Aikau on the Big Screen A Hawaiian Hero

By Amorah St. John

People 19 For the Love of Cinema The People Who Energize the Maui Film Festival

By Amorah St. John

Spirit 5 Pono Ke Ola Pono Na Kumu Keala Ching

26 Saving Paradise

By Mike Bond

Departments

Island Treasures Life in Business

22 22

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

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KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

Ka Puana -- Refrain

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

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.

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Submit online at KeOlaMagazine.com (Info/Contact menu) Community Kōkua volunteer opportunities Editorial inquiries or story ideas Request advertising rates Worldwide Delivery 808.442.3244 x3, order online at KeOlaMagazine.com, or mail name, address, and payment for one year to: PO Box 1494, Kailua-Kona, HI 96745.

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by Mike Carroll See story on page 15.

Pono Ke Ola Pono | Na Kumu Keala Ching

E Ka Lani ē E ka lani ē, e E ka lani ē, e E ka lani ē, e E ka lani ē, e E ka lani ē, e E ka lani ē, e

ho‘olono mai ‘oe alaka‘i mai ‘oe ho‘ōla mai ‘oe hui kala mai ‘oe ho‘omalu mai ‘oe ho‘omalu mai ‘oe

Chief, Chief, Chief, Chief, Chief, Chief,

hear me deeply guide me always heal me from within forgive me truthfully anoint me forever anoint me forever

Enlighten pathway Seek clarity Honor dignity Pleasant living Spread the love

Aia Ka ‘I‘ini Aia ka ‘i‘ini i ke ala o ka lani ‘Ani’ani ko‘u ‘ike i mua o’u ‘Ohu’ohu ka ‘ōpua piha ke aloha Aloha akula i ke ola ē Aloha maila nō i ke ola la

Honorable pathway of heaven Clarity is my knowledge before me Abundant are the clouds of compassion Living to give compassion Living to receive compassion

E Ho‘olama Mai E ho‘olama mai ‘oe ia‘u E ho‘olama mai ‘oe ia‘u E ho‘olama mai ‘oe ia‘u E ola, e ola, e ola mau

Inspire me deeply Enlighten me always Encourage me from within Life, life, life forever

E Ke Ola e E ke ola ē, e mālamalama ē E ke ola ē, e ‘ālohilohi ē E ke ola ē, e kapukapu ē E ke ola ē

Indeed Indeed Indeed Indeed

life is enlightened life is brightness life is dignified life

H

e koho nō ia, na‘auao a ‘i‘ole na‘aupō! Huli wale ke ola pono i loko o ka na‘auao me ka hana i hāhai ‘ia nā kūpuna pono ‘ole a pono. Me kēia ‘ike, e ‘ike paha ke ala kūpono i kou ola. Inā, huli wale i ka na‘aupō, noho wale i ka pō me ke kaumaha o kou ola hele ‘ole.

Indeed you have a choice, enlightenment or ignorance! Seek the righteous life of enlightenment by following your ancestors, good or bad. With this knowledge, you can seek the righteous way for you. The path of not knowing is the path of ignorance, which could lead to a life of sadness or darkness that goes to nowhere.

Be inspired to seek the rightful path to live a righteous life. Always have a way to make things right, or find the righteousness in the wrong. Live right by finding a rightful path, a way of life—Keala! Mahalo Grams!

Contact Kumu Keala Ching: kumukeala@nawaiiwiola.org

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

Ala Ka Lamalama A – Ala ka lamalama ē E – ‘Eli ke aliali ī I – ‘I‘ini ke kapukapu ō O – Ola ka ‘olu‘olu ū U – ‘Uhola ke aloha ē

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Maui County Launch Party!

Story of Hawaii Museum, 4.9.13

Maui Advertising Managers: Valerie Ferrari, Amorah St. John, Shelley Maddigan Aunty Pua Mahoe

Uncle Sam Ahia Barbara Garcia

Shirley Lecomte

Louise Lambert

Uncle Glenn Barbara Garcia

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

Richard Mickelsen (aka Buck) and his dog Cinnamon reading Ke Ola Maui County

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More than 100 guests enjoy Aunty Pua’s Blessing

Send us your comments, letters, and photos! We take email, snail mail, submissions through our website, or posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter!

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G

eorge Kahumoku, Jr. was named “Hawai‘i’s Renaissance Man” by Maui Time Weekly. A renaissance man is defined as, “a person of broad intellectual and cultural interests encompassing the full spectrum of available knowledge.” A Hawaiian Renaissance Man is described as one who renews the lifestyle of Hawai‘i’s past based upon nature and family. Both describe Uncle George Kahumoku, Jr. George does it all. He is an award-winning musician, composer, songwriter, vocalist, song interpreter, slack key guitarist, world-traveling performer, high school teacher, college professor, sculptor, author, artist, storyteller, farmer, cook, fisherman, entrepreneur, and more. And, he does it all with joy, humor, a big heart, a fabulous smile, and aloha.

George grew up a Hawaiian in a Western world. He was raised on Hawai‘i Island in a large family. “I grew up with 26 cousins in the same house,” he says. His younger years were spent living in traditional, self-sustaining Hawaiian ways— farming, fishing, hunting, and playing music. “The only things we bought at the store were sugar, salt, and kerosene,” George says. “Everything else we grew ourselves.”

Renaissance Man George Kahumoku, Jr. Living in the Good Old Ways |

By Linda Olds

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

He comes from a line of great slack key guitarists including his father, George Kahumoku, Sr. and brother Moses, who is regarded as a pillar of Hawai‘i Island slack key. The sons performed and recorded as The Kahumoku Brothers. “My brother George is the best 12-string slack key guitarist I’ve ever had the honor of playing with,” Moses states proudly.

“I began playing the ‘ukulele when I was three and switched to guitar at nine when my fingers got bigger.” By the time George was twelve years old, he was playing professionally with the legendary Hawaiian singer/songwriter, Kui Lee. George relates the story of how this came about: he was working at a car lot in Honolulu located next to a bar, washing cars for 10 cents a piece. On his break, he was playing his guitar when Kui Lee, on break from his bar gig, heard George and invited him in to play on stage. George performed one tune and reaped $27.10 for his efforts. An akamai (smart) guy, he figured out that he made a month’s car lot wages with one song and perhaps being a musician was an easier way to make a living.

He played nights and weekends while attending Kamehameha Schools on O‘ahu and graduated in 1969. One night during his high school days he helped a stranded motorist fix a flat tire.

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KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

Info at: LotusHeartMaui.com & SpiritualSingles.com or Call Judy @808/269-7762

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Turns out, the motorist he assisted was a wealthy politician who was supported by George’s grandmother prior to being elected. The man appreciated young George’s efforts and gave him a full scholarship to any college on the mainland he chose.

Even though George was accepted at five schools, including the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, he decided to go to California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. “I choose Oakland because there was a $69 roundtrip plane fare back to Hawai‘i,” chuckles George. “In case I changed my mind, I could get home.”

“Going to art school teaches you to make something out of nothing,” he says. “Kids need practical experience and not so much theory. They need to experience the elements and the earth.” Inspired by his teachers and endowed by his grateful benefactor, George put his theory to practical application and established Hale O Ho‘oponopono (house to set right), an alternative school on Hawai‘i Island. The curriculum offered was hunting, fishing, and surfing. Now it is a preschool.

