Look For The Helpers: How Hawaii Tracker Became a Pivotal Community Resource
By Denise Laitinen Mr. Rogers, the beloved children’s TV show host, is known for saying, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You…
Hilo’s History Through the Banyan Trees
By Denise Laitinen During the 1930s, a virtual who’s who of celebrities, sports stars, and politicians including our nation’s 32nd president all made their way to Hilo. While here, many participated in planting a banyan tree on the Waiākea Peninsula.…
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…
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,…
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…
Puna Lights: A Beloved Holiday Tradition
By Denise Laitinen Stanward Oshiro is hard at work making the holidays a little brighter for Hawai‘i Island residents. His annual synchronized Christmas light and music display in lower Puna has become a community favorite for more than a decade,…
Then & Now: Obon Season–A Favorite Summer Tradition on Hawai‘i Island
By Denise Laitinen Summertime is obon season in Hawai‘i. Every year from June through August, the annual Japanese Buddhist tradition of obon festivals, or bon for short, takes place on Hawai‘i Island. These fun cultural events tend to draw large…
Dreams Do Come True: The Musical Journey of Kris Fuchigami
By Denise Laitinen Kris Fuchigami is a study in perseverance. After picking up the ‘ukulele at age 13, the Hawai‘i Island native readily admits he dropped out of band class in school because he struggled with reading music at the…
Hawai’i Island’s Famous “Painted Church”
By Denise Laitinen An incredible example of American folk art, St. Benedict Catholic Church in Captain Cook is one of the most well-known and colorful churches on Hawai‘i Island. Tucked into the slopes of Mauna Loa among coffee farms above…
100 Years of Worship: Ka Mauloa Church
By Denise Laitinen If you stop and listen on any given Sunday as you travel along Highway 11 in Kurtistown, you may hear the sounds of church parishioners singing in Hawaiian. Small in size and humble in nature with roots…
Preserving Waimea’s Historic Spencer House
By Denise Laitinen A courthouse, hotel, restaurant, gift shop, real estate and law office, and a family home; the historic Spencer House in the heart of downtown Waimea has been many things since it was built in the 1840s. Before…
One of Hilo’s Unsung Heroes: Mary Matayoshi
By Denise Laitinen A staunch supporter of education, Mary Matayoshi has created programs that have benefited generations of Hawai‘i Island residents. Her work has led to educational opportunities for thousands of people, however her name is not as well known…
Puka‘ana Church: Steeped in History and Spirit
By Denise Laitinen Like a lei of vibrant Hawaiian flowers, you will find small historic churches dotting the landscape around Hawai‘i Island. Like the flowers bound together in lei, many of the churches are connected, either built by the same…
John Dawson: This Octogenarian is Still Creating Meaningful Art in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
By Denise Laitinen Lots of five-year olds like to draw, but few at that age know they want to be an artist when they grow up. Fewer still grow up to actually become an artist—and a famous one at that,…
Taiko Drumming
By Denise Laitinen There is something intrinsically mesmerizing about percussion—drummers performing in unison, beating out rhythms both simple and intricate. That rhythmic enchantment has led in part to the rise in popularity of Japanese taiko drumming across Hawai‘i Island, the…
A Safe Haven For Hawai‘i Island Cats and Dogs
It’s a typical Monday morning for Mary Rose Krijgsman and the crew of dedicated volunteers who are busy feeding the more than 250 cats and 78 dogs plus several chickens and pigs at the Rainbow Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kurtistown.…
Kohala Youth Ranch
By Denise Laitinen A man is standing on the outer edge inside a round horse pen in scenic North Kohala trying to get a horse, who is standing in the middle of the ring, to obey his non-verbal commands. It’s…
Kukuau Studio
Build it and they will come. And come they have. Since opening Kukuau Studio in downtown Hilo two years ago, musician and music/vocal teacher Bub Pratt has created a community center that provides music instruction by day and performance art space…
Unusual Places to get Married on Hawai’i Island
In our ongoing series featuring unusual places to get married on Hawai‘i Island, we take a look at botanical gardens and waterfall sites that are perfect for that special ceremony. These unique wedding locations range from state parks such as…
100 Years of Giving: Hawai‘i Community Foundation Celebrates a Century of Helping Hawai‘i Island
By Denise Laitinen Nonprofit organizations can impact our lives in so many ways that we aren’t always aware of how much we benefit from their services. For 100 years, Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) has been helping nonprofit organizations statewide, including…
Strong in Spirit and Build: Puna’s Historic Congregational Churches
By Denise Laitinen Puna residents are a hearty lot, known for their resiliency and ability to survive. So it should come as no surprise that their places of worship are equally strong, having withstood a myriad of natural disasters. In…
Growing Sustainability: How Some Puna Residents are Becoming Self-Sufficient as Lava Approaches their Community
By Denise Laitinen Sustainability 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…
Toward a Firewise Community: Follow the Lead of Kohala by the Sea
By Denise Laitinen Kohala by the Sea is the little community that could. This group of Hawai‘i Island residents has achieved a status reached by few communities in the entire country: they’re part of the nationally recognized Firewise Communities program.…
Wahine Holo Lio (Women Riding Horses)
By Denise Laitinen They are easily one of the most popular parts of any floral parade in Hawai‘i. Sitting regally atop their horses adorned in lei, shimmering colored fabrics draping them from head to toe, the graceful women wave to…
Saving Hawai‘i’s Native Dryland Forests
By Denise Laitinen Every day, hundreds of Hawai‘i Island residents and visitors drive past them—most having no idea about the rare treasures they are zipping past as they travel along Māmalahoa Highway between Waimea and Kailua-Kona. These incredible treasures are…
What it’s Like to be Pā‘ū Queen
By Denise Laitinen It’s very humbling to be asked to be a pā‘ū queen,” says Anna Akaka, Pā‘ū Queen of the 2013 King Kamehameha Day Kona parade. Anna, the wife of Danny Akaka, Cultural Advisor for the Mauna Lani Bay…
Kalapana Remembered: Reminiscing with Mayor Billy Kenoi About his Childhood Home Before Pele Reclaimed It
By Denise Laitinen Kalapana. Synonymous with the destructive power of Madame Pele. Little signs remain of the community that was destroyed by lava flows from Kūpa‘ianahā vent between 1986 and 1990./ Those born in the remote fishing village of Kalapana…
Deadly Charms: Creating Beautiful Jewelry from Hawai‘i’s “Fish of Death”
By Denise Laitinen Can you name the “fish of death” in Hawai‘i? Think it’s ciguatera, the foodborne illness found in many parrot and trigger fish? You’d be wrong. Think it’s the feared tiger shark? Guess again. Hawai‘i’s “fish of death,”…
Then & Now: Hilo Sugar Mill/Wainaku Center
By Denise Laitinen Situated on the sea cliffs just north of Hilo and tucked behind old concrete walls is the former Hilo Sugar Mill, which in its heyday processed 1,400 tons of sugar a day. Now, surrounded by tropical flowers…
Stepping Back in Time, and into Hilo’s Shipman House
By Denise Laitinen Stepping into Shipman House Bed and Breakfast on Reed’s Island in Hilo is like stepping into a piece of history. The house reflects a century of Hilo’s history, one filled with grandeur, decline, restoration, and preservation. In…
