PO‘IPU — Jerome “J” Webster celebrated his 85th birthday on Monday in Princeville.
“I was thinking of putting this act of bringing the swan home in my will,” Webster told the leadership team of the Grand Hyatt Resort and Spa and Kawailoa Development on Tuesday following his 85th birthday. “But I could do this on my 85th birthday.”
The painting of a white swan happily swimming among the colorful koi, or Japanese carp, has been installed at the entrance to Ilima Terrace in the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i after securing permission from the leadership at Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i and Kawailoa, the resort’s owner.
“This represents and pays tribute to the galaxy — the heart of Kaua‘i— that is the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i,” Webster said. “The painting that was acquired from local artist Mark Daniels is what taught me about Kaua‘i, and what makes living on Kaua‘i special.”
Webster, originally from New York, was introduced to Kaua‘i in 2003 after arriving for a business venture in the North Shore. He acquired the painting from Mark Daniels, who was living in Hanalei at the time, and had it installed at his Princeville home in 2005.
At that time, Webster had not stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i. When he did finally get an opportunity to enjoy the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i, he came to realize the magic that is Kaua‘i.
“This is not just another resort,” Webster said. “For myself, this is a sanctuary. It represents what Kaua‘i is.”
When Webster sold his Princeville home in 2013, he arranged to have the painting shipped to Aspen, Colorado, the site of his new home which, according to wife Patti, is next door to singer John Denver.
“This does not belong in Colorado,” said Webster while looking and admiring the artwork. “It needs to go back to where it belongs.”
That triggered a chain of communication and protocol with Diann Hartman, the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i director of marketing communications, who needed to secure the approvals of both the resort’s management and owners before the painting could be accepted and shipped back to Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i.
“He’s a really nice guy,” Hartman said. “When he’s on island at his condo on the North Shore, he still drives down here for the spa a few days a week and to eat at Tidepools.”
The swan is positioned so it welcomes guests to one of the dining areas at Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i, in view of the pair of resident white swans that share the koi pond with its colorful residents. The pair of swans, in an act of approval and acceptance, spent the morning preening themselves in the rapidly warming Po‘ipu sun.