George enjoys being a teacher, sharing the knowledge, passing on life skills. In addition to his Hawai‘i Island school, he has worked with children in native language studies, farming, and other programs. He has helped at-risk children, including teaching the Special Motivation Program at Lahainaluna School.

Currently, he serves as director of University of Hawai‘i-Maui College’s Institute of Hawaiian Music. Designed with the goal of perpetuating and preserving Hawaiian music, this program teaches students all facets of professional musicianship.

George has been a professional musician most of his life. For 20 years he supported his family with a regular gig entertaining guests at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on Hawai‘i Island. When

George and Keoki Kahumoku with George’s nephew Garrett Probst

Residents at Kealia Farm

the Grammys, were bestowed upon George and ‘ukulele player Daniel Ho for two of their six duet recordings: “Hymns of Hawai‘i” in 2000 and “Hymns of Hawai‘i, Vol. 2.” in 2006.

Through the years, some of George’s other recordings have also been nominated for both Grammys and Nā Hōkū.

George’s music awards crowd a book shelf in his living room.

For most people this would be a full-time and fulfilling life. “The music is only about two percent of what I do,” George says. “The money I make from music, I spend on farming.” He spends most of his time farming in the Hawaiian tradition, following the path of his grandfather—ho‘omākaukau, to make ready. “Everything is related to the land and growing food and sharing.”

“Farming teaches you how to fix everything,” asserts George.

While living on Hawai‘i Island, he had one of the largest pig farms in the state with 100 sows. He graduated from the Hawai‘i State Agricultural Leadership Program in 1993 and has received several state and national awards for farming including being voted “Farmer of The Year” in Hawai‘i.

These days, he maintains his three-acre farm on Maui growing fruits, vegetables, herbs, taro (for his famous homemade poi) and tending his goats, chickens, ducks, and miniature horses. “My wife and son and family are really supportive,” he says. “I have 15 kids (some were hānai or foster children) and 36 grandkids. Everyone helps out.” Even his students—they come and help him weed.

As an entrepreneur, he grows and sells his Hawaiian Slack Key Coffee and Mamaki Tea on his website. And in true Hawaiian style, George is always sharing the bounty of his farm, taking bunches of fruits, vegetables and herbs to give to others wherever he goes.

Sharing is a big part of Hawaiian life and the Islands’ oral tradition is a big part of that. George is a renowned storyteller and collaborated with longtime friend Paul Konwiser to write an expanded version of his humorous onstage stories in his book, A Hawaiian Life. This George enjoys having collection of tales help in his garden includes his hilarious

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

the hotel was closed for a two-year renovation, he moved to Maui and continued his successful musical career. His weekly Wednesday night show, Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Concert Series, takes place at the Napili Kai Beach Resort on Maui. George is the musical host and features a different solo artist each week. This is the first long-running concert hall series (as opposed to transient outdoor festivals) in Hawai‘i that features current and upcoming great slack key performers.

Slack key is a distinctly Hawaiian style of playing an acoustic guitar that started in the early 1800s as a way to accommodate vocals and evolved into a solo instrument style by the mid1900s. In Hawai‘i, it is known as kī hō‘alu (loosen the key). It is described as a finger style of playing in which the strings (or “keys”) are “slacked” to produce many different tunings while combining bass, rhythm, and melody into one instrument.

Slack key guitar playing enjoyed a renewed popularity during the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance. There are two time periods in the Islands’ history known as the Hawaiian Renaissance. The first took place in the nineteenth century. The second began around 1970, and is characterized as a resurgence of interest in traditional Hawaiian culture including dance, language, and music, such as slack key.

Each player develops their own tunings and techniques. In the past, players kept their tunings secret.

“With the Hawaiian Renaissance in the 1970s, some kumu (teachers) began sharing hula and guys started sharing tunings,” Keoki and George explains George. at the Mauna Kea “By the 1990s, we started teaching tunings.” George uses Taro Patch E flat. “Goes with my voice,” he says. “It’s a good solo tuning, but no one else can play with you.”

During his career, George has released instructional DVDs and numerous CDs, some on his own Kealia Farms label, some on others including Dancing Cat Records, established by pianist and producer George Winston. On a visit to Honolulu, Winston heard the Kahumoku Brothers music on the radio. Fascinated, Winston decided his record company needed to document and preserve Hawaiian slack key. Through this relationship, George met Winston’s sister, Nancy, who is now Mrs. Kahumoku.

Kahumoku’s music has been featured in documentaries about slack key and on film soundtracks including the popular 2011 movie, “The Descendants.”

Since 2005, with fellow slack key artists and producers, George has won multiple Grammy Awards for Best Hawaiian Album. They received their first Grammy for their compilation recording, “Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 1: Live in Concert from Maui.” This was followed by Grammys for “Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar: Live from Maui” in 2006; “Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar” in 2007; and, “Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 2” in 2010.

Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, the Hawaiian equivalent of

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escapade of catching bucketfuls of fish in front of the elegant resort, The Westin Maui, then cleaning them in his room and barbecuing them on the lānai.

Recently, he is the subject of a documentary, “Seeds of Aloha.” The film is a lively, endearing portrait of George: it features him telling great stories along with other great stories told about him by family, friends, students, acquaintances, and fellow musicians. One wonders how George accomplishes all he does and, true to the old saw, “he does it in his sleep”—in this film, you will actually see George playing his guitar while asleep!

How does he think he does it all as Hawai‘i’s Renaissance Man? “The secret is aloha and having a vision and a team I trust. I have a vision and the people come along to help. It’s

huna, the secret George with his tutu of life where you visualize and manifest what you want to do.

I’ve been doing it my whole life.

I leave myself open to the universe.”

Talented and accomplished in many fields, George says what is most meaningful to him is being Hawaiian. When asked what is the most important message he wants to send, he replies, “Hawaiian culture is alive and well.” ❖ In the forward to George’s book, A Hawaiian Life, brotherin-law George Winston wrote: “The biggest inspirations for Hawaiian music and slack key guitar have been the beauty of the islands and the ocean, as well as love for family and friends.

There is no better example of this than George Kahumoku, Jr. in his music and the way he lives.”

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

Family, friends, students, acquaintances — George gets everyone involved with farming

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For more information: Kahumoku.com, SlackKey.com Photos provided by George Kahumoku Jr. Contact writer Linda Olds: oldsey@gmail.com

Kīhei Elementary

Lokelani Intermediate School

The Children Shall Lead Us

Grow Some Good |

L

Ke Kanu Nei Au Aia Ia ‘Oe Ka Ulu. I plant and the growth is yours.

Hawaiian Planting Chant

recalls, “The first thing that we did was to survey the teachers: ‘If we had a school garden here, how many would like to participate?’ An overwhelming 75% said they would love to participate. We didn’t actually have enough money to cover the expenses, but we couldn’t say no, either.”

When Kīhei Elementary School provided a sizeable central area of their campus for enlarging the gardens, kindergarten through fifth-grade classes began to participate through their cultural, math, art, and science studies. Each discipline integrated seamlessly with the real-world activity of growing food, young minds, and hearts.

