Leche de Tigre: Celebrating 10 Years of Dancing and Grooving
By Karen Rose The Island of Hawai‘i is no stranger to those who love to wander. One trip to paradise can easily leave visitors yearning for a free and spirited life filled with palm trees and warm breezes. This bohemian…
Hawai’i Island Is the Orchid Isle
By Denise Laitinen There was a time when fields of orchids covered wide swaths of East Hawai‘i, especially Kapoho in lower Puna. So popular were orchid flowers from Hawai‘i Island in the 1950s and 1960s that they were shipped to…
Ka Puana: Proverb 1870—Ku‘ia ka hele a ka na‘au ha‘aha‘a.
Managing with Aloha: Nānā i ke kumu Truth
“Look to your source. Find your truth.” Eighteenth in Series Two on Managing with Aloha By Rosa Say When we first talked about Nānā i ke kumu in this column, we concentrated on the first part of its translation, “look…
Mālama Mokupuni—Caring for Our Island Environment: A Plastic-y Solution in Compost
By Julia Meurice Ever heard of bioplastics? Though derived from corn or sugar and labeled “commercially compostable,” they are not accepted at composting facilities on Hawai‘i Island. Sadly, many of these products end up in landfills. Over the past year…
Featured Artists: Kirk Shorte & Kristi Kranz
Featured Cover Artist: Kirk Shorte Kirk Shorte is an avid professional photographer who captures the unique beauty and life of Hawai‘i Island in his images. A resident of Kailua-Kona since 2004, Kirk grew up in Belmar, New Jersey where, at…
Local Food: The Gift of Kalo, with a Recipe for Taro Greens and Feta Phyllo Triangles
By Brittany P. Anderson Something stirs inside of me with each writing assignment, yet diving deep into kalo (taro) farming on Hawai‘i Island for this issue felt a little more profound. Waipi‘o Valley in its truest untamed form is a…
The Waimea Arts Council: Art at the Heart of Waimea
By Jan Wizinowich At the intersection of Mamalahoa Highway and Kawaihae Road is a cluster of small buildings at the heart of old Waimea and the home of the Waimea Arts Council (WAC). With its double doors flung wide open,…
Future Forest Nursery: Say YES to Planting Trees
By Fern Gavelek “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.”—Khalil Gibran Trees make us look up. Their canopy provides shade and collects rain to replenish the watershed. Their roots sequester carbon, mitigating global warming, and store rain…
Talk Story with an Advertiser: Reiki Healing Arts
Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a natural healing technique that works to bring about harmony and balance in a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual way. Reiki comes from two Japanese words: rei, meaning universal, and ki, meaning life force energy. Universal…
Hōkū Pa‘a: The North Star of Melodic Harmonies
By Gayle Kaleilehua Greco Sitting in the ancient petroglyph fields at Waikoloa, Tani Waipā looked to the heavens for guidance on what was to be her next step in life. In moments of deep reflection and trust, Tani scanned the…
Kūha‘o Zane: “Hula is the vehicle for my identity to be passed on to me.”
By Marcia Timboy Kūha‘o Zane is a successful Hilo-based design professional. He’s also a cultural practitioner deeply rooted in ancestral traditions, with an esteemed hula lineage inherently connected to Hawai‘i Island. Kūha‘o has danced in 20 consecutive ho‘ike (exhibition) programs…
Charlene Asato is All About Paper
By Lynne Farr Paper is only paper until it’s in the hands of Charlene Asato—then it’s art—or it will be. Charlene is going to cut, fold, emboss, dye, draw, twist, collage, letter, shred, sew, paint, pierce, pleat, print, paste, and…
Refuse–Reduce–Reuse–Recycle: Doing Our Part
By Stefan Verbano The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Soiled plastic foam takeout containers fly out of a dumpster and whip through the streets on gusts from the tail end of a tropical storm. Some get caught in trees, on fences,…
Hawai‘i Island’s Most Prolific Church Builder: Rev. John D. Paris
By Denise Laitinen Dotting the landscape along main highways and backcountry roads, historic churches in West Hawai‘i range from small wooden chapels to impressive stone structures. It may surprise people to learn the same man, the Reverend John D. Paris,…
