Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Illustrated Lecture on Aviation History to be Presented Feb. 4



HALE‘IWA--The North Shore Chamber of Commerce’s historic preservation committee will host an illustrated historical lecture on Aviation History. The event features historic committee members and long time North Shore residents Vera Williams and Rick Rogers. The event will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the Historic Haleiwa Gym. It is sponsored by Stearman Biplane Rides. Author Vera Williams will present an illustrated talk on her extraordinary book, "WASPs, Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II," recently republished by the Pacific Historic Parks in 2011. Aviator, historian and author Rick Rogers will showcase the fascinating history of aviation on the North Shore in his illustrated presentation. See the attached flyer. Enjoy a preview of Vera's book by checking out Danny Martinez's interview with Vera on our website at www.gonorthshore.org. We'd like to extend our special thanks to Stearman Biplane Rides, our sponsor, for their generous financial support of our event.
A girl's chorale ensemble from Kahuku High School's Vocal Motion will perform "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B." There will be swing music, swing dancing and refreshments. During intermission, a photographic presentation of life in the islands during World War II will be presented, courtesy of the Hawaii War Records Depository and the Honolulu Star Bulletin and Advertiser. Guests will also have an opportunity to learn more about the North Shore’s aviation history by visiting the tables set up by the Pacific Aviation Museum and the Naval Air Museum from Barbers Point. As a salute to "the greatest generation," guests are invited to dress in period attire.
Please join the North Shore Chamber for a memorable evening celebrating the WASPs and learning about the North Shore's and Hawaii's unique aviation history. Café Haleiwa, a delightful family owned and operated restaurant in the adjacent historic Takahashi Building, will open early at 5 p.m. for dinner to serve our patrons. Beer and wine pairings can be made at the family's Bonzer Front next door and brought into the Café.
WHAT: "WASPs, the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II," an illustrated talk by Vera Stone Williams and "The History of Aviation on the North Shore," an illustrated talk by Captain Rick Rogers
WHEN: Saturday, February 4, 2012, at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Historic Haleiwa Gym across from Haleiwa Post Office
ADMISSION: $10 pre-sale and $12 at the door (includes light refreshments)
TICKETS: Available at Kai Ku Hale, Strong Current, and the Chamber office Monday to Friday, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
CONTACT: Phone:637-4558 website: www.gonorthshore.org

Thursday, January 26, 2012

National Trust issues Call for Nominations for National Trust/ACHP Federal Partnership Award

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation are seeking nominations for the 2012 National Trust/ACHP Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation. A category of the Richard H. Driehaus National Preservation Awards, this joint award honors outstanding federal partnerships that advance the preservation of important historic resources.

This award requires a demonstrated partnership with a federal organization. Partners may include Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, not-for-profit organizations, individuals, businesses, state and local governments, and other non-federal persons or organizations. Nominated projects or programs can include one or more non-federal partners and more than one federal agency.

The deadline for nominations is March 15, 2012.

The entire application must be completed online
. Please fully read the general eligibility and nomination requirements, and especially the award description for the National Trust/ACHP award before submitting.


For more information contact Patricia Knoll, ACHP Awards Coordinator, at 202-606-1385 or pknoll@achp.gov.

2012 marks a new decade for the National Trust/ACHP Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation. Past winners include the following:
• 2011 – United States Army, Fort A.P. Hill, and the U.S. Army Environmental Command along with The Conservation Fund, the Rappahannock Tribe of Virginia, and Virginia State Historic Preservation Office for an innovative model to purchase an easement preserving archaeological sites within an off-base buffer area and the Camden National Historic Landmark in Caroline County, Virginia.
• 2010 - National Park Service, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, Hartrampf, Inc. and its contractors, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., and the City of Tuskegee to preserve Moton Field where the famed Tuskegee Airmen learned to fly in Tuskegee, Alabama.
• 2009 – Federal Transit Administration, Lower Manhattan Recovery Office and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, and National September 11 Memorial and Museum for Section 106 work related to the Vesey Street Staircase and World Trade Center Site Preservation Project, New York, New York.
• 2008 – Department of Energy, Los Alamos National Laboratory along with the Atomic Heritage Foundation, Crocker LTD/ Crocker & Associates, and the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office for the V-Site Restoration Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
• 2007 – Bureau of Land Management’s Anasazi Heritage Center and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument for numerous multi-faceted partnerships that have significantly broadened the scope of preservation and advocacy in the Four Corners region of the United States.
• 2006 – General Services Administration and New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office for the Amy Biehl High School project in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• 2005 – Bureau of Land Management and the Arizona Site Steward Program for its Arizona-wide project of enlisting volunteers to monitor and protect archaeological sites.
• 2004 – National Park Service and the Alliance for National Heritage Areas (Homestead, Pennsylvania) for the more than two dozen National Heritage Areas nationwide.
• 2003 – General Services Administration, along with numerous other federal and state agencies, organizations and companies, for ensuring the protection of Governors Island, New York Harbor.
• 2002 – An unprecedented collaboration among Navy, Coast Guard, and numerous federal and state agencies, private-sector organizations, corporations, and individuals for the discovery, raising, restoration, and interpretation of the Confederate submarine H.L.Hunley off Charleston, South Carolina.

