Waialua Sugar Plantation History Brought to Life

Waialua-plantation-flyerOn Saturday, June 22, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., the North Shore Chamber of Commerce’s Historic Preservation Committee will present an evening program on the history of the Waialua Sugar Company, to be held at the historic Haleiwa Gym (across from the Haleiwa Post Office). The ambitious lineup includes:

•  an illustrated lecture with rare photos by Haleiwa historian Boyd Ready;

•  a brief talk by Barbara Kawakami based on her book, Japanese Immigrant Clothing in Hawaii, 1885-1941;

•  dramatic readings by local actors Nyla Fujii-Babb, Will Ha‘o, and Mel Vios from oral histories done by UH Mānoa’s Center for Oral History. The center’s Warren Nishimoto and Michi Kodama-Nishimoto, coauthors of Talking Hawai‘i’s Story: Oral Histories of an Island People, will introduce and moderate the dramatizations.

•  a slideshow presentation of Waialua Plantation images taken from 1970 to 2000 by photojournalist Franco Salmoiraghi.

The event will also offer refreshments, music, displays by Hawai‘i Plantation Village and Hawaiian Railway Society, and books will be available for purchase. Tickets are $12 at the door or presold here. For more information call (808) 637-4558 or visit www.gonorthshore.org.

March 2013 Author Events #1: Night at Waialua Library

This week the Waialua and North Shore community looks forward to this fun fundraiser for their public library.

Thursday, March 7, 6:30 p.m.
O‘ahu North Shore authors will discuss their recently published books at the annual Friends of Waialua Library Authors’ Night. Among the presenters this year is master jazz saxophonist Gabe Baltazar Jr., who will “talk story” on his wonderful memoir, If It Swings, It’s Music, and play a tune or two (or three) with a guitarist friend that is sure to be the highlight of an entertaining evening. As the Friends’ newsletter words it: “We won’t promise, but we are hoping that this gracious and generous man will give us a sampling of the jazz playing that made him famous.” Even without the music, Gabe is a treasure!

Joining Gabe at the same Authors’ Night are fellow Waialua residents George and Willa Tanabe to speak on the subject of their newest book, Japanese Buddhist Temples in Hawai‘i: An Illustrated Guide. The Tanabes could fill (and, in fact, have filled) an entire evening discussing their fascinating work that resulted from researching all 90 extant Japanese Buddhist temples in the Hawaiian islands. Given that the program features two additional authors (Waimea Williams/Aloha, Mozart and Courtnie Chang/Kolohe ‘Iole), they will give an abbreviated version.

The program is free and open to the public. For more information, call (808) 637-8286.