Ka Wehena: Kaulana Hawai‘i
Na Wai Puna o Kona – Na Kupuna Kaulana Hawai’i lā Nā mea Aloha lā Eia ho’i ke ola lā ‘O Hawai’i Kamehameha Hawai’i lā Mō’i ka moku lā Eia ho’i ke ola lā ‘O Hawai’i Eō e Maui lā…
Driving Fast with Brittni Paiva: A Young ‘Ukulele Virtuoso Speeding Toward Stardom
By Shirley Stoffer The music world keeps opening new doors for Brittni Paiva, the 23-year-old ‘ukulele star from Hilo. She has been making music since the age of four, when she started playing piano. At age 11, her uncle gave…
It Was a Hard Day’s Night for Cindy Coats: Now She’s Back, With a Little Help From Her Friends
By Margaret Kearns Holualoa resident Cindy Coats recalls distinctly the moment she declared her chosen profession. “I was 10 years old and had just seen the most incredible movie with my mother,” she says. The movie? It was The Beatles’…
Digital Dream Ready for the Big Screen: Local Animator Involves Hawai‘i Island Youth in Crafting Virtual Realities
By Paula Thomas In a modest rural road in Hakalau, on the Hāmākua Coast, sits a rather quaint, non-descript house. It’s an unlikely locale for a high-tech enterprise; but inside its walls is the animation studio of Geoffrey Blair Hajim,…
A Whole New Palate: Seed-to-Table Gives Kids a New Appreciation for Food
By Prana Mandoe A group of middle-school cooks is hanging out by the blender on a picnic table at Kua O Ka Lā Public Charter School (KOKL). The kids just whipped up coconut-liliko’i smoothies… oh!—and grilled beef and lime with…
The Story of `Iliahi: Sandalwood, A Saga of Destruction and Rebirth
By Tim Hall When the first humans stepped from their sailing canoes onto the shores of Hawai‘i, the islands were covered with (‘iliahi)—sandalwood. They brought with them a number of alien species; almost all were brought on purpose. Others were…
The Irrepressible Alice Moon: Downtown Hilo’s Dynamo
By Denise Laitinen It’s a postcard-perfect morning in downtown Hilo, with bright blue skies and Hilo Bay sparkling in the sunlight—the kind of day that makes you feel lucky to live in Hawai‘i. With the Farmers’ Market in full swing…
Ka Wehena: Aia ke Aloha ke Nana Aku (Love is There When We Seek)
Na Kumu Keala Ching ‘Ohu’ohu o ka lani i ‘ike aku Kūlia a’ela ka lā i ka lewa Wahi ola nā kūpuna i lōkahi ai Aia ana ke aloha ke nānā aku Kūlani ka ‘uhane i kupu aku Ākea ka…
Coping with Cancer: A Journey and a Place to Chill at Kokolulu
By Cynthia Sweeney He is a professional counselor who has traveled the world giving workshops in stress reduction using techniques such as acupressure and massage. He also spent 20 years studying qigong with a Chinese monk. She is an oncology…
A Victorian-Age Indiana Jones: Actor Peter Charlot as Professor Jaggar, Intrepid Scientist/Adventurer
By Alan D. McNarie The gray-haired figure stands on the side of a green mound next to the empty Volcano house in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. “I’m Professor Jaggar,” he tells the group of visitors, “and we’re here to save…
Waimea Plantation Daughter Remembers Georgia O’Keeffe: A Conversation with Patricia Jennings
By Catherine Tarleton “I know you paint flowers and skulls in the desert,” said Patricia Jennings, 12, to her family’s famous dinner guest, “and that you have a wonderful brush technique,” she added, recalling an article she’d read in Time…
Suzi Bond Helps the Stars Shine in Volcano: The Executive Director of KDEN Likes a Challenge
By Alan D. McNarie It’s a rainy November evening in Volcano. A small group of aspiring actors have gathered at the Kilauea Military Camp Theater (KMC) to try out for Kilauea Drama and Entertainment Network’s (KDEN) annual winter musical—this year,…
Keeping the Magic Alive: Sleight of Mind with “Arneleo the Great” and “The Great Barusky”
By Marya Mann Although the element of surprise is the capstone in the magician’s pyramid of tricks, magic is no accident. Just ask two Kona tricksters who found serious commitment in a very funny business. Is it optical illusion or…
Then & Now: Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park–100 Years of Witnessing Nature’s Fiery Spectacle
By Robert Oaks When westerners first learned about the “Sandwich Islands” in the 1700s, they were fascinated by its massive mountains, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the two tallest mountains on earth at over 31,000 feet when measured from their…
Sustainable Hawai‘i Youth Leadership Initiative: Youth Inspire All to Dream of a New Earth