Monday, January 23, 2012

The Kona Historical Society is pleased to share our upcoming events with you!




Hanohano `O Kona/Honoring Kona: A Free Lecture Series for 2012
Every Last Wednesday in 2012, 5:30PM - 7:00PM at West Hawai`i Civic Center


Hanohano ‘O Kona/Honoring Kona, a free community lecture series starting in 2012, will spotlight local and state speakers on a wide variety of cultural and historical subjects. Presented by Kona Historical Society, in cooperation with the County of Hawai’i, this lecture series is a gift from the Society to the community that has supported it for so long. Free of charge, it is open to all, residents and visitors alike. Check the attached flyer (please share to spread the word!) and PSA for details on each month or go to our events calendar: http://www.konahistorical.org/index.php/events_calendar/


Hanohano `O Kona Lecture Series for January 2012

Wednesday, January 25, 5:30PM - 7:00PM, West Hawai`i Civic Center, Kealakehe Parkway, Kailua Kona
Ka`Olelo Hawai`i/The Hawaiian Language: Revitalizing the Language Through Our Children
Join us as staff and students of the K-12 Hawaiian language immersion school, Ke Kula `o `Ehunuikaimalino, share ha`i olelo (talk) and mele (songs) and “continue to revitalize the Hawaiian language through children”. Also, the members of Unuehu, a branch of the larger hula community of learners of the Hawai`i Community College’s Unukupukupu, will be sharing their mele (songs), oli (chants) and hula (dance). Unukupukupu is the name of the rigorous, didactic and experiential hula curricula of Dr. Taupouri Tangaro.This is the January portion of a community lecture series for 2012 that spotlights local and state speakers on a wide variety of cultural and historical subjects. Presented by Kona Historical Society, in cooperation with the County of Hawai’i, this lecture series is a gift from the Society to the community that has supported it for so long. Free of charge, it is open to all, residents and visitors alike.


Historical Sunset Cruise Aboard the Fair Wind II
Sunday, February 5, 2:00PM – 5:00PM


This tour starts and ends at Keauhou Bay and includes Kahalu`u Bay, Kealakekua Bay, and
Honaunau Bay aboard the catamaran Fair Wind II. kama`aina resident John Mitchell provides
the fascinating historical narrative prepared by Kona historian Jean Greenwell on the
holua at Keauhou, the battle of Kuamo`o, Kealakekua Bay, the battle of Mokuohai at Ke`ei,
and Pu`uhonua o Honaunau. The sightings of whales and dolphins are often an added treat.
Reservations are $65 for KHS members and $75 for non-members. KHS members will be
asked to show their membership cards to receive the discount. Check-in time is 1:45 PM at
Keauhou Pier. There will be a no-host bar aboard. For reservations call Fair Wind at 808-
322-2788.


For more info visit our website at: http://www.konahistorical.org/

Please feel free to share this with others who also care about what is happening in historic places and communities throughout the Big Island!