Island Treasures: Puna Gallery and Gift Emporium
Puna Gallery and Gift Emporium is a family-run art gallery and gift shop located in the heart of Old Pāhoa Town. They feature fine art, including paintings, prints, wooden bowls, sculpture, and furniture handcrafted by local Puna artists. A large…
The Right Thing to Do, in Real Time
By Judy Edwards Ken Boyer is a big guy with a big heart and a kind voice, who carries a camera as one of his passions. He grew up in Volcano and lives there still with his wife, Deb, and…
Chuck Leslie: The ‘Ōpelu Man
By Karen Anderson One day in the late 1990s, third-generation Napo‘opo‘o fisherman Chuck Leslie headed north toward Keauhou in his 56-foot longlining vessel, Hana Like, when suddenly and inexplicably he passed out at the wheel, just outside of Pu‘u ‘Ohau…
Ka Wehena: Pō ke Ao
Na Kumu Keala Ching ‘O ka Pō, ‘o ke Ao Ao ka Pō, Pō ke Ao Nā Kini Lani, Nā Kini Honua Nā Kini Uka, Nā Kini Kai‘O ka Pō, ‘o ke Ao Ao ka Pō, Pō ke Ao Nā…
The Past is Present: Kalo Farming on Hawai‘i Island
By Brittany P. Anderson There is a story behind every plant on Hawai‘i Island. Sometimes it is a legend of betrayal, sometimes a voyage across the Pacific Ocean, or an accidental introduction to our island home. The tale of kalo…
Talk Story with an Advertiser: Jungle Love
Becky Peterson opened Jungle Love in Pāhoa in 2004 in Pāhoa Marketplace. Being an artist, and also very involved in the local art community, Becky felt it was time to have her own business. She came up with the name…
Celebrating a Long Time Advertiser: dlb & Associates
Everyone knows the saying “necessity is the mother of invention.” Dan Berg had been laid off on a Friday, and by the following Monday, he had created his own land surveying business. That was in August, 2010. Since then, Dan…
Try Look Inside: Yvonne and Keoki Carters’ Artistic Life
By Ma‘ata Tukuafu A life with deeper connection is what husband and wife team Yvonne Yarber Carter and Keoki Apokolani Carter strive for. With their creation of original music, their professions in land-based cultural education to steward native plants, trees,…
Kumu Kele Kanahele: A Unique Son of Ni‘ihau
By Paula Thomas Tucked away in “the boonies,” as he calls it, is the tidy, unsuspecting home of one of Ni‘ihau’s sons, Kumu Kele Kanahele. Kumu Kele is famous for making prized necklaces, chokers, and earrings from the shells that…
Mālama Mokupuni–Caring for Our Island Environment: Telling the Story of the Archipelago
By Rachel Laderman When the 6.9 earthquake rocked Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on May 4, 2018, it seriously damaged park buildings and infrastructure. The park had to close until the volcanic action settled down, reopening on September 22. During those…
Talk Story with an Advertiser: Big Island Gravity
The most beautiful skydive in the world is located right here on Hawai‘i Island! Big Island Gravity, LLC (Skydive B.I.G.) takes their guests to see well over two dozen massive waterfalls as they fly over Pōlolu, Waimanu, and Waipi‘o valleys.…
Local Food: The Bounty of ‘Ulu
By Brittany P. Anderson There is something effortlessly regal about an ‘ulu (breadfruit) tree. The dark green leaves look like oversized hands gracefully waving in the breeze and the attractive trees’ towering size, up to 60 feet, give them a…
Magical Creatures of Hamakua: A Second Chance at Life for Animals Large and Small
By Denise Laitinen Standing atop a hill in the middle of a large green pasture along the Hāmākua Coast, the Pacific Ocean extends far into the distance melding with the blue sky as birds sing and puffy white clouds float…
Ke Ola Magazine: 10 Years of Sharing ‘The Life’ of Hawai‘i Island
By Fern Gavelek You’ve read about well-known people such as pacemaker inventor Earl Bakken and landowner/steward Ed Olson. Musicians such as Cyril Pahinui and Kahulani. Artists such as Kathy Long and craft maker Ika Vea have been featured. There have…
The Cultivating Life: Agroforestry Expert Craig Elevitch
By Brittany P. Anderson A cool breeze runs through the dense forests of Hōlualoa, perched on the slope of Hualālai Volcano in North Kona. Here, the woods are brimming with avocado, ‘ulu (breadfruit), macadamia nut, coffee, and fruit trees. Once…
