Peter T Young

April 4, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The First Church in Plymouth

The First Parish Church traces its history to a Separatist congregation that formed in Scrooby, England, in the early 17th century, members of which later sailed to Plymouth aboard the Mayflower.

Meetings of the Scrooby congregation first took place in a manor house owned by the Archbishop of York and occupied by William Brewster (ca. 1560-1644), a former diplomat who served as postmaster for the village and bailiff to the archbishop.

In 1606 and 1607, Brewster convened a series of meetings for those who were seeking to practice a more liberal expression of Protestantism, free from the creed and ritual of the Church of England.

They formed their own congregation with Richard Clyfton as its first minster and John Robinson (ca. 1576-1625) as their assistant pastor. Due to continued persecution in England, the congregation fled to Amsterdam in 1608 and from there to Leyden (Leiden) in southern Holland in 1609.

John Robinson was chosen to be their minister in Leyden (Clyfton had remained in England), and William Brewster was chosen to be their Elder.

William Bradford, who would later become the second Governor of the Plymouth Colony, was another prominent member of the Separatist congregation. Bradford is credited with giving them the name “Pilgrims,” although that term would not be commonly applied to the Separatist emigrants until the late 18th century.

After securing a patent from the London Company (later replaced by a charter from the Plymouth Council for New England), the Leyden Separatists (hereinafter referred to as the “Pilgrims”) were among the passengers aboard the Mayflower as it departed for the American colonies from Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620. The arrived in America in November.

The First (and Subsequent) ‘Church’ Buildings

The first public building to be erected by the Pilgrims was a large house, twenty-feet square, which was used for storage and public worship; but shortly after its completion, it took fire, and The Common House was burnt to the ground.

In the month of April “whilst they were bussie with their seed,” Governor Carver was taken suddenly ill, and died, leaving a widow who soon followed him.

The death of the first Governor was a severe loss to the community. He was not only a deeply religious man, but had won their esteem and endeared himself to them, by long and patient service and sacrifice. He was sagacious, skilled in practical affairs, and upright in all his dealings. He was succeeded in office by William Bradford, with Isaac Allerton, as assistant.

In the month of November 1621, the depleted ranks of the colonists were partly filled up by the unexpected arrival of the Fortune, and thirty-five persons were added to the plantation.

The summer of 1622, saw the erection of the Fort. Here on the summit of Burial Hill, the Pilgrims perpetuated the church founded in England under the ministration of Elder Brewster. The ecclesiastical polity of the church was copied, with slight modifications, from that provided by Guillaume Farel and John Calvin, for the Reformed Churches of France.

For several years the Church at Plymouth was without a pastor. It lived upon the truths which John Robinson had taught, with such care and learning, and broke the bread of life in the way which exile had made so precious.

On the Lord’s day, the people gathered in the meeting-house, sang the psalms, had the Scriptures read and explained, and joined in prayers, which flowed spontaneously from grateful hearts, and were born in the depth of an experience, which had made the goodness and mercy of God, and the blessings of his daily providence, the most real and vital of all convictions.

They knew that they were the humble instruments of God for good, and that their successes and failures, joys and sorrows, losses and gains, were included in his immediate purpose, and were to be accepted without murmur or complaint.

The local scattering of the Colonists led to the founding of new churches in and around Plymouth.

In 1648 the first church was built. It was situated behind Bradford’s lot, and facing Leyden St and like every first church, however modest, was raised with becoming pride and joy. (Cuckson)

All of the land between Burial Hill and Main Street, which included present-day Town Square, originally belonged to William Bradford and John Alden. The land on which the First Parish Church now stands was likely given up by John Alden when he left Plymouth in 1627, after which the land became known as the Town Commons. (NPS)

Seven years before, an ordinance had passed the General Court “that no injunction should be put on any church, or church member, as to doctrine, worship, or discipline, whether for substance or circumstance, besides the command of the Bible.”

It meant that although men met for worship under one roof, it was not to be expected that they should think or feel alike; but whether or not, they were to enjoy such freedom, as was not to be found in any other church of their time. (Cuckson)

The second meetinghouse was built in 1683 on the site of the present First Parish Church, at the west end of Town Square. This building consisted of a two-story, side-gabled building with a center entrance and cupola.

Cuckson quotes an unnamed source who described this building as having an “unceiled Gothic roof, diamond glass, with a small cupola and bell.”

The third meetinghouse was constructed in 1744 on the same site, replacing the prior building that had fallen into disrepair.

