Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, April 16, 2017

The late Uncle George Na`ope founded the Merrie Monarch Festival, the world's top hula event, with
the 2017 celebration beginning Easter Sunday in Hilo. Na`ope 's legacy also continues in Ka`u, where his
student, Kumu Hula Debbie Ryder, teaches every Wednesday at Pahala Community Center, with
free classes for keiki, beginning adults and advanced adults. See more below.
Photo from Big Island Video News

THE SOUTH POINT RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLAN is being finalized by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The draft was released last year and DHHL is working to include additional public and professional input as it determines the future of the popular visitor, ranching, fishing and camping area at Kalae, which is also home to many native plants and animals and cultural sites.
     The area has received an increase in visitors with the growing popularity of traveling to Green Sand Beach.

South Point, Kalae, the property belonging to the Department of
Hawaiian Home Lands is the subject of a Draft South Point Resources
Management Plan. Photo by Peter Anderson

     The lands held under the Hawaiian Homes Land Trust are in the ahupua`a of Kama`oa-Pu`u`eo. They extend from South Point toward Green Sand Beach and Mahana Bay. The draft points to an old plan completed for South Point in 1983 and says that "unfortunately, the ongoing issues of this area still have not been addressed three decades later. Many Ka`u community members are frustrated that there has been no progress for the management of South Point resources," the draft plan says. "However, the need to protect and preserve the natural and cultural sites of South Point" was identified as a priority project in the DHHL's Ka`u Regional Plan adopted by the Hawaiian Homes Commission.
     The new draft plan explains that South Point "is a special and unique place. Its significant cultural landscape tells of the very early native Hawaiian settlement of the area." It notes that some 710 acres are designated as a National Historic Landmark. Remaining cultural sites include Pu`u Ali`i, Kalalea Heiau, Lua o Palahemo, canoe mooring holes and Lua Makakei. "Lua o Palahemo is also a unique natural resource," with several types of anchialine pool shrimp, including `opae `ula and the endangered Vetericaris Chaceoru. Rare plants include `ohai, states the plan.

DHHL faces management challenges with South Point's
unpaved roads, which are used increasingly by visitors and
local recreation, four-wheel vehicles.
Photo by Isaac Davis

     DHHL met with community members and families with long histories at South Point before making the plan which states that South Point is envisioned as "a self-sustaining, healthy and safe community where the `aina - inclusive of the people and resources within it - and native Hawaiian culture and values thrive."
     It discusses the challenges of Green Sand Beach, Mahana Bay and the need for a service road and pedestrian path and trail and technical assistance to local people to become legal business entities on DHHL lands. The plan discusses degradation of the land and its resources caused by unmanaged vehicles traveling along the coast. See the plan on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands website at https://dhhl.hawaii.gov.

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MERRIE MONARCH HULUA FESTIVAL 2017 FESTIVITIES began in Hilo on Easter Sunday with the Ho`olaulea at the Hilo Ah Fook Chinen Civic Auditorium.  The opening day featured hula from halau in Hawai`i, Japan and the U.S. mainland. 

     Ka`u artists will be featured at the Merrie Monarch Invitational Hawaiian Arts Fair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 19 through Friday, April 21, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 22 at the Ah Fook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. 

     On Saturday, April 22 will be the Merrie Monarch Royal Parade, which often features Ka`u participants from local ranches with paniolo on their horses, to Thy Word Ministry church with a float of inspiration and music and the Miss Ka`u Coffee pageant contenders and reigning coffee queen and princesses.

      On Wednesday is the free Ho`ike open to everyone with no tickets required, beginning at 6 p.m. at Edith Kanaka`ole Stadium. It is billed as an exhibition night of hula and folk dance from around the Pacific. 

      Televised from the stadium, for those without tickets purchases far in advance, will be Miss Aloha Hula competition on Thursday, April 20 at 6 p.m.; the Group Hula Kahiki (ancient dance) competition on Friday, April 21 at 6 p.m. and the Group Hula `Auana (modern dance) on Saturday, April 22 at 6 p.m.

     See more at www.merriemonarch.com.

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Kumu Hula Debbie Ryder, of Halau Hula O Leionalani, leads
a visiting halau at sunrise at Punalu`u,  the namesake of the
song Punalu`u written by her teacher, the late George Na`ope.
Photo by Julia Neal

HULA CLASSES ARE GROWING under the direction of Kumu Hula Debbie Ryder, who teaches each Wednesday at Pahala Community Center. Ryder, who trained under the late George Na`ope, who founded the Merrie Monarch Festival, offers classes for all ages. 

     The class for keiki begins at 5:30 p.m., beginning adults at 6:30 p.m. and advanced adults at 7:30 p.m. All classes are free and under the auspices of Halau Hula O Leionalani.

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U.S. SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ invites Ka`u residents to his Town Hall meeting this Tuesday, April 18 in Hilo from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The event location has been changed to the gymnasium at University of Hawai`i, following a large crowd signing up to attend. Schatz has been issuing numerous statements, testifying in the U.S. Senate and speaking on television about his views on the missile strike in Syria, President Donald Trump's cabinet and Supreme Court selections, and many other issues from health care to the environment, to education.

     Schatz , a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced last week that Hawai‘i will receive more than $1 million to address significant public health concerns and promote healthy behaviors. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $1,092,341 to the Hawai‘i state Department of Health's Healthy Hawai‘i Initiative, which works to prevent chronic disease and promote healthy living in the state.

  “Living a healthy lifestyle is the best way to prevent chronic illnesses,” said Senator Schatz. “The Healthy Hawai‘i Initiative helps people understand why this matters and how they can make healthy choices for themselves and their families. That is why I will continue to work in the Senate to make sure our state has the resources we need to promote health and wellness.”
   The Healthy Hawai‘i Initiative is the Hawai‘i state Department of Health’s signature effort to promote healthy living through schools, communities, and workplaces. Since 2000, the initiative has used public campaigns and partnerships with the private and public sectors to successfully address health issues including nutrition, exercise, diabetes, and tobacco use.

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Special Merrie Monarch Festival Event, Tue, April 18, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Kīlauea Visitor Center lānai in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Practitioners share lau hala, lomilomi, hū kukui and ulana niu. Falsetto singer Kai Ho‘opi‘i performs. Free; park entrance fees apply.

The Value of Plantation-Era Archives in Today’s World, Tue, April 18, 7 p.m., Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. John Cross leads a visual journey through Edmund C. Olson Trust Archive’s historic resources and the era that was “Big Sugar.” Free; park entrance fees apply.

Special Merrie Monarch Festival Event, Wed, April 19, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Kīlauea Visitor Center lānai in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Practitioners share lei making, pala‘ie & kāpala mea ulu. The Young Brothers perform local melodies. Free; park entrance fees apply.

Kai Ho‘opi‘i in Concert, Wed, April 19, 6:30 – 8 p.m., Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. The Aloha Festival Hawaiian falsetto contest winner shares traditions and music of his ‘ohana. Free; park entrance fees apply.

Special Merrie Monarch Festival Event, Thu, April 20, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Kīlauea Visitor Center lānai in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Practitioners share lei making, haku hulu, ‘ohe kāpala and kuku kapa. Multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano award-winning composer, singer and musician Kenneth Makuakāne performs. Free; park entrance fees apply.

Medicare 101, Thursday, April 20, 4:30 p.m., Nā‘ālehu Public Library. AARP representative Ed Hickey provides basic information. 939-2442

www.kaucalendar.com