A major shift took place in the third year when Chef Brian Etherege from Capische? restaurant, Chef Dan Fiske of PrivateMauiChef.com, and Monkeypod Kitchen Chef Peter Merriman came forward and generously contributed money.

Currently, six chefs are donating funds on a regular monthly basis. In addition to funds, they are out in the garden digging and teaching kids how to prepare food on-site. They are also active in the community helping with fund-raising, presenting recipe workshops, and hosting harvest parties.

Chef sponsorship allowed GROW SOME GOOD to hire Kirk Surrey for the position of part-time garden coordinator. Surrey, who Kathy describes as “a softspoken gentle soul,” works in the garden, helps with lesson plans for teachers, and has direct involvement with the students. He relates, “It’s been an incredibly heartwarming experience to be part of this project because I get to see the difference it is making in the kids’ lives. They show up everyday excited to tell me about the fresh fruits and vegetables that they have brought for snacks. Before, snacks were Cheetos and Fruit Roll-Ups.” Increasingly, kids’ bags are filled with fresh fruits and Kathy Becklin vegetables, and they are proud of photo by Sherry Remez it. “It really hits you that all this

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

istening to Kathy Becklin, Nio Kindla, and Kirk Surrey speak about GROW SOME GOOD, the fertile educational school garden project that developed out of South Maui Sustainability (SMS) four years ago, one can easily become entangled in their passion for what is unfolding now and you may just want to participate in their vision for the future.

The unique GROW SOME GOOD model involves getting educators, community volunteers, and local talented chefs engaged in teaching about, and involving kids in every step of the process of producing food, from seed to supper and back to soil. It is changing lives.

Kathy is the behind-thescenes coordinator, “garden educator,” and passionate promoter who works with SMS’s core members, Nio, a chef and the full-time volunteer farmer who inspires people and drives the project, and Kirk, an indefatigable supporter and garden coordinator.

Becklin detailed the program’s history. In response to a request from a second-grade science teacher at Kīhei Elementary School, South Maui Sustainability built some planting beds. This enabled students to participate and learn where the food that they eat comes from. At the time, the trio had no idea that their project would go well beyond just growing food.

“It is about life experience for kids,” Nio observes. “We are having a lifelong impact on kids and on the people exposed to the project.” In turn, awareness and involvement extend to the community.

At the end of their first official year, word of the living laboratory project spread. Volunteer participation, necessary irrigation supplies, plus a small monetary grant from the County of Maui helped provide what was needed to continue. By that time, the desire was to expand the gardens, add more related activities, and scholastic levels beyond second grade. Becklin

By Sherry Remez

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KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

work is having an exponential effect,” continues Kirk, who tells of one family that now prepares a healthy meal for their kids to take to school, instead of participating in cafeteria lunches.

“They are gardeners and eating the fruits and vegetables they are growing. That’s what this is all for.”

As the kids’ enthusiasm increases, parents report that their children have asked them to buy organic food, or to create a garden at home. The healthy food choices and knowledge of good farming practices promise to Demonstrating similarities between flowers and people sustain local agriculture and the economy in the future. Nio hopes that they are inspired enough to remain on Maui after graduating.

Poignantly, grandparents say, “I thought kids wouldn’t be interested in gardening, and now it is a special time for me to be with my grandkids.” This particularly touches Kathy’s heart. It has been many years since she gardened with her grandfather as a child. Now, she is finding the same joy sharing her knowledge with the young students on Maui. “When I wake up and know I will be in the garden, it’s a good day,” she told me. “Even when exhausted, hot and sweaty, I feel as if I have made a difference.”

When Lokelani Intermediate School, located adjacent to Kīhei

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Elementary, joined the program in the fourth year, the nonprofit and name GROW SOME GOOD became official. Both schools are sharing the 10,000-square-foot garden. The gardens and a terracing project using native species both offer kids affected by recess program cuts extra time outdoors and additional opportunities for learning. Teachers have become more creative in using the gardens as an educational tool, appreciating this tangible, hands on, learning method.

Participation in every step of the process of planting fruits and vegetables is all-inclusive and engenders feelings of ownership and pride. It begins with preparing the soil, planting the seeds, watering them (seeds are all from organic sources), weeding, harvesting, and then preparing produce for eating.

At the edge of the garden, under the shade of a palm tree, hay bales are set in a circle forming an open air classroom. Old doors coated with chalkboard paint serve as blackboards. To one side, a “green bean tunnel,” a wire mesh shade arcade, provides education and entertainment for the youngsters.

In another area, Kathy, who refers to herself as the “Compost Queen,” gives presentations about composting and the creatures that make up the compost pile. She loves talking about “the hierarchy of compost critters—from the bacteria and fungi you can’t see—to the centipedes, which freak kids out. Even though we don’t like centipedes and they don’t like us, they have an important role,” she points out. Kids learn the importance of cycles of life at the compost pile.

At any time in the growing season from October–February (which coincides perfectly with the school year) the gardens can be flush with bananas, liliko‘i, papayas, and many cultural plants including different kinds of sugar cane, taro, cotton, and ti.

Everything there thrives with love and daily care.

Vegetable beds named “Gardens of the World,” “Super Greens Garden,” and “Three Sisters Garden” (growing corn, beans, and squash, which teaches about Native American farming techniques) become sources for special lessons.

They also inspire recipes developed by the chefs.

“Pumpkin Gnocchi with Lokelani Intermediate Garden Veggies,” “Thai Curry with Farm Vegetables and Green Papaya Salad and Thai basil,” “Garden Herb ‘Green Pizza,’” inspired by the specialized plots have been presented at fund-raising events by Chef Christopher Kulis of Capische?, Chef Cameron Lewark of Spago, and Chef Eric Mitchell of The Outrigger Pizza Company.

To date, approximately 42 teachers and more than 900 students have participated in the outdoor learning programs.

Volunteer levels are increasing. New projects are being created.

Surrey described PROJECT PLANT IT, a once-a-month event in partnership with a YMCA A+ program that enables the distribution of plant starts that all the kids have grown themselves from seeds. When starts are mature enough to transplant into the garden, they hold a farmer’s market after school. Kirk relates, “Kids staff the table, talk to parents and other family members about the plant starts, and give

Founder of the Ministry of Fun

LiLi Townsend

808-875-8871

www.MinistryofFun.com LiLi@MinistryofFun.com

Contact Kirk Surrey: 808.269.6300 GrowSomeGood.org Photos courtesy of Grow Some Good.

Contact writer Sherry Remez: sherryremez@gmail.com

Kīhei Elementary

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

Geneological Clearings: • Cutting Psychic Cords • Honoring our Ancestors

instructions on how to take care of them when they get home.

You’d think we were giving away puppies, the way they beg their parents to take home a cucumber plant.”

Nio visualizes teaching the kids how to blog, and to learn how to earn money by restoring the school kitchen to commercialgrade level so they can prepare products like sauces for pasta to sell at fund-raisers. The founders’ vision for their flourishing model is a Maui-wide program providing mentorship and guidance to other school garden start-up programs. Their fiveyear goal is to have 30 active school gardens on Maui and then expand to all other islands.