The building was described as “an attempted copy of a Boston church building. A graceful structure, it was the first real church, architecturally speaking.”

In 1831, as membership grew at the First Parish Church, the congregation voted to replace the third meetinghouse with another that would be “larger and more in keeping with the improved taste and broader outlook of the times.”

The Gothic Revival-style fourth meetinghouse was a wood-frame building designed by George W. Brimmer of Boston and included a bell, cast by Paul Revere in 1801, which was controlled and used by the town to mark the time and as an alarm for emergencies. The fourth meetinghouse was destroyed by fire in 1892.

Other denominations in Plymouth offered the temporary use of their churches for worship by the First Parish members. The first service after the fire was held at the Universalist Church on December 4, 1892.

On December 19, 1892, a Parish Committee meeting of the First Parish Church was held, and the initial $5,000 was raised towards the building of a new church.

At that meeting, according to committee member Arthur Lord’s report, it was decided that they should “secure in the church to be built a fitting memorial to that spirit of religious liberty and tolerance which characterized the Pilgrims.” He went on to say that, “The subject cannot be treated as if the church was purely local or denominational.”

On April 4, 1896, the building committee voted to hire John Y. Mainland of Boston as the contractor for construction of the church. Mainland was born in Scotland in 1849, learned the building trade in Nova Scotia in 1866-1867, and moved to Boston in 1868.

The cornerstone was laid on Monday, June 29, 1896. Once again, the perceived importance of this church as a memorial to the Pilgrims was reflected in the address given by Arthur Lord, Parish Committee member and President of the Pilgrim Society.

The first service was held in Kendall Hall on April 25, 1897, before the sanctuary level had been completed, and continued to be held there until the church dedication on Thursday, December 21, 1899.

Mayflower Society Given (and Restoring/Maintaining) First Parish Meeting House

The First Parish Church, completed in 1899, is the fifth meetinghouse built for its congregation, and the fourth built at the current location. (NPS)

When the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) became aware that the congregation was having trouble with the increasing maintenance and restoration of the building, it approached the congregation about donating the Meetinghouse to GSMD as a place to fulfill its educational mission.

Since the General Society of Mayflower Descendants was founded in 1897, the same year the present structure was built at the top of Leyden Street, families of descendants – our families – have made regular pilgrimages to this spot.

To save the building they love, the First Parish Church congregation has agreed to donate it to GSMD upon the condition that funds be put in place to permanently maintain it, and that they be allowed to continue scheduling their services there.

The General Society of Mayflower Descendants and First Parish Church signed a Joint Venture Agreement, which led to the Charitable Trust, during Congress 2017.

Click the following link to a general summary about the First Church in Plymouth:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/First-Church-in-Plymouth.pdf

April 3, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Camp Smith

A committee of the Continental Congress met at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia to draft a resolution stating that “two Battalions of Marines be raised” for service as landing forces with the fleet. November 10, 1775, the Marine Corps was born.

The Treaty of Paris in April 1783 brought an end to the Revolutionary War and as the last of the Navy’s ships were sold, the Continental Navy and Marines went out of existence. (They were formally re-established as a separate service on July 11, 1798.)

Today, the US military organizational structure is a result of the National Security Act of 1947. This is the same act that created the US Air Force and restructured the “War Department” into the “Department of Defense.”

Headed by a civilian Secretary of Defense, there are three military departments: the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy and the Department of the Air Force. Within these, there are five military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard (the Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security.)

In Hawaiʻi, on March 17, 1941, an act of Congress approved the purchase of a sugar cane field for a Navy hospital. Construction commenced in July. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, construction of the planned 1,650-bed facility was rushed to completion. The hospital was commissioned on November 11, 1942, but continued expansion was necessary due to the demands of the war.

Known as Aiea Naval Hospital, it was built to serve thousands of WWII wounded Sailors and Marines. As for the capabilities of the hospital, they correlated directly with the war.

In 1943, the number of staff and facilities grew tremendously. New wards were constructed to better support the waves of casualties, numbering in the hundreds, arriving from the Solomon, Gilbert and Marshall Islands.

On January 1, 1944, Admiral Chester W Nimitz personally presented awards to the many combat-wounded service members at the hospital. Patients were assembled in front of the hospital where 632-men who fought during the Battle of Tarawa received awards.