Kona Historical Society
PO Box 398
Captain Cook, HI 96704
808-323-3222
khs@konahistorical.org
The Kona Historical Society preserves and shares an appreciation of Kona’s sense of place and inspires everyone to continue the sustainable practices of generations past.>

A New Year's Visit to the Maui Jinja Shinto Shrine

Pacific Memories and Visions
January 3, 2012 - Ray Tsuchiyama, The Maui News


On January 1, following Japanese New Year’s tradition, I visited the Maui Shinto Shrine or Jinja in low-key Paukukalo, off Waiehu Beach Road, just beyond Wailuku town and barely two miles from Kahului Harbor. In 1978 Maui Jinja was listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
For the last 20 years around New Year’s Day we visited the Nogi Shinto Shrine, named after a general in the Russo-Japanese War, near Roppongi, Tokyo. My father shares the Chinese ideogram with General Nogi (plus we usually found parking on the street near the shrine).
Shintoism is an ancient, animistic religion originating in Japan thousands of years ago, yet there are many Shinto shrines outside Japan (and non-Japanese who are shrine priests or priestesses), ranging from Canada, California (Fresno, Gardena, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose), Holland, Brazil, France (Paris, Bordeaux), Great Britain (several sites), Germany, Spain, Italy, and even Switzerland.
For many Dutch or Italians or Swiss who visit Shinto shrines, there is much current interest in Japanese culture and rituals (along with anime cartoons, very popular throughout Europe and even Russia). In one photo of a Dutch Shinto priest, he was dressed in a white formal kimono identical to a Japanese Shinto priest.
In pre-World War II there were bustling Shinto shrines throughout Hawaii, like Izumo Taisha near downtown on Oahu and other shrines on the Big Island, but some are gone, like Kato shrine in Kaka’ako.
At the old Maui Jinja – designed by architect Ichitaro Takata -- I saw an old photograph of a large Japanese group in front of the original Maui Jinja location, near the former Kahului racetrack. A large percentage of pre-War Maui Japanese weddings were performed there, plus New Year celebrations, Autumn festivals, and all kinds of blessings. I have heard of the Ebisu Jinja Shrine somewhere in Maalaea, but I have not figured out where it is or was. A researcher named Takakazu Maeda even published a 1991 monograph (in Japanese) on a reflection on Maui Jinsha as a focal point in Maui/Hawaii social history.
In 2009 the Maui News published an article entitled “Named an endangered historic site, Paukukalo’s Maui Jinsha Shinto Shrine struggles to survive” on the challenges the Maui Jinja faced for its future survival. The Rev. Torako Arine, whom I spoke to in the Jinja, is probably now 97 years old. The shrine was built originally in 1915, the year my father was born in Kahului; perhaps my grandparents brought him there for a blessing. It has been named as one of the State's most endangered historic sites by the Historic Hawaii Foundation, and the daunting task is still exists for any group to begin a project to remedy years of salt-wind damage from the near-by beach and termite infestation.
Although some contemporary Europeans have expressed interest in Shintoism, Maui has a legacy of Shinto shrines as community centers up to the War. Unfortunately, Japanese military leaders usurped Shintoism into a “state” religion (the Emperor performs some annual Shinto rituals now, but in a much more restrained manner) and an animistic, peaceful religion became the part of the state ideology for the Pacific War that resulted in enormous Japanese military and civilian casualties, and destruction of many cities.
The War made all things Japanese suspect throughout Hawaii, and led to the closing all Shinto shrines, and only a few re-opened after the War – including the relocated Maui Jinja in the mid-1950s. Now only the memory of a thriving pre-War community remains in the minds of an aging Japanese Maui population, filled with weddings, babies, benshi or narrators of silent films, sumo tournaments, haiku poetry recitals, and home-grown dramatic ensembles, of Japanese heroes and history.
During my New Year’s visit to the Maui Jinja I saw on the old wooden wall a black and white reproduction of the famous portrait painting of George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. Afterwards, while walking in the salty air at Waiehu Beach, I wondered why the picture was hanging on the wall.

