KOLOA — The County of Kaua‘i Roads Division joined Koloa Plantation Days volunteer teams from the Keala Foundation, Bertram Almeida and the Garden Island Motorcycle Club, Knudsen Trust, Koloa Landing Resort, and Samson Arzamendi and Friendly Waves at a community group cleanup on Maluhia Road on Saturday.
“We just don’t have the kind of money to get heavy equipment,” said a member of the Koloa Plantation Days Committee. “So, we partnered with the county and their Tree Maintenance Program to get this cleanup done.”
The cleanup forced the closure of Maluhia Road for the daylong event that found volunteer crews cutting grass, doing road shoulder work, and the heavy equipment rolling in for tree maintenance where naturally weakened branches were trimmed and hauled away.
During a previous Koloa Plantation Days, the late Aunty Stella Burgess, a former member of the Koloa Plantation Days Committee, explained the need for cleaning Maluhia Road, especially Tree Tunnel — a landmark of Maluhia Road.
Maluhia Road is the gateway to “Our Hometown,” this year’s Koloa Plantation Days celebration theme, the cultural practitioner and Kumu Hula said. It’s like cleaning your house to welcome guests — you don’t want people coming to a dirty house.
Koloa Plantation Days is not just a visitor only event. Koloa Plantation Days takes a trip back to the days when sugarcane was king and celebrates the many different ethnic groups that worked and lived together to create the Hawai‘i industry in the Koloa and Po‘ipu areas.
Koloa Plantation Days opens on Friday for an 11-day run, opening with a free “Hawaiian Sense of Place” starting at 10 a.m. at Koloa Neighborhood Center and hosted by Kauai Na Lima No‘eau Cultural Artists Guild.
The only fees assessed are for supplies of the different workshops being offered. That includes Konane, or Hawaiian Checkers, Ohe Hano Ihu, or nose flute, Leihulu, Kahili Palama, or feather art, Ipu Heke‘ole and Hula Papale Niu, or coconut hat, Wood Carving, To‘ere and Pahu Drum Making, Fresh lei making, Hawaiian Lomi Lomi Experience, Leipupu-Ni‘ihau Shell Lei Earrings, the Malama ‘Aina Kaua‘i Bird Recovery Program and Leatherwork and Saddlemaking.
One of the new events adding to the roster of weeklong activities is a book sale hosted by the Friends of the Koloa Public Library joining with the Summer Reading.
“Cheryl Shintani, the president of the Friends of the Koloa Public Library, wanted to try a book sale during Koloa Plantation Days,” said retired librarian David Thorp.
“We have a large selection of good condition, lightly-used books. All nonfiction books are arranged by subject, and there are lots of Hawaiiana books, this time. There’re also Blu Ray discs, DVDs, and CDs. All proceeds from the Friends of Koloa Library book sales go to fund purchases of needed library materials and programs for the library.”
The book sale runs on July 23 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., July 24 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and July 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, visit www.koloaplantationdays.com.
