LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i residents and visitors were treated to open houses at the Grove Farm Museum in Lihu‘e and the Waioli Mission House in Hanalei as well as free train rides Saturday during the Smithsonian magazine National Museum Day celebration.
“This is all for the community,” said Bob Schleck of the Waioli Corp., pleased with the turnout for the event. “In addition to the open houses where the tour fees are waived, we have Wainiha running at the Haleko rail system.”
Judge Randal Valenciano was one of the guests taking advantage of the open house before having to referee a Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Junior Varsity football game.
“I live just down the street and I don’t think I’ve ever been to that place,” Valenciano said between the JV and varsity football games.
Carol Lovell of the Grove Farm Museum said Paula Rosa woke up early and started up the fire for the wood-burning stove, treating the guests to a never-ending supply of Grove Farm Ice Box Cookies, which she cooked in an oven heated by burning wood.
“I think Eddie is in love with the pantry,” said Sonia Topenio of Bank of Hawai‘i, who was taking advantage of the open house to tour the historic residence. “He’s been in there for a long time and doesn’t want to come out.”
Grove Farm, once the home of George Wilcox after he moved from his home at the Waioli Mission House, consisted of the old house, a carpenter shop, an oxen equipment shed, an office, George’s cottage, two guest cottages and a plantation camp for his workers, states a flier distributed by the museum.
Because food needed to be grown to supply the table, the farm included animal pens, a large garden, a great variety of fruit trees and cattle and horses, which were pastured in the large yard.
George’s brother, Sam, married Emma Lyman of Hilo, Hawai‘i, in 1874. They returned to Grove Farm where they raised six children — Ralph, Etta, Elsie, Charles, Gaylord and Mabel, who never married and lived at Grove Farm throughout their lives while contributing significant roles in education, public health, politics and historic preservation.
In 1921, the three sisters, Etta, Elsie and Mabel, saved and restored their grandparents’ home, the Waioli Mission House, and in 1952, the sisters established the mission house as a historic house museum to interpret the history of missionary life on Kaua‘i.
Mabel, affectionately known as “Miss Mabel,” at 92, with the help of her companion, Mrs. Sophie Cluff, announced plans for the preservation of Grove Farm as a historic site museum representing a developing sugar plantation.
Both the Waioli Mission House and the Grove Farm Museum are listed on the state and national registers of historic places.
Lovell said the public will have an opportunity to visit the historic facility on Oct. 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. when the Zonta Club of Kaua‘i hosts its first Holiday Craft Fair on the grounds of the historic estate.
Edie Ignacio-Neumiller, the Zonta Club president, and longtime member Marge Akana took advantage of the Smithsonian National Museum Day to “scope” out the facility to best showcase the anticipated vendors while keeping the plantation flavor of the estate.
The Smithsonian magazine National Museum Day is an annual event hosted by the Smithsonian magazine in which participating museums, in the spirit of Smithsonian Museums, offer free admission.
Visit www.grovefarm.org for more information.
Grove Farm Ice Box Cookies
The Grove Farm Ice Box Cookies were a favorite of Miss Mabel Wilcox who, in 1921, at age 92, announced plans for the preservation of Grove Farm as a historic site museum representing a developing sugar plantation.
The following recipe is from a flier available during tours of the site listed with the state and national registers of historic places.
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups raw sugar
2 beaten eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix ingredients together and roll into a cylinder about the size of a quarter in waxed paper. Chill in refrigerator for about an hour, or freeze for future use.
When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet and place thinly sliced cookie dough about an inch apart for baking.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes in a 325 to 350 degree oven. Cookies will appear very lightly browned when done. Remove from the cookie sheet immediately.
Cookies will be good, but not quite like those baked in the wood burning stove. The smoke from the ironwood used to fire the stove adds flavor to the cookies, states a Grove Farm flier.