National Trust for Historic Preservation Grant Applications due February 1st

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is now accepting applications for grants from the National Trust Preservation Fund, the Hart Family Fund for Small Towns, the Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation, and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors. The application deadline for all four programs is February 1, 2012. Guidelines and links to applications can be found here. (Please note: the Hart Family Fund for Small Towns uses the general National Trust Preservation Fund grant application. Grants from the Hart Fund are awarded to projects in communities with populations of 5,000 or less.)
If you have questions about NTHP grant programs, staff in the grants office will be happy to assist you. Any questions can be sent to grants@nthp.org, or contact Nicky Vann, Director, Administration, Grants and Awards, Preservation Division, National Trust for Historic Preservation 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20036

Fit for a Queen

A kahili, or royal feather standard, will be presented at Queen Emma Summer Palace in Nuuanu

By Nina Wu, Honolulu Star Advertiser


A traditionally made kahili will be presented to the Daughters of Hawai‘i at Queen Emma Summer Palace January 2 on the queen's 176th birthday.
The feather standard, dubbed Kahili Hanaiakamalama after the name of the palace grounds in Nuuanu, will be presented at noon in a procession, accompanied by an original chant and surrounded by 15 other kahili.
It will be on permanent display near the grand piano in Queen Emma's parlor.
Daughters of Hawai‘i member and former regent Gerry Miyamoto says it's particularly symbolic for the presentation of this new kahili — an endeavor to re-create a forgotten Native Hawaiian practice — to be held on the birthday of Queen Emma, who lived from 1836 to 1885 and was royal consort to Kamehameha IV.
"The new kahili is a symbol, a visual form of the project to give the community a better understanding of this ancient part of the Hawaiian culture," she said.
The presentation will occur during a daylong open house at the palace, which is owned and maintained by the Daughters. The free event will include a birthday cake, refreshments and a performance by the Queen Emma Summer Palace ‘Ukulele Club.
While most kahili nowadays are made from feathers flown in from a distributor in New York, this one was made from the feathers of Hawaiian birds.
To be more precise, they were hand-plucked from Laysan albatrosses, known as moli in Hawaiian, that shed their plumes or died naturally during the summer nesting season on Midway in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
"We were trying to accomplish what was done in ancient Hawaii, but in the 21st century," said Miyamoto. "We did the best we could with the information we had."
Miyamoto said the gathering of feathers for a kahili, a symbol of royalty, has not been done since pre-contact times. It all started when she was overseeing a project to clean and refurbish about 20 kahili the Daughters of Hawai‘i had purchased from Bishop Museum in 1936. The standards were part of a larger acquisition of 58 kahili that once belonged to Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last monarch. Experts at the time of the purchase did not believe the kahili held much value.
"Our thoughts are that these kahili are priceless because they belonged to the queen," said Miyamoto.
She contacted master kahili maker Shad Kane, and as they talked about the tradition, they were inspired to try to re-create the ancient practice of feather-gathering using Hawaiian protocol.
After applying for a $25,000 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a team of five, including Kane and Miyamoto, flew to Midway to gather the feathers for a week last summer.
Kane made the new kahili with the albatross feathers and mounted it on a koa stick. They recorded their experiences, and a video will be made to share with others.
While they originally planned to gather the tail feathers of koae ula and koae kea (red- and white-tailed tropic birds), they were given a permit instead for the Laysan albatross due to that species' higher numbers.
The kinds of feathers chosen have symbolic meaning, according to Kane, based on altitudes the birds reach in flight and distances they travel. It was thought that the higher the birds soared, the closer they were to the realm of the gods. Seabirds were held in high esteem.
The presentation of the new kahili will be an homage as well to generations of feather workers, with the 15 other kahili representing their legacy.
Since there is no written record of a chant for kahili presentations, Kahu Kalama Cabigon composed an original oli with appropriate prayers for today's presentation.
"We've lost so much of the past," said Kane. "As contemporary Hawaiians, that should not stop us from making decisions in an effort to get back as much of the past as we can. The whole effort is to get our children to understand it's not completely lost."


Signs point way to Maui's town of Makawao

By Honolulu Star Advertiser




Newly installed "Historic Town" signs now inform motorists that the quaint town of Makawao is just a few miles away.
The large, brown signs along Haleakala Highway were installed recently by the state Department of Transportation in coordination with Council­member Mike White, who represents the district, and Mayor Alan Arakawa and staff.
The initial request was made by the Makawao Community Association.
"This is a great boost for Makawao at a time when our small-town businesses need all the help they can get," White said in a statement Dec. 15.
"Our hope is that the signs will bring a direct financial benefit by making it easier for residents and visitors to enjoy the shopping, dining, and overall experience of historic Makawao town."
Makawao, surrounded by rolling pastureland on the slopes of Mount Haleakala, is the heart of Maui's ranching or paniolo (cowboy) country.