PAKALA — Folks from former plantation camps and mills on Kaua‘i throw huge reunions to remember what was. Residents of “Makaweli Camp,” or “Pakala Camp,” operated by owners of Gay & Robinson, Inc., the last operating sugar plantation on Kaua‘i,
PAKALA — Folks from former plantation camps and mills on Kaua‘i throw huge reunions to remember what was.
Residents of “Makaweli Camp,” or “Pakala Camp,” operated by owners of Gay & Robinson, Inc., the last operating sugar plantation on Kaua‘i, recently gave that sentiment a different twist.
More than 150 residents from that West Kaua‘i camp attended a get-together by Pakala Beach to celebrate the continuation of the camp and mill and a way of life that is now nearly non-existent in the rest of Hawai‘i.
The Pakala Camp life speaks to a time when people left doors and windows unlocked, shared joys and sorrows, watched out for neighborhood children, and traded fruits and food when times were hard.
The Pakala Camp is perhaps among the last three plantation camps in existence on Kaua‘i, all operated by Gay & Robinson.
In one sense, the 270 or residents of Pakala Camp today live in a blissful time warp. The camp has been home to four generations of residents, going back 80 and more years, residents say.
The 40 or so camp homes in existence today harken back to times when sugar was king.
The homes, with the familiar lanais, are separated by rows of tropical-flowered hedges, and are fitted with carports. Dirt roads meander through the camps.
The gathering by Pakala Beach was the first gathering in about 45 years, organizers said.
The idea for it came together about two months ago, according to one of the organizers, Betty Itakura.
She graduated from Waimea High School in 1946, and moved overseas, where she worked as teacher for more than 30 years.
She returned to Kaua‘i in 1991 and took care of her aging mom, Umeyo Itakura, before the elder Itakura passed away in 1995.
Once the idea for the potluck party took hold, Itakura drove from camp home to camp home to tell residents about the event. “We wanted to do it before it was too late,” Itakura said. “It is a way to renew friendships.”
Some elderly camp residents cried at the sight of seeing friends they had not seen in decades. Some residents moved to other islands and the Mainland for opportunity.
Others laughed and hugged, seemingly not wanting to let go.
The camp was established more than 80 years ago, and at one time boasted 315 camp residents, according to Peco Rapozo, who has lived at the camp all his life.
Today, there are about 275 people living in 40 or so remaining plantation camp homes, said Rapozo, who is 84 years old.
Tamae Honda and Kinue Mizuno have lived in the camp all their lives, and they said they wouldn’t trade their homes and the life they lead for anything, because the lifestyle they shared as youngsters is still intact today.
They were neighbors when they were children, and as adults and mothers, they have lived in close proximity to one another.
“I got married here, and I am going to die here,” Honda said.
Both Honda, whose maiden name was Chiba, and Mizuno, whose maiden name was Hamasaki, were happy to see so many old friends, but they said their happiness was dimmed by the absence of their husbands.
Honda’s late husband is Satoshi “Squash” Honda, who worked for Gay & Robinson for 48 years, and retired as plantation superintendent.
Mizuno’s late husband is Ted Kuzuo Mizuno, who was a member of the 100th Battalion and friend of U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai‘i, a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most highly decorated unit of its size in the U.S. military. The 100th was joined with the 442nd in June 1944.
Like others who attended the gathering, Honda and Mizuno took a stroll down memory lane.
“This place is close, but it was so close before, in the old days,” said Honda, whose son is Alvin Honda, an official with the Kaua‘i County Finance Department. “The whole camp was like a family.”
People had picnics at Pakala Beach, and they went fishing at the Pakala Landing before it was ravaged by Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992.
Mizuno was the private duty-nurse for Alice Robinson, a matriarch in the Robinson family line.
Benevolence was a way of life at the camp, Honda said. “Mr. Nakashima, a school teacher, used to come around and show outdoor movies on Mondays,” she said.
Mizuno remembered sugar was shipped out from the Pakala Landing, along with cows bound for Ni‘ihau, which like Gay & Robinson and land at Pakala and as far as the eye can see is owned by the Robinson family.
Rapozo maintained vehicles and trucks for Gay & Robinson, and retired after 48 years with the company.
He said the camp is a “living history” of people who have interacted with one another for 70 years.
Robinson family members treated residents like family, Rapozo said.
“If your yard was dusty, a workman would come by and clean up,” Rapozo said.
The camp boasted Little League baseball teams, and the Robinson family gave team members equipment to use, and a ride to the game sites, Rapozo recalled.
Lights also were installed at baseball fields, to allow residents to play nighttime games after work, Rapozo recalled.
The camp produced top athletes like Takeshi “Punchie” Furutani, a strong pitcher, his brother, “Chicken” Furutani, named so because he was an exceptional high-jumper, Carl Furutani, “Punchie’s” son and a standout at the University of Hawai‘i, and Satoshi “Squash” Honda, a standout catcher.
Pakala Camp is or was home to other notable community leaders, among them:
- Kaua‘i County Prosecutor Craig De Costa, whose mother, Bertha, also a resident, attended the gathering with him. “The things I learned in Pakala was to respect other people, that we are one community, and I take that with me in my job every day,” the prosecutor said;
- Mel Chiba, president and chief operating officer for the Kauai Community Federal Credit Union, whose father, Ichiro Chiba, also attended the gathering. The elder Chiba worked for Gay & Robinson for 47 years, and retired as a section foreman in the company’s irrigation section in 1994;
- Ed Nakaya, an official with the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative;
- Eddie Taniguchi Jr., a well-known paniolo on Kaua‘i and, like his father, the late Eddie Taniguchi Sr., is a member of the Cattlemen’s Hall of Fame for Hawai‘i, recognizing the state’s best paniolo.
- Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