The hospital expanded again in 1944, adding staff and temporary wards to hold up to 5,000-patients. Of the 41,872-admissions in 1944, 39,006 patients were relocated to the mainland or returned to duty.

Aiea Naval Hospital had improved efficiency for admitting patients by the time casualties began arriving from Saipan, Guam and Tinian in the Mariana Islands.

February and March of 1945 was the hospital’s bloodiest months, when nearly 5,700-servicemen from the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa received medical care simultaneously.

Until the mid-1980s, there was a bowling alley there, used by Aiea Naval Hospital as therapy for patients injured during WWII and was once the primary rear-area hospital for the Navy and Marine Corps during that war.

“Down where Bordelon Field is, a lot of the areas here on the camp were used as gardens. The patients would go work in the gardens. They’d use the food from the gardens to feed the patients, but that was more a rehabilitation-type activity.” (Stubbs, marines-mil)

Decommissioned on May 31, 1949, four years after the end of WWII, the hospital was deactivated and the Army and Navy medical assets were moved to what is now Tripler Army Medical Center.

“It sat idle for a long time and they were in the process of selling all the property. General Smith came up and looked at it and decided this was what he wanted for the home of the (Fleet Marine Force Pacific) headquarters.” (Stubbs, marines-mil)

A year later, the Territory of Hawaiʻi began plans to claim the old hospital for a tuberculosis sanitarium. However, in 1955 the Marine Corps purchased it for the future home of the Fleet Marine Forces Pacific.

On June 8, 1955, it was renamed Camp HM Smith (named for General Holland McTyeire (HM – nicknamed “Howlin’ Mad”) Smith, the first commanding general of Fleet Marine Force Pacific, it became a strategic command base for the largest field command in the Marine Corps, now known as US Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MarForPac,) with an area of responsibility covering more than half the Earth’s surface.

After purchasing the land, the first Marines arrived in October 1955. The camp did not become fully operational until two weeks before its dedication, January 31, 1956.

Camp Smith today consists of 220-acres at Camp Smith proper, 137-acres at Puʻuloa Rifle Range in ʻEwa Beach and 62-acres in Mānana Housing. Camp Smith is unique in that it’s the only Marine Corps installation that supports a unified commander, Commander, Pacific Command (CDRUSPACOM.)

(A unified combatant command is a US joint military command composed of forces from two or more services, has a broad and continuing mission and is organized either on a geographical basis or on a functional basis.)

The new headquarters for the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) located on Camp Smith, accommodating more than 1,350-personnel for the US Pacific Command and the Special Operations Command, Pacific, was recently dedicated.

Named the Nimitz-MacArthur Pacific Command Center (NMPCC), the six-story, 274,500-square-foot facility overlooks Honolulu and replaces a nearly 60-year-old structure originally built as a hospital during WWII.

The NMPCC is one of the nation’s premier facilities for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) systems. C4I plans were developed around the “battle cell” concept for distributed command and control. (Lots of information and images here from marines-mil.)

April 2, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Largest Earthquake in Hawaiʻi

Magnitude 7.9, Kaʻū, Island of Hawaiʻi, April 2, 1868

On March 27, 1868, whaling ships at Kawaihae on the west coast of Hawaiʻi observed dense clouds of smoke rising from Mauna Loa’s crater, Mokuʻāweoweo, to a height of several miles and reflecting the bright light from the lava pit.

Slight shocks were felt at Kona on the west coast and Kaʻū on the flanks of the volcano.

On the 28th, lava broke out on the southwest flank and created a 15-mile flow to the sea. Over 300 strong shocks were felt at Kaʻū and 50 to 60 were felt at Kona.

At Kilauea, the surface of the ground quivered for days with frequent vigorous shocks that caused lamps, crockery and chairs to spin around as if animated.

One shock resembled that of a cannon projectile striking the ground under the proprietor’s bed, causing him to flee, according to the narrative published by C. H. Hitchcock in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America in 1912.

Between March 28, 1868 and April 11, over 2,000 distinct shocks were felt at Kona.

The main shocks struck on April 2, at 4:00 p.m., and again on April 4 at 12:30 a.m., the epicenter was located near Waiohinu.

“Thursday, April 2d, at a few minutes past four, p.m., the big earthquake occurred, which caused the ground around Kilauea to rock like a ship at sea. At that moment, there commenced fearful detonations in the crater, large quantities of lava were thrown up to a great height; portions of the wall tumbled in.”