For the general public to fully understand the importance of maintaining and supporting local agriculture, instead of importing the 85 percent of what we consume currently, education is a necessary key. An abundant future (or any future) may well depend upon next generations. By creating an environment of pride in accomplishment within the schools where our children grow through growing and learn by doing, GROW SOME GOOD honors its wisdom root: SUSTAINABILITY. ❖

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KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

Mike Carroll:

A Lāna‘i Artist Creating a Sense of Place |

“M

“Life as an illustrator was one big deadline,” according to Mike. “Paintings have more life. My palette changed from the gray tones of Chicago to the brighter colors of Lāna‘i. And, I decided to use a bigger brush. The one I use now to sign my work is the biggest I ever used as an illustrator.” Yet the demands of illustration did not match the artist within.

Mike and Kathy made the leap to Lāna‘i in 2001. “I was ready to leave my shovel in the snow,” chuckles Mike. “It took us 15 minutes to adjust to island life.”

photo courtesy of Mike Carroll

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

y mission is to create a sense of place in my work,” says Lāna‘i artist Mike Carroll.

Mission accomplished. His gallery at 443 Seventh Street in the heart of Lāna‘i City is filled with images that portray his surroundings and illustrate why he fell in love with the place.

Mike and his wife, Kathy, visited Lāna‘i on their 20th wedding anniversary trip in 1999, and by their fifth day on the island, they put money down on an abandoned house.

“The plan was to escape winter in Chicago,” Mike says. “We figured we’d give it two years and if things didn’t work out, we’d move back to the mainland. We had yard sales in the snow to ‘decumulate.’ Luckily, Plan A worked so we didn’t need Plan B.” Before he had any plans to move to a beautiful and remote tropical isle, Mike double majored in art and biology at Western Maryland College and earned a B.A. with honors in art. He then attended the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he was awarded a master’s degree in medical illustration from the department of art as applied to medicine.

For more than 20 years, Mike worked as a medical illustrator.

During that time, he received national recognition for both his medical and non-medical art and had work featured in the prestigious PRINT Regional Design Atlas and Communication Arts magazines.

By Linda Olds

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KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

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He exhibits his paintings in his light and airy gallery. Housed in a picturesque vintage building, it is the perfect showcase for his work. The atmosphere is relaxed and casual. There is no high pressure sales pitch. Here, there is an opportunity to meet the artist. Mike is friendly and approachable—he welcomes all who enter and puts them at ease. His work, including original oil paintings, ready-to-frame prints, and limited edition prints, are available in a varied range of sizes and price points.

Since moving to Lāna‘i, Mike’s work has been selected for major competitions such as Art Maui— the prestigious juried show of works by Maui artists, and all three statewide Schaefer Portrait Challenges exhibited once a year at the impressive Schaefer Gallery at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. He is one of 15 artists from the state of Hawai‘i to be selected as a Signature Member of the Plein Air Painters of Hawai‘i.

Plein Air means painting in the open air, capturing the changing and sometimes fleeting effects of the sunlit outdoors.

In February 2006, Mike was among 25 artists from across the nation to be invited to the first Maui Invitational Plein Air PaintOut. Subsequently, he was tapped as a member of the Invitational’s sponsoring organization, the Islanders, a group of 10 plein air painters recording the life and landscape of Hawai‘i.

He has participated in each annual Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational since 2006.

“I’m fortunate that my work has been juried into exhibitions across the state. This has given me the opportunity to meet and paint with outstanding artists whose work and work ethic dovetails nicely into our vision for the gallery,” says Mike. “When we opened the gallery, we decided we didn’t want a ‘vanity gallery’ with only my paintings—how boring would that be to go into day after day?” So, the works of others are on display. For instance, you’ll find “created on Lāna‘i” canvases by artists such as Randy Sexton (2011 Artist Choice Winner, Carmel) and Billy O’Donnell (2012 Best Of Show Winner, Laguna Beach). The works of local artists including Pam Andelin, Ronaldo Macedo, Kirk Kurokawa, and Joana Varawa are on display at Mike’s gallery, too.

His gallery also features handcrafted jewelry, a collection

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

At first they packed up paintings, prints, easels, tables, and some clothes then hopped the ferry to go to Maui. They would sell Mike’s work at art fairs held weekends under the Banyan Tree in Lāhainā by crossing the ‘Au‘au Channel on Saturday, staying on the couch at a friend’s house, and catching the last boat back to Lāna‘i on Sunday. They stopped taking the weekend treks across the channel in 2002 when they opened the Mike Carroll Gallery in Lāna‘i City.

Lāna‘i City was built in 1922 by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (later known as Dole) to house and support its plantation workers. Remnants of its pineapple past remain and Lāna‘i City is modernly more of a village with a park-like atmosphere and a strong sense of community. “It’s the last intact plantation town,” Mike likes to tell visitors to his gallery.

In the gallery’s off hours, you may see Mike walking around the small island to see what captures his eye as the subject for one of his next paintings. “The morning and evening light is great to paint here,” he says. “Life moves slowly on Lāna‘i and my paintings are quiet. I have fun watching them develop and hope they capture the light and feel of our little island.”

His paintings do indeed capture the light and feel of Lāna‘i: they depict local people, pets, and the quaint, colorful buildings of this sleepy, tranquil island along with the rich colors and muted hues of Lāna‘i’s landscape and the glow of tropical light that runs from warm and subdued to bright and brilliant.

You get the picture in his images of familiar island life.

“Still Fishing” is a portrait of a local guy’s fishing boat with outriggers extended and and fish flags flying even though it’s not out to sea, but perched on a grassy spot under palm trees. “Room and Board” illustrates a typical island scene—an old Jeep wagon next to a surfboard leaning against a rustic shed [see p. 18]. “Golden Afternoon” captures the light late in the day illuminating a characteristic Lāna‘i City plantation house with a corrugated red tin roof and deep red ti plants lining the entrance.

The island’s vermillion-hued rocks, blue sky, and reflective shoreline pools make an idyllic scene in a landscape entitled “Afternoon Reflections.” Mike’s painting, “Welcome Home,” depicts one of the island’s colorfully-painted houses with an inviting red door just waiting to be opened for welcome guests.

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of greeting cards, turned bowls made from local woods, photography, souvenir prints, pottery, models of Hawaiian voyaging canoes, and Asian antiques. Mike is usually in his gallery and welcomes guests so they feel at home. If he’s not on his daily strolls or in his gallery, Mike is at the Four Seasons Resort Lodge at Koele exhibiting, working, and sharing his sense of place with hotel guests. One of his favorite subjects to paint while there is Koele, the Lodge’s resident cat.

Cats are important to the artist and his wife. “Kitty Korner” in his gallery is a donation center for the Lāna‘i Animal Rescue Center, a facility that comes to the aid of unwanted and feral cats from around the island. Kathy founded the Center and has dedicated her life to saving and caring for these animals. The sale of T-shirts and other souvenirs directly benefits the Center.

“I’m pretty sure you won’t find another gallery in Hawai‘i that

donates 100 percent of its proceeds as we do with this section, and we feel it’s important to give back to our community,” explains Mike. The Rescue Center is located in Mike and Kathy’s house. (Since their first “fixer upper” they have moved to a larger 1920s plantation manager’s residence that also houses Mike’s studio). “There are cats and kittens all over the place,” he laughs.

