LIHU‘E — Hard ice was the perfect answer to the comment by receptionists of being “Where’s the wind?” and “too hot” on Saturday when the Grove Farm Museum hosted its ‘Ohana Day, or as the sign fronting its location on Nawiliwili Road said, “Free Day at the museum.”
“Where’s the eggs?” a visitor to the museum wanted to know.
Paula Rosa, of the Grove Farm Museum, filled the request along with suggestions of “hard ice” to help beat the midday heat at the event’s gift shop, a quick tent that sprouted in front of the Moriwaki House from which Rosa had freshly-laid eggs from the museum’s population of Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Rocks.
There were also cookies that were cooked in the museum’s wood-burning stove and oven, fresh avocado that overflowed its area housing the facility’s ducks and hogs, and ripe banana just right for eating.
“We have a lot of eggs,” said Carol Pratt, one of the tour guides to the former estate of Elsie and Mabel Wilcox. “I have to go and collect them. The guys went to bring over some of the lots of avocado. I actually dropped off a bunch to the Tire Warehouse crew.”
Visitors were able to tour most of the outdoor areas of the museum, taking advantage of the clear skies and no rain.
“This is the Trunk Room where most the items that don’t fit get placed,” Pratt said. “This is probably where the first classes for nurses were held, and where Elsie Wilcox had her office.”
The Grove Farm Museum, in accordance with the wishes of Miss Mabel and the Waioli Mission House in Hanalei, have been preserved after continuous family use for more than a century.
The facility offers public programs to the schools, community and visitors with historic perspectives for present and future generations, according to its website.
Grove Farm Museum offers two-hour walking tours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays starting at 10 a.m., and 1 p.m. Advance reservations are required for the tours at either Grove Farm Museum, or the Waioli Mission House.
For more information, visit www.grovefarm.org. To register for a tour, contact the museum at 808-245-3202, or email tours@grovefarm.org.