“This extraordinary commotion, accompanied with unearthly noise and ceaseless swaying of the ground continued from that day till Sunday night, April 5th”. (Hawaiian Gazette, May 6, 1868)

A magnitude of 7 ¾ was estimated for this earthquake (by Augustine Furumoto in his February 1966 article on the Seismicity of Hawaii in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America) based on the extent of intensity reports. (Instrumental recordings, the usual basis for computing magnitudes, were not available at this early date.)

The shock was felt throughout the islands, as far as Niʻihau about 350 miles away.

The ground rolled like a ship at sea and many walls tumbled down.

A landslide three miles long and thirty feet thick swept down the hill carrying trees, animals, and men. Thirty-one people and thousands of cattle, sheep, horses and goats were killed in the one slide.

A tsunami struck the coast from Hilo to South Cape, being most destructive at Keauhou, Puna and Honuʻapo; 180 houses were washed away and 62 lives were lost to the wave alone.

A 10-foot-high wave carried wreckage inland 800-feet. Not a house survived at Honuʻapo. A stone church and other buildings were destroyed at Punaluʻu.

Maximum wave heights were 65 feet, the highest observed on Hawaiʻi to date.

At Keauhou (now Keauhou Landing) the water rose 35-50-feet destroying all the houses and warehouses and drowning 46 people. At Hilo, the height of the wave was about 10-feet, and at Kealakekua, 6-feet. The tsunami also was observed on Maui and Oʻahu. Also felt on Lānaʻi, Maui, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi.

“The tidal wave was much greater than before stated. It rolled in over the tops of the cocoanut trees, probably sixty feet high, and drove the floating rubbish, timber, etc., inland a distance of a quarter of a mile in some places, taking out to sea when it returned, houses, men, women, and almost everything movable. The villages Punaluu, Ninole, Kawaa and Honuapo were utterly annihilated.” (American Journal of Science, 1868)

This major earthquake caused 77 deaths (tsunami, 46; landslide, 31).

It knocked almost all wooden houses off their foundations in the Keiawa, Punaluʻu and Nīnole areas. In those areas, straw houses supported by posts in the ground reportedly were “torn to shreds.”

At Kaʻū, the more substantial houses and every stone wall were thrown down.

At Waiʻōhinu, a large stone church collapsed within 10 seconds of the onset of shaking. The shock “ruined” the few stone buildings in Hilo and shook down almost every wall. Brooks became muddy.

At Kealakekua, strong trees were bent backward and forward “like reeds in a storm.” Ground waves as much as 2-feet from ground to crest were observed at Kohala.

The motion was so violent at ʻUlupalakua that it was difficult for people to stand. Reports from Keaiwa and Kiolakaʻa suggest that vertical accelerations larger than 1g may have occurred (which means that the force of the earth pushing up on something is stronger than the force of gravity keeping it on the ground.)

Extensive surface effects were observed in the epicentral region. Ground fissures extended from Pahala to Kilauea. At Kahuku, a fissure about 5 kilometers long was reported. A volcanic eruption took place from that fissure a few days later, on April 7.

Along the Puna coast, the land subsided in places as much as 6-feet. At Kaimū, trees stood about 8-feet deep in sand and water. The plain at Kalapana sank about 6-feet, and water stood as much as 5-feet deep over 20 acres of formerly dry land.

Much of the information here is from USGS, with some noted from the diary and letters of Mrs. Sarah J. Lyman, wife of missionary David Layman in Hilo.

Largest Earthquake in Hawaiʻi - Magnitude 7.9, Kaʻū, Island of Hawaiʻi, April 2, 1868-400

Largest Earthquake in Hawaiʻi – Machado

April 1, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Diamond Head Charlie

“Ste-e-e-mer off Koko Head!” (PCA, 1906)

“Before the telephone was invented, and long before the system was in use in Honolulu, we had the lookout station on Telegraph Hill, which by means of a semaphore arrangement communicated with a station on the building (downtown.)”

“Every merchant was supplied with the code, and whenever a schooner, a steamer, a mail packet, or a man of war, was sighted, the heart of the town knew it immediately.” (Hawaiian Star, February 10, 1899)

Pu‘u O Kaimukī (aka “Kaimukī Hill”) was used as a sighting and signal station (using semaphore technology,) giving it the name “telegraph hill.” It had broad view over the Pacific and line-of-sight to downtown Honolulu. Back then, they used this vantage point to spot ships coming in, and then conveyed the news to Honolulu.