Lāna‘i is now his place, but it’s not the only spot where Mike has created a sense of place. Since 2004, Mike has been selected as “Artist in Residence” for the Seattle Study Club’s annual Symposia. In this capacity, he has painted Symposium locales such as Laguna Beach and Carlsbad, California, Cancun, and the Yucatan in Mexico. He has also painted in Italy, capturing the light, look, and flavor of that country. In the spring of 2013, Mike travelled to Japan, a place he’d never been before. “We hadn’t had a vacation in a few years,” he says, “and the cherry blossoms were in bloom.” So, he went to another exotic locale to adventure and paint. And to pursue his mission of creating a sense of place. ❖ Contact Mike Carroll: MikeCarrollGallery.com Photos of paintings courtesy of Mike Carroll.

Contact writer Linda Olds: oldsey@gmail.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

Maui’s Swing Queen

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World Class Musical Entertainment Voice / Piano & Band Playshops 808-205-3971

LouiseLambert.com

photo courtesy of Barry Rivers

For the Love of Cinema

The People Who Energize the Maui Film Festival |

This year, film connoisseurs can expect to laugh, to cry, and to be inspired by heroes.

“Love is in the air. Can you smell it?” is the logline for an original comedy, “The Boy Who Smells Like Fish,” produced in Canada. “The Short Game” is a documentary about seven kids from all over the world who compete and excel in the game of golf. Barry says this year will feature one of the most promising films to date, “Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau,” which chronicles the remarkable life and times of the legendary big wave surfer, honoring the native Hawaiian culture and Eddie’s legacy. After a sneak preview of these three films, it’s certain the Festival will distill its usual magic.

With a doctorate in communications from Amherst College, Barry produced a multimedia presentation that toured around the country carnival-style. It fine-tuned his technical skills and won him recognition as an original thinker among his peers.

Heeding a call to Maui and the blue Pacific, Barry directed and filmed sports programs for ABC, ESPN, and CBS Sports with a focus on surfing competitions. Soon after, he began producing his own television programs with a special focus on youth.

Over the years, he’s trained 350 kids in video production and televised their world view on life in Hawai‘i. It was during

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

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e go to the movies and attend the festivities with an incomparable sense of belonging. It’s an event where we can all experience this ripple effect. Sitting on the grass with a picnic dinner and a bevy of friends, we can feel the waves of excitement and expectation growing. The sun begins to set with that magical blend of orange, yellow, and gold, and the sky darkens above an enormous white screen. Sounds of the conch shell blast through the air followed by the unmistakable melodies of Hawaiian music. Beautiful women dance the hula, honoring this culture and the spirit of aloha. The crowd grows silent, mesmerized. The spotlight goes off, and the stage is darkened so the local astrologer can come out, per tradition, and read the stars.

Maui Film Festival producer Barry Rivers has already screened 500 movies for the 2013 Maui Film Festival. He expects to see another 500 before opening night on June 12. After 14 years, Barry knows what he’s looking for: movies that touch the heart, stir the soul, and inspire action.

“Our Festival is a place for transformative storytelling,” says Barry.

Barry’s film selections, reflected in his philosophy, are what keep thousands of movie lovers coming back year after year.

By Amorah St. John

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one of his early morning swims at Baldwin Beach that Barry’s vision for the Film Festival crystallized. It began with a weekly series, Candlelight Café and Cinema, and progressed to a full-blown, out-of-the-box, annual Film Festival. It takes place under the stars at the Wailea Golf Course, where 3,000 people will gather on opening night to share an experience that goes beyond movie watching and stargazing. The Festival represents community at its finest, bringing together locals, visitors, and volunteers. No one knows this better than Keith Ranney who recruits and manages 300 volunteers.

In reality, an event of this size can only happen with a volunteer team of folks who are willing to do what it takes to keep that machine whirling until the last bag of trash has been tossed. Keith took on the Herculean task of Volunteer Coordinator (now he’s known as Volunteer Management Consultant) in 2001, the second year of the Festival. Rumor has

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it the previous Volunteer Coordinator was never found after the Festival ended the first year—only a pile of clothes on the golf course.

Since then, Keith has discovered a user-friendly, data-based internet platform, customized with questions such as, “How much weight can you lift?” Keith now has 994 registered volunteers for events all across Maui, and he shares the wealth by teaching organizations how to use this powerful coordinating tool. Keith began his business, Art of Volunteering, to inspire the community to take committed action and learn the power of giving back. A longtime practitioner of ho‘oponopono, Keith knows that expressing gratitude and giving “world class hugs” are the keys to success in every arena.

Like Barry, Keith heard the call to contribute to the Maui community by providing enlightened entertainment.

“When Barry asked me to join the Film Festival team, I was intrigued, yet tentative. Then, one evening, at a tech rehearsal on the golf course at sunset, they fired up the big screen, complete with surround sound, and previewed the trailer for “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck. The moon began to rise up over the screen, the sky filled with stars, and I was hooked.”

The Festival benefits the local economy, attracting multitudes of kama‘āina plus travelers from across the globe.

“Many people plan their vacations every year around the Festival and often wind up moving here,” says Barry. Perhaps it’s the power of the media combined with the magic of Maui. All of this activity supports local businesses, from restaurants and real estate agents to hotels and retail shops. The Maui Economic Development Board is a fiscal sponsor of the Festival, testifying to the enormous impact this annual event has on our island home.

“Nonprofits are an important part of this,” states Barry. Select

To become a volunteer: ArtOfVolunteering.com For more info: MauiFilmFestival.com Photos courtesy of Maile Getzen: GetzenGalleries.com Keith Ranney, Hillary Tschanz, Barry Rivers

Contact writer Amorah St. John: iamamorah@gmail.com

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

groups receive all outlook. While Keith the income from is doing push-ups, beverage sales and Barry is swimming popcorn, including in the ocean, Women Helping absorbing all those Women and Habitat negative ions and for Humanity. contemplating where “It’s a win for to place features, everyone involved,” documentaries and beams Barry, sitting shorts in two venues. in his cozy living room Along with the open dominated by a giant air golf course under flat screen TV where the stars in Wailea, DVD “screeners” are the MACC (Maui previewed. This is Arts and Cultural where it all begins.

Center) hosts its The ripple effect share of both studio is magnified, says Keith Ranney with Maui Film Festival Volunteers and independent Barry, by “one billion films. While lifting impressions coming weights and pumping from this annual iron, Keith will be event in the form of pondering how to videos, photographs, fill 2,200 volunteer and stories that hours over a five day enhance the image period. of our state and are “It’s our kuleana,” a catalytic force in declares Keith the evolution of the over a chocolate Hawaiian culture.” milkshake (his P90X Corporate sponsors has yet to begin). rally around the “This means it’s our Taste of Wailea Maui Film Festival 2009—photo courtesy of Barry Rivers Festival each year, responsibility—and basking in the glory of the Celestial Cinema and sharing their our right—to walk a particular path.” Throughout Maui, there resources, contributing to the Festival’s seven-figure budget. are thousands of members of the Festival’s team behind the On the day this writer came to interview Barry in his Pā‘ia scenes, on the screen and especially on the scene where the home, Hawaiian Airlines had just signed on as a “signature audience gathers. sponsor” for opening night. “They’re back after five years,” Barry Rivers appears in his aloha shirt greeting the throngs exclaims Barry with a grin. “They can transport our Hollywood in his usual relaxed, spirited style, confident that this is going luminaries, show videos on the planes, and join our team of to be the best Festival ever. His warmth and passion for this happy sponsors.” Barry signs the contract and hands it off to “jewel box” event permeate his words, and the crowd cheers Stella, his wife of 43 years, who shares his vision, grounds his him on, acknowledging this extraordinary feat called the Maui big nonstop energy, and provides a bridge to the outside world.

