The Portuguese Heritage Club of Hamakua cordially invites you to join them for an evening of food and fellowship on Nov. 3, from 6-8 p.m. at the NHERC multi-conference room. Please join in to learn about what the club does. They are always looking for new members!
The Portuguese Heritage Club of Hamakua cordially invites you to join them for an evening of food and fellowship on Nov. 3, from 6-8 p.m. at the NHERC multi-conference room. Please join in to learn about what the club does. They are always looking for new members!
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Honokaa Public Library will host The Spring Wind Quintet on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 5:30 p.m. for its Fall Library Program. The Spring Wind Quintet, recognized as one the country’s leading woodwind quintets, has been a major force in the development of chamber music in Hawaii. The group is a part of the Chamber Music Hawaii, founded in 1982, and all are full-time professional musicians. They have an extensive and varied repertoire that have earned them several national grants.
This free musical program is open to the public and is suitable for all ages. This program is produced by the UH-Manoa Outreach College’s Statewide Cultural Extension Program, and is sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Hawaii and the Hawaii State Public Library System.
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Papaikou Hongwanji’s Annual Bazaar will be held on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 7 to 11 a.m. in the multipurpose hall. The Hongwanji is located in Papaikou on the Onomea Scenic Route, makai of Highway 19. Scrip can be purchased onsite on the day of the bazaar. A variety of “goodies for foodies” will be available for purchase that day. Delicious sekihan (red bean rice) and barazushi (sushi rice) are always in demand, so come early for this treat. Produce for sale includes head cabbage, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, papayas and bananas. Frozen Fuji apple pies, already baked pumpkin pies and cookies are quick sellers.
Papaikou Hongwanji’s oishii (delicious) shiso daikon pickles and takuwan make great side dishes to go with any meal. Assorted jams and jellies always sell out quickly. One-of-a-kind craft items by our talented seamstresses make great holiday gifts. Plants and cinders will also be available. And if you missed our fantastic rummage sale last month, you’re in luck; we have even more dishes and household stuff, more clothing and fabric, more handbags, shoes, books and toys, just plenty of everything.
All proceeds raised from this annual fund-raising project will be directed towards the temple’s facility repairs and general operating expenses. They are truly grateful to all church and family members and supporters who have already donated items and their invaluable time. For further information, contact Helen Shirota-Benevides at 964-5796.
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NHERC, North Hawaii Education and Research Center, and the five fall 2012 NHERC scholarship recipients invite you to the NHERC Fall Community Rummage Sale on Saturday, Nov. 9, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the new NHERC pavilion. Get a jump on your Christmas shopping in a meaningful way. All proceeds from the rummage sales’ NHERC table, and rummage table rental monies will go directly to support NHERC scholarship that will enable qualified students to attend NHERC classes in the spring of 2013.
Community members or organizations can sign up for an 8-by-8-foot space for $15. Vendors may bring whatever they would like to sell and keep all that they make. NHERC will provide and set up two tables and one chair for each space. In addition to providing the space, NHERC will advertise the sale in advance and on the day of the sale. Call NHERC to reserve your space or to obtain more information at 775-8890.
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The Paniolo Preservation Society Heritage Dinner blends humor with passionate dedication to Hawaii’s Ranching Legacy With tongue-in-cheek humor, members and friends of the society are being invited to “Buy a Ticket — Save a Cowboy!” The tickets are for PPS’ first Paniolo Heritage Dinner and Auction from 5:30 to 10 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26, at the historic Pukalani Stables, which is being brought back to its former glory when it was the home of Parker Ranch’s then “world renowned” horse breeding program.
Today, Pukalani Stables — under the aegis of PPS and with the help of many friends and donors — has become the Paniolo Heritage Center, with mini-museum, that hosts many community events including a popular weekly farmers market. Honored guest for the evening will be Hawaii filmmaker Edgy Lee, whose award-winning documentary, “Paniolo O Hawaii — Cowboys of the Far West,” was acquired by National Geographic, translated into 20-plus languages and shown literally worldwide.
When producing the film, Lee also worked with Warner Bros. Records’ Nashville Division President Jim Ed Norman to produce a companion soundtrack CD featuring paniolo music by living treasures including the late Clyde “Kindy” Sproat, as well as Nani Lim Yap and Sonny Lim. The CD was a hit, and thanks to the marketing reach of Warner Bros., the music of Hawaii’s paniolo was introduced to audiences worldwide. It’s not surprising PPS would honor Lee for her vision and filmmaking mastery, but what makes her even more their “hero” was her commitment to telling the paniolo story accurately. To achieve this, she worked hand-in-glove with numerous paniolo families and Hawaii ranching leaders and historians for well over three years.
And, because it was leading-edge filmmaking on a subject that major film studios didn’t view as having mass appeal, she also had to personally finance most of the project to keep the project afloat.
“As a filmmaker — you gotta roll with the punches — but this is something cowboys and cowgirls know all too well. Luckily it all turned out beautifully and I got to meet the most wonderful people. Those memories are priceless,” Lee said recently.
“Edgy’s film helped carve a place for Hawaii’s paniolo heritage in American history books and this, along with the persistence of PPS, has precipitated much wider local and national recognition and appreciation of the Hawaiian cowboy,” said PPS President Pat Bergin of Waimea.
As awareness of and appreciation for the Hawaiian cowboy spread, thanks in part of Lee’s film, PPS relentlessly pursued other projects, including a sister-city relationship with Cheyenne, Wyo. This led to the highly publicized 2008 celebration of the Centennial of Hawaiian paniolo Ikua Purdy’s amazing victory at Waiomina in 1908 which demonstrated to the world that the Hawaiian cowboy was second to none.
The momentum of the film and heightened respect for the paniolo heritage helped PPS raise funds to commission one of America’s most famous cowboy artists, Fred Fellows, to create the bronze statue of Ikua Purdy on horseback that graces the center of Waimea town. On a roll, PPS also succeeded in getting Parker Ranch founder John Palmer Parker inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, and quite recently, PPS worked with this museum to establish a permanent Paniolo Exhibit.
The goal now for PPS is “to keep moving forward because the clock is ticking — preservation waits for no one and there are still many sites, artifacts, practices, stories and more to be preserved and shared,” said Bergin. She added that PPS’ mission also includes keeping Hawaii’s cattle industry alive and thriving. To further contribute to sustaining PPS’ activities, the Paniolo Heritage Dinner will include a small auction of prized western/paniolo items, including a hand-tooled saddle by master saddler Pete Gorrell sitting on a beautiful handmade koa saddle stand crafted by Phil “Ski” Kwiatkowski. The saddle and stand currently are on exhibit at the Parker Ranch Store.
Other auction items include a Fred Fellows’ bronze of the “Hawaiian Saddle,” a koa rocking chair, a multi-colored pheasant lei hulu papa (hat lei) and a Martha Greenwell original oil. Tickets for the Oct. 26 Paniolo Heritage Dinner & Auction are $150 per person and include paniolo pupu, hosted bar, dinner, the live auction, dancing and entertainment. Reservations are required. Tickets may be purchased by calling 854-8541 or emailing paniolo@paniolopreservation.org. Tickets may also be purchased at Kamuela Liquor Store.
Carol Yurth’s column is published every Sunday and spotlights activities on the Hilo-Hamakua coast. She welcomes items for her column. Reach her by mail (46-1250 Kalehua Road, Honokaa HI 96727) at least 10 days before the requested publication date, call her at 775-7101, or e-mail waiukahenutz@gmail.com.