This is where John Charles Pedersen was first stationed. Petersen was appointed lookout … by the then Minister of the Interior, Samuel G Wilder. The station was located at the top of Kaimuki Hill. (Evening Bulletin, September 27, 1907)

Semaphore towers used arms and blades/paddles to convey messages; messages were conveyed/decoded based on the fixed positions of these arms. Reportedly, in 1857, a semaphore mechanism on Puʻu O Kaimukī, with large moveable arms, was attached to the top of a sixty-foot pole and used to signal to Honolulu.

The official receiving station from Kaimukī was on Merchant Street, but some have suggested other receiving stations at Kaʻahumanu Street and the foot of Nuʻuanu.

“When the telephone system got into working order the lookout station was moved to a position on Diamond Head which gave a view further along the channel, because it was no longer necessary for the station to be in full view of the city.” (Hawaiian Star, February 10, 1899)

Diamond Head was connected by telephone with the book store of Whitney & Robertson conducted in Honolulu Hale. (Evening Bulletin, September 27, 1907)

Petersen’s regular weather reports (telephoned every evening promptly at 10 o’clock,) “Diamond Head – 10 pm – weather, hazy; wind, fresh, NE,” or calls with a ship sighting, “Ste-e-e-mer off Koko Head!” “gladdens the hearts of thousands of people every week.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 29, 1906)

Following the call, HECO’s whistle would scream three long blasts, loud enough for all Honolulu to hear. This meant the ship would arrive in two hours, and people rushed to the harbor.

“All hands, including government officials of many grades and various departments, agents’ representatives, post office clerks, hotel and newspaper men, waterfronters, hackmen, messengers, shipping men, storekeepers, the large army of people “expecting friends,” and frequently Captain Berger and the Hawaiian Band, make haste to get down to the dock to ‘see the steamer come in.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 29, 1906)

“For many years all Honolulu has depended on one man to announce the sighting of mail and freight steamers as well as the fleet of ‘windjammers.’ … ‘John Chas. Peterson, Keeper Diamond Head Signal Station,’ as he is designated in the directory.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 29, 1906)

He was better known as Diamond Head Charlie.

Petersen was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He came to the Islands eighteen years ago from San Francisco in the old schooner Lizzie Wight. He left for a short while, returned and married a Hawaiian who died four months after her child was born. “The pledge of their union still lives to cheer the father’s heart.”

“His house is built on a rough slope of Diamond Head, facing the sea and from its position the faithful lookout commands an almost unlimited view of the broad Pacific. His business is to watch for incoming vessels and report them. … He watches with unfailing zeal, and it is very seldom that a vessel ever escapes his sharp eyes.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 19, 1894)

“The great landmark on which he passes his time is well known to tourists and others, and it is eagerly watched for from the decks of incoming steamers. With the aid of glasses passengers can detect a small cottage, painted white, which is built on the side of the bleak extinct volcano.”

“Their home consists of bedrooms, a tiny bit of a pantry, and an observation room, from which Peterson scans the sea. On one side a large water tank stands, encased in wood; they must store the rain water or else go as far as James Campbell’s for the fluid.”

“In front of the cottage stands a flagpole eighty feet high, which is used for signaling. In a locker “Charlie” has a full complement of flags, and is proud of his belonging.”

“A large telescope stands in the observation room, which aids the eye to see a distance of at least thirty miles. It is a powerful glass and when a vessel is eight miles away she does not appear to be more than 1000 yards distant. This telescope was presented to the lookout by Wm. G. Irwin and other merchants about town.”

“Peterson is on duty about seventeen hours every day, and divides his time between watching for vessels and cooking his meals. He has no servants, and of course must prepare his own food, which is done under great difficulties at times, as he has no kitchen.”

“He comes to town but once a month for his pay. While he is absent from his post, which is taken for the time being by a native, he usually purchases enough supplies to last him a month. His salary at present is $75 a month. He started in sixteen years ago at $50, and after a year’s time the sum was increased to $60. He worked for twelve years for the last mentioned sum.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 19, 1894)

“His glory began to grow dim when the lighthouse was erected at the Head and a keeper came to divide honors with him. Though he has constantly been an important factor to the business community and reported the ships appearing off the port, he became less a household word after the installation of the trans-Pacific cable.” (Evening Bulletin, September 27, 1907)

“Each year since 1895 General Soper has made a Christmas collection for Charlie among the business men of the town. The largest sum was $440 collected in 1902. Charlie was a faithful man and the news of his death (September 27, 1907) caused widespread expressions of regret throughout the town. (Evening Bulletin, September 27, 1907)

“For several weeks past Peterson was in the hospital and little hope was held for his recovery. Close on the allotted three score years and ten, he now sighted that mysterious bark whose captain is called Death.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 28, 1907)

March 31, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

What a beautiful day for fishing …

In March 1865, Brigham Young (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877,) in a letter to King Kamehameha V, requested permission to locate an agricultural colony in Lāʻie. The king granted his request.

