KOLOA — Bob Gunter of Koloa Rum Company, Arryl Kaneshiro and the Koloa Plantation Days 0rganizing members, and Greg Williams and members of the Koloa Lions Club were excitedly examining the recently planted Koloa Town entry sign.
“This didn’t just happen,” said Donald Quon of the Koloa Lions Club. “The project started back in 1989 when Eduardo Malapit started a conversation with then-mayor JoAnn Yukimura. Now, it’s finally here.”
Expenses for the new sign created by SignArt were shared between the Koloa Rum Company, the Koloa Plantation Days and the Koloa Lions Club, whose one member clutched drawings and sketches of a proposed solar-powered lighting system that would provide nighttime illumination for the structure located alongside Maluhia Road leading to the Sueoka Store junction.
The project met its goal of being installed in time for this year’s Koloa Plantation Days’ 10 days of family friendly activities and fun in Koloa and Po‘ipu.
“I am thrilled for this year’s Koloa Plantation Days,” said Kaneshiro, the president of Koloa Plantation Days. “This weeklong celebration would not be possible without the dedicated support and hard work of the many individuals and groups who volunteer year after year to make the event a success.”
The last sugar plantation on Kaua‘i closed in 2009 and as the generation who lived the sugar era matures, the Koloa Plantation Days is an opportunity to remember and share these experiences of Kaua‘i’s agricultural past with future generations.
“Together, we are weaving the threads of history into the fabric of our present, ensuring that the heritage of Koloa Plantation Days remains an enduring legacy,” Kaneshiro said. “Along with honoring our beloved ‘hometown’ doctor, Dr. Murray, we are happy to announce that University of Hawai‘i Athletics will be joining us in the parade, and at the park event.”
With this year’s theme of “Our Hometown,” the 38th annual Koloa Plantation Days festival will fully bloom from July 19 through July 28 with more than 25 events featuring all aspects of plantation era life, as well as highlighting the natural beauty, people and community of the Koloa area.
The final Saturday of Koloa Plantation Days — July 27 — features the annual Koloa Plantation Days parade, and accompanying ho‘olaule‘a that started on the 150th anniversary of Hawai‘i’s first sugar mill in 1835.
This year’s parade will highlight the theme “Our Hometown” through the diverse cultures that came together from Asia and Europe during the plantation era. Groups, schools, family units and others contributing to the character of Koloa are invited to participate by visiting the Koloa Plantation Days website at www.koloaplantationdays.com.
Koloa Plantation Days is made possible by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority through its Cultural Enrichment Program, the County of Kaua‘i, the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement along with local businesses, families and organizations.
Koloa is so much more than its sugar plantation past,,,, I want to celebrate before the plantation era,,,,