Advance reservations are required for the celebration. Tickets are $20 for adults; $5 for keiki ages 5-10, and free for younger children. Tickets can be purchased with cash or checks at Kamuela Liquor Store and Parker Ranch Store, or by calling 854-1541 and arranging to send a check payable to Paniolo Preservation Society to P.O. Box 640, Kamuela, HI 96743.
Eight senior stewards of the paniolo heritage will be honored during the Paniolo Preservation Society’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Awards celebration from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21, at PPS’s new Paniolo Heritage Center at Pukalani Stables.
This new awards program recognizes revered senior members of the Hawaii paniolo community whose careers exemplify the values of ranch life in the “Far West.” These individuals have distinguished themselves in performing their life’s work, which has set them apart from others, commanding the respect of their peers.
“Hawaii’s uniquely insular ranching industry necessitated that knowledge and skill be passed on to the next generations if the heritage of paniolo life was to be perpetuated. A select group of individuals have carried out this unspoken responsibility,” said PPS founding President and board member Dr. Billy Bergin. Bergin is co-chairing this new awards program with another founding member, Alex Penovaroff.
Paniolo Lifetime Achievement recognition recipients include:
— Silver Spur Award: Donnie DeSilva of Honokaa and Sonny Keakealani of Waimea, and
— Kepa Award: Clement Andrade, Volcano; Richard “Casey” DeSilva, Ka’u; Willy Gomes, Kona; James “Kimo” Ho’opai Sr., North Kohala; Miki Kato, Pu’uwa’awa’a, and Eugene Olivera, Keaau.
Families of these remarkable paniolo, the ranch communities they come from and have worked at throughout their years of service, and members and friends of PPS are invited to this first awards program to honor these senior stewards of Hawaiian ranching.
The program will begin with a brief reception and sharing of each of the eight paniolo’s achievements and stories, and conclude with a paniolo-style paina with laulau, kalua pig and long rice, with all the fixings.
Advance reservations are required for the celebration. Tickets are $20 for adults; $5 for keiki ages 5-10, and free for younger children. Tickets can be purchased with cash or checks at Kamuela Liquor Store and Parker Ranch Store, or by calling 854-1541 and arranging to send a check payable to Paniolo Preservation Society to P.O. Box 640, Kamuela, HI 96743.