KAUMAKANI — Kaua‘i is reading the last few paragraphs of one long chapter, but is not at the end of the book.
“We had to move on,” said Alan Kennett, president and CEO of Gay & Robinson. “We are moving on. I know it’s going to be a sad day on Wednesday or Thursday when the last sugarcane will probably go through the mill.”
G&R employees, retirees, friends and the Westside community poured onto Kaumakani Avenue to attend a luncheon celebrating 120 years of Gay & Robinson sugar as the company’s final harvest of sugar as a commodity draws closer.
“This is a sad, sad day,” said Conrado Francisco of Kaumakani. “I’ve been with G&R for 34 years, and I was just diagnosed with cancer. I grew up in Makaweli Camp 4 and worked with sugar all my life. This is sad.”
Conrado’s wife, Sumile, said he just finished his third chemo treatment, but had to come and see what was happening.
“I like to stay and see, but he’s not feeling well so we’re going to have to go,” she said.
Kennett said the accomplishments of G&R and the 120 years of sugar production are due to the collaborative support of the Robinson family, who owns the land, the dedicated efforts of all of the employees and the equal support from the families of those workers.
“It is coming to the end of an era for the Robinson family,” Kennett said. “That of growing sugar cane. The ranch is still there. They started out as a ranch and that has not changed. But they are going back to leasing land.”
Kennett said G&R hopes to maintain the company housing, but there are some issues with the large capacity cesspools that they are working to remedy.
Most of the lands around the mill have already been leased out to the corn companies.
Will Maloney, president of Pacific West, is negotiating with the landowners to work out a lease for the mill as a part of Pac-West’s plans for alternative energy.
“I know there is a lot of anguish here about how to create a future here,” Maloney said. “But I think a future has been created with some of the transactions Gay & Robinson has done, and we certainly hope to play a big role in the future here on the Westside.”
Maloney said Pac-West hopes to convert the base sugar operation into a renewable energy plantation. A recent agreement with Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative is an important milestone toward that goal.
Another key step to keep the project moving forward is the acquisition of land for sugarcane and biomass, he said.
Eventually, Maloney said he hopes to link in other sources of energy such as solar and wind.
“We want to commend Gay & Robinson on 120 years of sugar,” Maloney said. “We’re celebrating the end of an era here, but I do believe that we can create the start of a new era moving forward that will provide a future for your children.”
Jay Furfaro, vice chair of the Kaua‘i County Council, commended and thanked G&R for its investment in sugar, growing to become one of the largest employers on the Westside while preserving the island lifestyle.
Gary Heu, representing Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., said many would not be here if it weren’t for the plantations.
“Hawai‘i is the melting pot of the world in more ways than one because of the sugar plantations,” he said. “This is a fact that none of us will ever forget. With the closing of this operation, however, Gay & Robinson must also look into the future as Mr. Kennett said.”
Bill Dahle, the event emcee, read a letter from Wayne Rapozo whose roots are planted in G&R sugar.
“There are, throughout life, beginnings, endings and other beginnings, so we rightfully celebrate over a century of Robinson sugar,” Dahle relayed in the letter. “Without your hard work, sacrifice, honesty and promise, I would be nothing.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
