Waipahu Park Launches Obon Season June 3
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Alan Wong raised more than $14,000 for
Hawaii’s Plantation Village at his
restaurant reopening dinner gala.
Pictured are (from left) Gail Ifuku, Alan
Wong, HPV president Richard Hirata,
Glenn Ifuku and Leigh Ito. Photo by
Dan Nakasone.
Dancing and food will bring the ancient obon tradition alive from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday at Hawaii’s Plantation Village.
Paper lanterns illuminate the Waipahu park so the ancestral spirits can find their way back to celebrate with family and friends. The Mililani and Waipahu Hongwanji, and Hawaii Eisa Shinyuukai will entertain, along with Aiea Taiheiji Yagura Gumi, Iwakuni Dance Group and the Yamada Dance Group. Food booths open at 5 p.m.
The plantation village also will highlight Hawaii’s Okinawans with tours, displays and free presentations earlier the same day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in its series Relive the Plantation Days 2006. The presentations are: Okinawan genealogy with Tom Shimabuku at 10 a.m., Hawaiian herbal plants and their medicinal uses with kumu Janice Keonaona Kalua at 11 a.m.; Lomilomi with Kalua and her graduate practitioners at noon.
The plantation village gained a boost of support recently when chef Alan Wong raised $14,211 during the April 30 gala reopening of his King Street restaurant, which guests paid $125 per ticket to attend. Wong presented a check for that amount on May 22 to HPV president Richard Hirata. (See accompanying photo.) The proceeds will go to children’s programs to enrich knowledge of Hawaii’s past plantation lifestyle.
“As a non-profit organization,“Hirata said, “it takes quite a bit of fundraising to properly staff and run the programs as well as maintain more than 30 heritage buildings we have on site. So when someone like chef Alan Wong chooses to remember his youthful plantation experiences and finds a way to help perpetuate Hawaii’s unique plantation history, it’s an unexpected windfall for an organization like us.”
The Friends of Waipahu Cultural Garden established Hawaii’s Plantation Village in 1973. The attraction is located at 94-695 Waipahu St. For more information, call 677-0110.
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