The little girl cradled her two bags of pumpkins Friday during the drive-thru pumpkin giveaway at The Shops at Kukui‘ula.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him, not attired in his traditional red fuzzy suit, but there was no mistake. That was Santa directing traffic in the drive-thru.
“With so much world chaos, there she is, the biggest, hopeful smile,” said Phil Worwa, aka Santa in Paradise. “It’s like finding a golden loving spirit. Wow!”
Santa joined the corps of helpers from The Shops at Kukui‘ula, A&B Properties, the Girl Scouts from Troop 964, Koloa, and even A&B Hawai‘i CEO Chris Benjamin, who broke away from his business at The Club at Kukui‘ula to join the giveaway of more than 200 pumpkins produced through the collaborative efforts of Kekaha Agriculture, Hartung Brothers, Corteva Agriscience and others.
Each of the pumpkins was packed in a durable shopping bag provided by the Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation Kaua‘i Region, with some lucky recipients getting a premium as well as informational placards.
The pumpkin drive-thru served as a preview of things to come for Halloween as cars snaked through the center’s parking lot.
Tickets for the The Shops’ Trunk or Treat event featuring the Kaua‘i Classic Cars went on sale through Eventbrite Wednesday for the event that will take place on Oct. 29 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the parking lot near Bubba Burgers).
“It’s free,” said Stacie Chiba-Miguel, the A&B regional manager. “But we need to keep a count because of the COVID-19, and it’s been busy. We put the tickets on sale, and in a couple of hours there were already several hundred that were spoken for.”
Also on Wednesday, chef John Paul Gordon celebrates the opening of Table at Po‘ipu, a pop-up restaurant concept that will be open from 5 to 9:30 p.m. with offerings described by Gordon as “American bistro with some family meals.”