Film Festival. The spotlight dims again, and the first film of the Stella is a “social butterfly” of the highest order. When I asked night fills that giant screen. Moviegoers sit, transfixed, as they him about his wife’s role, after she left the room, Barry gave his suspend their disbelief and move into another world, watchful pat reply: “I do everything, and Stella does everything else.” participants in a new story beyond time and space.

It’s a “very physical five days,” says Keith who is gearing Out by the vendors, keeping track of the trash, Keith Ranney up for the Festival by launching his P90X workout with surveys the scene, flexes his P90X muscles and grins. He won’t cardiovascular training, ab work, martial arts, yoga, and a see any of the movies over the next few days because he has nutrition system. Every year, Keith tackles this 90-day program, a mission that supersedes his desire to be entertained: he’s knowing that it will make all the difference in his stamina—and thinking how there could be even a smaller ecological footprint next year—without plastic plates, cups, and utensils. He smiles to himself and envisions what could make the Festival even more culturally and environmentally viable. Maybe next year, the food can be served on ti leaves and the people can drink from coconuts.

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Cici Maui Designs

Talk Story with an Advertisor Three Generations: L-R: Cathrine Conarroe Son, Logan Conarroe Mom, Rosalie Harris

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

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athrine Conarroe comes from a talented family of musicians, artists, and poets. Born in Victoria BC, Canada, her family moved to Seattle, Washington when she was 11 years old, then back to Canada when she was age 16.

She fell in love with the Hawaiian Islands when her mother brought her to visit Hawai‘i in 1978—within six months she was living in Waikīkī. Three years later, she moved to Maui where she worked for Lahaina Scrimshaw, the parent company for Jessica’s Gems.

Cathrine started working in the jewelry industry in 1988 with Jessica’s Gems. She helped design jewelry with their in-house jewelers for many years. When gold began to spike in price, she was looking for a unique and affordable silver line that was locally designed. The jewelers at the store only wanted to focus on 14K gold, so she started her own line in 2008. Working with a jeweler from O‘ahu and one from California, she began to create designs with history and origin in Hawai‘i.

As anyone who lives in the islands knows, living here has its challenges including lack of resources and products. Since designing jewelry is generally speculation, Cathrine says “You really need to know your client and their needs.” Rather than having something for everyone, Cathrine’s designs are a little different than everyone else’s—simple and clean.

Many of Catherine’s clients are visitors who want a lasting memory of their very special vacation. And she is honored to know that she has a growing local clientele who collect her work.

Proceeds from her “Military Blessing” piece are donated to the Wounded Warrior Project and her “Courage” pendant to breast cancer research.

Cathrine has chosen only a few select stores throughout the islands to carry her creations, and through her website.

Cici Maui Design’s jewelry is showcased on Maui at Jessica’s Gems in Whaler’s Village, Lahaina Scrimshaw on Front Street in Lāhainā and at Whaler’s Village, Kaukini Gallery in Kahakuloa, and Dolphin Galleries in Wailea. On Lāna‘i Cathrineʻs work is at the Mike Carroll Gallery.

In her free time Cathrine loves to hike, stand up paddle, paint, and take pictures.

Cici Maui Designs 808.280.4627 CiciMauiDesigns.com

Lotus Heart Books and Gifts

Island Treasures

Island-Made Products and Where to Find Them

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avahna Taylor is a selftaught artist who grew up in a rural Michigan home. As one of seven children, they were not given many toys. Instead, they were encouraged to create their own games, art materials, and entertainment. This allowed plenty of time for dreaming and learning how to look for items that could be recycled.

Later, Lavahna had the opportunity to own and run a dinner theatre, where she put her creative skills to the test by designing and building props and set designs. Set painting at that scale taught her what she was capable of and gave her the experience she needed to improve her talents.

She also learned to dream bigger.

Lavahna arrived on Maui in October 2010 planning to help a fellow artist open a new art gallery. Now she is creating and selling her own art.

The light in nature inspires her creations, which give people the visual delight of the art and light combination.

Glassine Window Art is a tissue paper and mixed-media art form that imitates stained glass work. These works of art are more affordable and more portable than traditional stained glass. This technique allows the finer details in nature to shine through and provides the artist with unlimited opportunities in color and texture.

Her designs are becoming more complex. As a result, the sculpting portion of each project becomes a greater challenge. The paint applications now have greater depth than earlier pieces.

“I feel as if I respond to the light in life and art through new eyes because of it,” says Lavahna.

She has an interest in many art forms and enjoys doing unique commission work as well. So if you are dreaming, you can meet Lavahna and see her work on display at Lotus Heart Gallery and Gifts in Haiku.

Lotus Heart Books and Gifts Located at the Temple of Peace 575 Haiku Rd, Haiku, HI 808.575.5220 LotusHeartMaui.com

These stories are special features for our advertisers.

If you have a product or service you would like to have featured, please call 808-329-1711, x1.

Photo courtesy David Bettencourt

Celebrating Eddie Aikau on the Big Screen A Hawaiian Hero |

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By Amorah St. John

in a Dole pineapple cannery. His paychecks allowed him to buy his first surfboard, thus beginning his lifelong love of a sport that has thrilled onlookers and athletes since Duke Kahanamoku introduced it in 1912. Soon Eddie and his brother, Clyde, began surfing with the native Hawaiian beach boys who hung out on the pristine beaches of Waikīkī.

Eddie was inspired by how surfing was The Aikau Family a major influence in B ack Row: Solomon III, ancient Hawaiian culture.

Mom (Henrietta), Myra, Freddie Historically, participation (the oldest Aikau brother), in the sport would Pops (Solomon Aikau Jr) reflect or often elevate a Front Row: Eddie and Clyde Hawaiian’s social status.

Photo courtesy Steve Wilkings There is a “tradition of respect and exchange on the beaches of Hawai‘i,” states Isaiah Helekunihi Walker in his groundbreaking book, Waves of Resistance, a study of the relationship among surfing, Hawaiian identity, and the movement for national sovereignty. Surfing the big waves brought prestige and generated community. A poor kid living in a graveyard could literally rise up on the powerful ocean waves and be seen in a new and brilliant light. Eddie’s dad knew this to be true, and convinced a local teacher, John Kelly, to take Eddie surfing on the winter swells at Waimea Bay. Originating from the storms in the north Pacific Ocean, the waves at Waimea Bay (one of 51 beaches covering the North Shore’s 11 miles of shoreline) may not be the world’s biggest, yet reaches heights of 25 feet plus. These were the waves that

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

ig wave surfing has many heroes, yet none more treasured than the legendary Duke Kahanamoku, whose exhibitions introduced surfing to the world, and the equally loved and revered, Eddie Aikau, who placed Hawai‘i on the map as a surfing territory for good. Since his death in 1978, Hawaiians and mainlanders alike have been waiting to see a movie about Eddie’s amazing life. Their wishes are being granted with the documentary film, “Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau,” which opens the 14th annual Maui Film Festival in Wailea on June 12.

