Fowl Friends Feed North Shore Folks
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John Marquardsen is a hands-on chicken turner
every Sunday in Haleiwa, and every Saturday
(pictured above) at St. Mark Lutheran School in
Kaneohe. Photo by Byron Lee,
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Those smoky weekend cooks in Haleiwa are creating a bonanza for hungry souls and the North Shore community at large.
Manny’s Huli-Huli Chicken (with a capital “H”) is nothing to squawk at. The Marquardsen clan’s chicken, corn and plate lunches are a hit with everyone except, possibly, the chickens.
Each Sunday, they set up at the old House of Restoration Church on Kamehameha Highway - between Haleiwa’s two famous shave ice stores. And on the fourth Sunday, their chickens are turning at Once A Month Church at Haleiwa Beach Park.
“They’ve been a blessing for us financially,” said Restoration’s minister Jofrey Rabonal, “and it’s an attention-getter for our church.” Both visitors and troubled local folks come by to chat and chew, he said, and a share of the profits go to the church building fund.
“I could tell you stories upon stories since John came here a year ago,” Rabonal said, referring to Manny Marquardsen’s father and chief huli-huli handler, John Marquardsen. “I might greet someone and invite them to talk over a chicken plate lunch. We practice what we preach - we restore them.”
The smell of fresh fowl dripping onto the hot kiawe wafts through the church window, tempting the devout to go out. At the same time, joyful hymns float out to the chicken eaters, inviting them in. (Coincidentally, Marquardsen and his wife Suzette were married in that old church in 1974.)
About 400 of the 3-and-a-half-pound chickens attend the Once A Month Church for the North Shore’s homeless and low-income people, coordinated by Rev. Ron Valenciano with area churches. The program marks its third year April 29. They start at 10 a.m. and eat at noon.
“All the food’s gone by 12:45. It’s a unique service on the beach, and John has been in it from the beginning,” said Valenciano, who also publishes North Shore News and leads weekly chapel at Turtle Bay Resort.“It’s a big, fun celebration with music, prizes and food. Much of the items come from the community; we turn money into food.
“John starts cooking at 8 a.m., and we have this great smell all morning long.” David Anana also cooks his delicious beef stew there in a 50-gallon drum,“and we have the world-famous potato-mac salad from Sagawa’s store.”
Manny Marquardsen, a Kahuku graduate living in Kaaawa, bought the fundraising arm of Pacific Poultry when it closed, and John and ohana (who live in Velzyland) carry on each weekend. Mililani High senior David Rivers helps out at the barbecues, just as his older brother, UH football standout Jason used to do. They also cook and sell about 300 chickens every Saturday for St. Mark Lutheran Church and School in Kaneohe.
“We constantly turn down business,“John explained.“We pick and choose so we don’t go overboard. We’re quality conscious, not just a burn-and-churn operation.
“We’re not in the chicken business, we’re in the fundraising business,” he declared, wiping a charcoal smudge off his cheek.
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