King Kamehameha Day

It was a big day in our little town. The parade went right by the house. Elana's mom dropped her off here to watch with us and then went down to Aloha gas to watch with some friends. She called to say she was going to head our way to pick up the girls to take them to the festival, but I had to tell her to wait. The parade hadn't even reached us yet even though it was already over for her!! LOL

Waiting for the parade:



note the plastic bags in anticipation of candy throwing.

OH look!!! Here comes the parade!!!



Really - it is coming......


We use the term "float " loosely around here. This is the big-pink-semi-with-folks- riding-on-it float.





This is another example of a very Kohala style "float":



See - they have candy to throw.





And here are the ladies from our credit union. Funny when the ladies on your CU float say shout out "Hi Alyse".




The Pa'u riders are the big deal of the parade. We watched a special on the pa'u riders once and what an honor it is to be asked to ride and all the prep that goes into it and how they fashion the fabric and everything (it is held in place with a kukui nut!). I always liked the hair pieces. My friend Suzie always helps do the hair and these women start to get ready at about 4 am with decorating the horses and themselves on the day of the parade! Not to mention all the prep the day before in gathering materials and making all the lei!












There is always a competition to see who has the best pooper scooper set up:



My favorite was Pele:






At the end of the day it is really all about the candy! So Let the trading begin!









Directly after the parade is the ho'olau'lea - the festival. Traditionally this has always been held at Kamehameha Park gym, but the gym had extensive damage from the earthquake and won't be ready to use again for at least another year and a half. So it has been held since at the the old morman gym that is now the home of the North Kohala Hawaiian Civic Club in Hawi. What does all of this mean for us here in Hawi town you may ask? ........TRAFFIC!!!! We were impressed enough by this bizarre sight to capture it on film!



We didn't go to the lei draping ceremony this year, but here is the king all dressed up for his special day: