Tag Archives: Kapaau

Kamehameha Day

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The statue of King Kamehameha is draped with leis as part of the proceedings.
A rider in the parade as it passes through Hawi.

This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Summer Traditions.’ See more responses here.

Some summer traditions, such as barbecues and going to the beach are year-round here, but Kamehameha Day is an event that kicks off summer, occurring as it does in mid-June. There’s a ceremony at the king’s statue in Kapaau, a parade through the community, and festivities at the local park. Many places mark the king’s birthday with similar events, but some take place on the Saturday nearest his birth date. In North Kohala, the king’s birthplace, the celebration is always on the actual date regardless of which day it falls on.

This year though, the celebration was one of a multitude of events cancelled because of the Covid-19 virus. These photos are from previous years’ events.

Hula dancers dance in front of the statue during the opening ceremonies.

Shadow makers

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This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Shadows.’ See more offerings here.

The top photo is a row of colorful playground swings at Kamehameha Park in Kapaau. Below are three cyclists in line, heading out of Hawi during an Ironman World Championship race.

Also posted as a second offering for this week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme of ‘All in a Row.’ (See more responses here.) My first post for this theme is here.

King Kamehameha statue

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This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Old.’ See more offerings here.

This is the original statue of Kamehameha 1, the king who first united the Hawaiian Islands. The statue was commissioned in 1878, but was lost off the Falkland Islands. A new statue was made, but in the meantime, the original one was salvaged. The new statue was put up in Honolulu and the original shipped to Kapaau.

Not long after I took this photo, the trees in the background were badly damaged during a windstorm and had to be cut down, so this scene looks quite different today.

Find more information about the statue here. For more information about King Kamehameha’s history, go to nps.gov/puhe/learn/historyculture/kamehameha.htm.

North Kohala libraries

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The new public library in North Kohala, Hawaii

Today’s post is in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘For the Love of Reading & Books.’ See more offerings here.

The top photo shows North Kohala’s relatively new public library, which opened in 2010. The library features wind and photovoltaic energy systems as well as a rainwater catchment system. These features helped it gain LEED Gold Certification, the first state building in Hawaii to do so.

The photo below shows the Bond Memorial Library, which served the area from 1929 until the new library’s opening. This building was much smaller – 1,610 sq.-ft. as opposed to 6,000 sq.-ft. for the new building.

When the library moved from the old building to the new, more than 1,000 volunteers lined the road to move the books by hand over the mile plus distance. This echoed the story of King Kamehameha the Great who organized a human chain 20 miles long to carry rocks from Pololu Valley to build Pu’ukohola Heiau near Kawaihae, though I don’t think King Kamehameha’s rock carriers were volunteers.

Back in 2014, there were plans to convert the old Bond Memorial Library to a cultural/historical museum for the area, but nothing has happened yet and the old building still sits there, unused as far as I can tell.

The old Bond Memorial Library in Kapaau, Hawaii.