That year, Mormon missionaries (Francis Asbury Hammond and George Nebeker) purchased about 6,000-acres of the ahupuaʻa of Lāʻiewai to Lāʻiemaloʻo (in Koʻolauloa) from Mr. Thomas T Dougherty for the Mormon Church. The missionaries hoped to create a gathering place for converts to their faith to settle in.

On April 5, 1882, King Kalākaua visited the village of Lāʻie as guest of honor for the ceremonial placement of four cornerstones for a new chapel being built by the Mormons.

The chapel remained until 1915 when the Hawaiʻi Temple was started and the chapel was moved. Unfortunately, the historic chapel burned down during renovations on July 11, 1940.

1945 saw the end of World War II. With the end came the return of the simple island life.

To replace the church they needed to raise funds. After a few unsuccessful attempts at fundraising, the decision was made in 1947 to pull together a hukilau as a fundraising event. (PCC)

Hukilau (Huki = pull; lau = leaves, specifically, ki (ti) leaves) is a community fishing technique with long ropes, with dried ti leaves attached to frighten the fish.

The net was taken out and surrounds fish out in the water; then, the ends of the net are pulled into shore, corralling the fish. The fish are either caught in the nets or picked up by hand. This operation in the old days brought together men, women and children of the whole community. (Maly)

A well-known expert fisherman, Hamana Kalili supplied the nets for fishing. (Kalili is credited for starting the ‘shaka’ hand sign (but that is the subject of another story.))

Beatrice Ayer Patton (Mrs. George S Patton – her husband was stationed on Oʻahu during the mid-1920s) described Kalili as “a magnificent example of the pure Hawaiian. A man in his sixties, with white hair and a deeply carven face, he had the body and reactions of a teenager. He lived and fished on the windward side of the island”. (Patton-Totten)

“… they would go out in the ocean, in a semicircle and pull the nets to shore, and that was the hukilau, part of it. After the fish was all caught and so on, then they would go to the luau part. And the luau, as you know, is a place where you can have lots of food, and have lots of entertainment.” (Roland Maʻiola “Ahi” Logan; Kepa Maly)

January 31, 1948, members of the Lāʻie Ward started the hukilau. (PCC) A $5 fee was charged to enjoy the hukilau, food and hula show. Two hundred and fifty people arrived for the first fundraiser and the church raised $1,250.

Jack Owens enjoyed this Hukilau. That night, suffering sunburn, aches and pains, he was inspired to write this song. Introduced publicly at a Methodist lūʻau in Honolulu, it became an instant hit. (Our Honolulu, Bob Krauss, Advertiser, April, 1998)

“So that became the Church fund raiser. After the success of the first one. That was done. … Hukilau gave the people of Lāʻie the impact of economic growth. Next thing you knew, the ladies went into making crafts, the children were making coconut hats … the Hukilau was something that strengthened the people in the community.” (Logan; Maly)

During that time, it was one of the most popular visitor attractions. To actually pull in the hukilau nets, feast on the lau lau and watch as the ʻama ʻama went swimming by was truly a Hawaiian activity. (PCC) (The Hukilau continued to 1971.)

In 1959 students and faculty at the Church College of Hawaiʻi (BYU-Hawaiʻi) organized the “Polynesian Institute” (later renamed “Polynesian Panorama”) and took the show on the road. Students performed first at the International Market Place, then put on larger performances in the Kaiser Hawaiian Dome in Waikīkī.

Two years of shuttling Church College students back and forth to Waikīkī for performances convinced decision-makers that a spirited, tourist-oriented Polynesian revue with a student cast was definitely marketable.

And although some argued that Lāʻie was too far from Honolulu, others insisted that the success of the hukilau demonstrated that they could draw audiences large enough to make the venture profitable. (Webb) Thus, the Polynesian Cultural Center was born.

Click HERE for a link to Owen’s Hukilau Song.