In 1896, Ernst Lindemann planted a grove of coconut trees to produce copra on leased land that would later become the property of the Coco Palms Hotel.
And in 1953, Lyle Guslander purchased Lindemann’s coconut grove and the adjoining Coco Palms Lodge, which had opened in 1951, and hired Grace Buscher as manager.
Grace Buscher, who became Grace Buscher Guslander in 1969, would transform that sleepy, roadside lodge into the Coco Palms Hotel, best-known hotel in Hawai‘i.
Among her numerous innovations at Coco Palms was a tree-planting ceremony she created to honor a person she chose, as well as to replenish Lindemann’s old and dying coconut trees.
Grace selected people based on what they’d done for Hawai‘i.
Each planting ceremony, in which the chosen person planted a young tree and made a little speech, was performed in the evening by torchlight to the beating of a drum.
A kahuna then chanted a prayer, a flower lei was dropped over the tree, and a bronze plaque marked the spot.
Eventually, 127 people would plant a ceremonial tree at Coco Palms.
Among them were Duke Kahanamoku, author James A. Michener, cowboy actor Gene Autry, radio broadcaster Arthur Godfrey and the Shah of Iran.
During the early 1950s, tour director Hiram Naipo Jr. explained the significance of the ceremony.
He said: “In old Hawai‘i, when a child was born in the family, a tree was planted. And when there was occasion to be happy, they would plant a tree. When the taxes were paid and the harvest was good, they would plant a tree. There was always a grove of coconut trees surrounding a home. It’s a known fact that when a warrior was lost or injured in war, he went to the nearest coconut tree or highest peak, where he could look for help. The weary traveler would hobble to the top of a knoll, or the lost fisherman at sea would look across the horizon, and if they saw a grove of coconut trees, they would go to it, because they knew upon arrival they would find friends, shelter and food.”