By Marya Mann On the sunlit day, outdoors at the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, Skyla (“Sky”) D. Graig-Murray, a student at West Hawai‘i Explorations Academy, asks this question: “How often have you asked a young person what is their dream…
Konabob and the Unique Kona Walkingbass
By Shirley Stoffer Bob Stoffer, known as “Konabob” to many people in Hawai’i and around the world, had loved Hawai’i and Hawaiian music for a long time before moving to the island. He listened to Hawaiian music at his bakery…
A Master Chinese Brush Painter: Shirley Pu Wills Practices the Art of Imagination and Chi
By Fern Gavelek It’s both what you see and what you don’t see that create the magic in Chinese brush painting. “The thing about Chinese brush painting is you imagine what’s not there,” says Shirley Pu Wills of Captain Cook.…
Gille Legacy: The Man Who Paints With His Nose
By Cynthia Sweeney Gille Legacy does not have the distractions that the rest of us do. Unable to use his body since birth, he is not confined to it and lives largely—both figuratively and literally—in his imagination. And the peace…
Ka Hana No‘eau i ka Hulu: “The Art of the Feather”
By Noel Morata Early Hawaiians believed that birds had symbolic spiritual power and their feathers carried magical properties, including keen eyesight, endurance and speed. These qualities would add to the value of garments utilizing feathers, which were created specifically for…
Hawaiian Quilting: Creating Treasures, Passed Down from Generation to Generation
By Margaret Kearns Scattered around Hawai‘i Island, small groups of women—and a handful of men—are using passion and knowledge, skill and patience, hands and hearts to save what they say is a dying art. Hawaiian quilting is literally a labor…
A Beloved Daughter Retires: Fanny Au Hoy
By Fern Gavelek She walks through the treasure-filled rooms—fingering the china, straightening a photo frame, smoothing a quilted bedspread and then opening wide an upstairs window. As the fresh air fills the stately bedroom, Aunty Fanny turns around and grins.…
Professing Change
By Jessica Kirkwood As humanity faces ecological degradation, increasing social and economic inequality and a growing sense of fear, dissatisfaction and unrest, UH-Hilo Professor Dr. Catherine Becker wants her students to imagine and create a Hawai‘I that is environmentally sustainable,…
Pages from Cowboy Romance and Reality: Paniolo Preservation Society Saddles Up
By Catherine Tarleton When I was a little girl, I caught horse fever early and as fervently as a suburban D.C. kid could. I read every horse book in two libraries, drew pictures, wrote stories and fought my brother for…
Mushroom in a Bottle: A Gourmet Fungus, from Hamakua to the White House
By Denise Laitinen The mushroom—actually a fungus—grows on a lot of different matter in the wild, from tree logs to cow pies. It’s called “substrate,” as opposed to soil. In cultivation, the substrate makes a difference in the quality and…
Ka Wehena: Ke Ao
Na Kumu Keala Ching Ua hāmama ka ‘īpuka o ke ao Ke ao (i) ‘ike ‘ia o ke ālaula Lālau ho’i ke aloha o nēia ola E ola ka makani (i) lawe aku ai ka ‘i’ini He ‘i’ini i mālama…
The Parrots of Pana‘ewa
By Alan D. McNarie It’s noon on a Wednesday at the Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo, and Jan Comstock and Zoe are having some quality time at a picnic table. Let’s play “find the nut,” says Jan. “Mac nut,” says…
Taro, ‘Ohana and Jerry Konanui
By Marya Mann Lau or Lū’au ~ Leaf Turning over a new leaf this magical year of 2012? Think of making that a taro leaf. For a taste of the divine, simmer it into a soothing soup with coconut cream…
The Life in Business: Kadota Liquor and K’s Drive In
Ryan Kadota, third-generation owner of Kadota Liquor and K’s Drive In, grew up in the family business. “Both Kadota Liquors and K’s Drive In were started in 1964 by my grandparents, Thomas and Kazue Kadota. They were affectionately known as…
The Life in Business: Aaronʻs Blue Kalo
Selling poi was not as easy as Aaron Sugino thought. So, with the poi that wasn’t selling, he started putting it in his mom’s (Aunty Bea’s) cookie recipe. And that’s how he started making the “macpoichip” cookies… and that is…
The Life in Business: Aloha Kona Kids
Winonna Tina Cerezo was pregnant with their fifth child when Aloha Kona Kids was born. The oldest of three siblings that today share in the store’s ownership, she and her husband, Eric, (a Hawai‘i County Police Officer who passed away…