It’s sure to be celestial cinema at its very best.

Edward “Eddie” Ryon Makuahanai Aikau has inspired generations of wave riders throughout the world. Born in Kahului, Maui on May 4 1946, Eddie would be 67 next month.

Instead, his life ended in a heroic act that left the surfing world reeling and the people grieving the loss of a true humanitarian.

At the risk of giving away too much of his remarkable story, we will simply provide an overview of Eddie’s life as background for those of you going to see the movie. For the rest, his story is a reminder of the power of courage in the face of unbelievable odds. If you are a surfer and appreciate this grand Hawaiian tradition, Eddie’s story will bring a knowing smile to your face.

Eddie was the third of six Aikau kids and leader of the pack since their earliest days on Maui. Later, Pops Aikau took his family to live on both the south and north shores of O‘ahu. His younger brother, Clyde, says “Eddie was a pretty quiet guy, but when there was a challenge or some risk to take or some game that everyone wanted to win, Eddie rose to the top, even at an early age.”

Eddie’s formative years took place in a most unusual setting—a Chinese graveyard in O‘ahu’s Pauoa Valley. Hawaiians of Chinese ancestry have lived in Hawai‘i for more than 200 years. Most showed up in the mid to late 19th century to work on the booming sugar and pineapple plantations. Eddie and his family maintained the cemetery, steeped in ancient history and filled with magic and mystery. The close-knit Aikau family spent most of their free time in the ocean, diving, fishing and paddleboarding. All of these water activities in the deep blue sea compensated for a life of near poverty.

When Eddie was 16, he left school and started working

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would define Eddie as the legend that he is today­—and will continue to be—for future generations of surfers.

In 1968, after years playing Memorial Plate on the Hōkūle‘a in the wild and photo courtesy of Waka Moana/Wikipedia.com fearsome surf, Eddie was hired to be the first lifeguard on the North Shore. Several years later he became the first “roving lifeguard patrol” on the North Shore and covered the area from Sunset Beach to Hale‘iwa—not one life was lost on his watch. He braved waves that often reached 30-feet high, and in 1971 was named “Lifeguard of the Year.”

Eddie never used jet skis or boats while on duty, just a board and swim fins did the job for this remarkably strong and agile man.

Eddie saw big wave surfing as a personal goal, not a competition.

Throughout the early to mid-70s, Eddie traveled to South Africa, South America, and Australia to participate in select, early-era pro surfing events. He was always a central figure in bringing surfers together and helped maintain calm and camaraderie during highly contested competitions. In 1977, Eddie won the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship, earning him worldwide recognition that never compromised his simple, open-hearted nature.

Because of Eddie’s desire to perpetuate the Hawaiian heritage, he became involved with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and was invited to participate in a 2,500 mile journey following the ancient route between the Hawaiian and Tahitian Islands. As part of the crew of the traditional sailing canoe of the Polynesian migration, Eddie left Hawai‘i on March 16, 1978 to begin this 30-day historical trip.

The journey was cut short when the double-hulled canoe developed a leak in one of the hulls and capsized in stormy weather about 12 miles south of the island of Moloka‘i.

What did Eddie do? He went for help in an attempt to get to land and save his crew. In an unprecedented act of courage, Eddie paddled toward Lāna‘i on his surfboard, braving the waves that surely took him to a place higher and greater than 30 feet. Hours later, the crew of the Hōkūle‘a was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, and Eddie was lost at sea, never to be seen again. He had removed his lifejacket since it was hindering his paddling, unbounded in his determination to save his teammates. The ensuing search for Eddie was the largest air-sea search mission in Hawaiian history at that time.

In the late-70s, bumper stickers and T-shirts with the phrase “Eddie Would Go” spread throughout the Hawaiian Islands, as well as to the rest of the world. According to maritime historian, Mac Simpson, “Aikau was a legend on the North Shore, pulling people out of waves that no one else would dare to face. Only Eddie dared.” In June of 2012, Nashville surf band, Black Bear, released their debut EP titled “Eddie Would Go.” A variation of the catchphrase that began to emerge was, “Eddie Wouldn’t Tow.” Many surfers feel that being towed into a wave, as opposed to paddling, is against the spirit of the sport. Other variations include: “Eddie Would Throw,” in support of a football

passing charge at the University of Hawai‘i and “Eddie Wouldn’t Crow,” in opposition to boastful and egotistical surfers.

In Eddie’s honor, the surfwear company, Quiksilver, sponsors “The Eddie,” a Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay held only when the ocean swells reach a minimum of 20 feet. The contest only invites 28 big wave riders to participate in two rounds of competition. Eddie’s brother, Clyde, won the event in 1987, a testimony to the gene pool the Aikau brothers shared.

Traditionally, the competition does not allow the use of jet skis to tow surfers into the waves. You can almost see Eddie giving the shaka sign to each new crop of surfers wondering if, some day, they could do what Eddie did.

Today the Eddie Aikau Foundation promotes Eddie Aikau’s contributions, both on and off the water, as well as helping to educate and advance the Hawaiian culture. The Foundation strives to inspire people to develop a strong sense of pride in themselves, their heritage, and their communities, guided by Eddie’s remarkable spirit and character.

“I think Eddie was color-blind. I feel like he was more open and more loving to all races than many people at that time.

If you had an open heart, he could see that immediately,” says Peter Trombley, friend of Eddie’s and longtime North Shore surfer.

Meet Eddie, in glorious color, on the big screen Wednesday, June 12 at the Maui Film Festival. See him surf, and mostly, see his smile. ❖

For those of you who would like to meet his sister, Myra, and brothers, Clyde and Solomon, you are invited to the Maui Film Festival’s Opening Night Reception on June 12 from 5:30–7:30 pm at Capische? in the Hotel Wailea.

Event information: MauiFilmFestival.com To contribute: EddieAikauFoundation.org

Photo courtesy David Bettencourt

Sources: EddieAikauFoundation.org, Nicole Pasulka at BelieverMag.com, Wikipedia.com Contact writer Amorah St. John: iamamorah@gmail.com

Aloha

Aloha is a value, one of unconditional love.

Aloha is the outpouring and receiving of the spirit.

Second in an ongoing series.

Managing with Aloha: Aloha is Our Rootstock

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service given from one person to another.” To manage others is a profound responsibility, and Aloha must be in each intention and in each effort. There is no other way to manage or to lead—if you are to serve.

If your Aloha Spirit confronted you, I imagine it would say, Don’t underestimate me. Any intimidation we sense is actually a dare: Be better. Like all values, Aloha wants to be owned and claimed. It wants your signature as you convert value into action. So do I—for I know Aloha to be a guarantee of the good inside you, waiting for breakout, breakthrough moments, the ones that will define you and grow you. My own self-talk changed in that certainty—How could I have struggled, with offering you something which is so thoroughly good? My earlier fears of being presumptuous and of grappling with my own authenticity have never returned.

Publishing my book would end a chapter in my life and begin a series of others undeniably rooted in Aloha’s foundation: My roots dug in. Aloha is a value which grows as you do and leads you when you let it. Aloha is your rootstock too, much in the same way our kūpuna will talk about kalo, cultivated as the firstborn son of Wakea (father sky) and Papa (mother earth). Your Aloha firmly grounds you in your ancestry and sense of place. Aloha extends its roots to gather nourishment for you whenever you need it, and it branches out so easily, sending nutrition to whatever other value you’ll choose for your life’s expression. Your Aloha rootstock is the keeper of your DNA so that other values get defined through your Aloha identity and innate wisdom, ha and alo. You won’t grow like an unwanted weed; you’ll grow in the true seed of your Aloha Spirit. Aloha seeks to be shared, but it’s never ever depleted, for that unconditional part of love creates the bounty of amazing in-spirit abundance.

What a great thing to bring to work, to managing others, and to the art and science of business.

Don’t allow Aloha to intimidate you as I once did. Take the dare: Aloha is you becoming better. ~ Rosa Say Next issue: Ho‘ohana, the value of worthwhile work.

Contact writer Rosa Say: RosaSay.com, ManagingWithAloha.com Photo by Forest and Kim Starr

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

remember my year a decade ago quite vividly, for in 2003 I began to write Managing with Aloha. It was writing that would define me as a manager and shape what I stood for as a human being. And yet… I clearly recall pushing my chair back several times, and pacing. I’d stare at the words I’d already written to ask myself, Just who do you think you are? Who are you to be writing this? My struggle in that 2003 inception was with the core value which would be the rootstock of all the others I’d write about: Aloha.

Aloha intimidated me. It cut through me with an unsettling vulnerability that confused me—even though I felt I’d grown up with Aloha as love and had our island’s blessing of having it in my life as a constant presence. Up to that point of trying to write about it, Aloha had been everything good— and only good. Aloha was pervasive in how those closest to me would treat me. Aloha was beautiful grace. Aloha was immeasurable kindness. Aloha was unconditional acceptance. Aloha was exceedingly generous in its understanding as I grew up in Hawai‘i, and I relied on that generosity, so what was the problem? Aloha had never failed me, and it was love—wasn’t it?

In the end, I decided to share stories of my own life’s Aloha experience to stick with what I knew as completely—and unquestionably—true. I would coach myself, Just tell your story as I’d pull my chair back in, and sit to keep writing.

When I read those pages now, I see I didn’t actually define Aloha for my readers, only attempting to illustrate the way Aloha manifested itself for me—how it became real, and not just a romantic concept. I judge my writing differently now, thankful that my humility stepped in as it did, stopping me from defining Aloha any more explicitly. Aloha is something you have to define for yourself (yes, you) in the literal way its root words do: As ha, the spirit-driven breath of your life and as alo, the manner you live within every breath’s truth and dignity (your alo is your presence).

You must dare to share it, that living from the inside out.

I kept writing, and when I focused on management as I originally intended to, all struggle disappeared: Aloha was very clear. It had to be there, in every manager’s actual practice of their art and in all the work which would result. I wrote, “As it lives and breathes within us, Aloha defines the epitome of sincere, gracious, and intuitively perfect customer

| By Rosa Say

25

Ka Puana–The Refrain

Lovely, Cold, and Dead An excerpt from best-selling Moloka‘i novelist Mike Bond’s latest book, Saving Paradise. A human rights and environmental activist, war and foreign correspondent, award-winning poet, and international energy expert, Mike has worked in many dangerous, remote, and war-torn regions of the world. Based on his own experiences, his critically acclaimed novels depict the hunger of the human heart for good, the intense joys of love, the terror and fury of battle, the sinister vagaries of politics and multinational corporations, the destruction of human freedoms, and the vanishing beauty of the natural world.

KeOlaMagazine.com | Maui County, June/July 2013

“I

26

t was another magnificent dawn on O‘ahu, the sea soft and rumpled and the sun blazing up from the horizon, an offshore breeze scattering plumeria fragrance across the frothy waves. Flying fish darting over the crests, dolphins chasing them, a mother whale and calf spouting as they rolled northwards. A morning when you already know the waves will be good, and it will be a day to remember.

I waded out with my surfboard looking for the best entry and she bumped my knee. A woman long and slim in near-transparent red underwear, face down in the surf. Her features sharp and beautiful, her short chestnut hair plastered to her cold skull.

I dropped my board and held her in my arms, stunned by her beauty and death. If I could keep holding her maybe she wouldn’t really be dead. I was already caught by her high cheekbones and thin purposeful lips, the subtle arch of her brow, her long slender neck in my hands. And so overwhelmed I would have died to protect her.

When I carried her ashore her long legs dragged in the surf as if the ocean didn’t want to let her go, this sylphlike mermaid beauty.

Sorrow overwhelmed me – how could I get her back, this lovely person?

Already cars were racing up and down Ala Moana Boulevard.

When you’re holding a corpse in your arms, how bizarre seems the human race – where were all these people hurrying to in this horrible moment with this beautiful young woman dead?

I did the usual. Being known to the Honolulu cops I had to call them.

I’d done time and didn’t want to do more. Don’t believe for a second what anyone tells you – being Inside is a huge disincentive. Jail tattoos not just your skin; it nails your soul. No matter what you do, no matter what you want, you don’t want to go back there. Not ever.

So Benny Olivera shows up with his flashers flashing. If you want a sorry cop, Benny will fill your bill. Damn cruiser the size of a humpback whale with lights going on and off all over the place, could’ve been a nuclear reaction – by the way, why would anyone want a family that’s nuclear? Life’s dangerous enough.

So I explain Benny what happened. He’s hapa pilipino – half Filipino – and doesn’t completely trust us hapa haoles, part white and part Hawaiian. To a kanaka maoli, a native Hawaiian, or to someone whose ancestors were indentured here like the Japanese or in Benny’s case, Filipinos, there’s still mistrust. Didn’t the haoles steal the whole archipelago for a handful of beads? Didn’t they bring diseases that cut the Hawaiian population by ninety percent?

And then shipped hundreds of the survivors to leprosy colonies on Molokai? While descendants of the original missionaries took over most of the land and became huge corporations that turned the Hawaiians, Filipinos, Japanese and others into serfs? These corporations that now own most of Hawai‘i, its mainline media, banks and politicians?

I’m holding this lissome young woman cold as a fish in my arms, and Benny says lie her down on the hard sidewalk and the ambulance comes – more flashing lights – and she’s gone under a yellow tarp and I never saw her again.

Couldn’t surf. Went home and brewed a triple espresso and my heart was down in my feet. Sat on the lānai and tried to figure out life and death and what had happened to this beautiful woman. Mojo the dachshund huffed up on the chair beside me, annoyed I hadn’t taken him surfing. Puma the cat curled on my lap but I didn’t scratch her so she went and sat in the sun.

I’d seen plenty of death but this one got to me. She’d been young, pretty, and athletic. Somehow the strong classic lines of her face denoted brains, determination and hard work. How did she end up drowned in Kewalo Basin?

Benny’s bosses at the cop shop would no doubt soon provide the answer.”

Saving Paradise can be found on Moloka‘i at Kalele Bookstore and Big Wind Kite Factory, on Maui at Barnes & Noble, and all University of Hawai‘i Bookstores.

Contact Mike Bond: MikeBondBooks.com

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