The cover feature of the new issue of HAWAII Magazine is all about the “15 Things We Love About Hawaii” right now.

Among them, you’ll find the Big Island-made chocolate we’d fly from our Oahu offices to savor. The Hilo designer whose Hawaii-inspired fashions and prints we’d pick up while we’re there. And the hula dancer whose graceful movements we’d most want to accompany an oceanside mai tai and Waikiki sunset when we return home.

We've already clued you in about our love for Lost actor Michael Emerson in a previous “15 Things We Love About Hawaii” post. The love currently quenching our thirst for a carbonated beverage like no other, though? Artisanal sodas from Waialua Soda Works.

Trust us. You haven’t had a great vanilla cream soda until you’ve had a Waialua Soda Works vanilla cream soda. HAWAII editor John Heckathorn and I emptied a small office supply of the stuff in an afternoon binge session. (Our original plan was to share a single bottle.) And I’m still unsure whether associate editor Sherie Char got to enjoy any at all. (Burp.)

Here’s an excerpt:

Waialua Soda Works is all about homegrown Hawaii ingredients. There’s Big Island vanilla and Kauai honey in its vanilla cream soda. Island-grown fruits, when available, infuse its pineapple and mango sodas. Maui sugar cane sweetens its root beer. … The contents are handmade and hand-bottled by Jason and Karen Campbell (who) make old-fashioned artisanal soda in the former plantation village of Waialua on Oahu’s North Shore.

Read the full text of our Waialua Soda Works write-up and the 14 other things we love about Hawaii in the May/June 2008 issue of HAWAII Magazine, on newsstands now.

  

Molokai Ranch closed earlier this month, forcibly relocating Aloha Music Camp.

For the last five years, the Hawaiian music, dance and culture camp convened each summer at Molokai Ranch’s isolated Kaupoa Beach Village.

This year’s camp—scheduled for June 22-28—will move to the Big Island’s considerably less remote Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort.

The camp suffered an even more irreplaceable loss last week with the death of much-loved kupuna Auntie Winona Beamer. The noted Hawaiian entertainer and cultural touchstone (in middle photo), along with members of the Beamer ohana—including her son, Grammy-nominated slack-key musician Keola Beamer—hosted the camp each year.

“The camp really is about her life, in a lot of ways,” says camp administrator Mark Kailana Nelson. “Her whole life was dedicated to having Hawaiian culture reach out and be taught and cherished and understood. And that’s why we’re continuing it.”

Nelson and Keola Beamer founded Aloha Music Camp on the Big Island in 2001, before moving it to the beachside lodging owned by Molokai Ranch.

“Molokai was just the most perfect place imaginable. There was a very Hawaiian presence,” says Nelson. “The village was on a secluded beach. The people on Molokai had such aloha. Our hearts really go out to them. So many of them lost their livelihoods.”

The camp is moving to a conventional Hawaii resort—perhaps longer on amenities, but hardly as isolated, or as surrounded by nature.

Nelson argues the camp itself transcends its setting.  “It’s not about the location. It’s the people. It’s the aloha. It’s the ohana. We’ve been fortunate enough to create that experience in two different locations now. That’s what we’re going to do at the Keauhou as well.”

But Molokai will be missed.

It’s a special place,” says Nelson. “The utter silence. The sound of the ocean, the birds, the wind through the trees. Listening to Keola sing ‘Honolulu City Lights’ with the Honolulu city lights right across the channel was chicken skin.

““The first time he did that, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”

Aloha Music Camp still has space at its June gathering. For more information or to register, click here.
 
Check out a YouTube video of Aloha Music Camp life on Molokai here.

 

Hawaii has lost not just a legendary entertainer, but a respected cultural figure. A well-known Hawaiian music family has lost its much-loved matriarch.

Winona Beamer passed away in her sleep this morning at her home on Maui, after a long illness. She was 84.

Her sons are musicians Keola and Kapono Beamer—as a duo, best known for their 1970s hit “Honolulu City Lights.”

Born Winona Kapuailohiamanonokalani Desha—but affectionately known to most simply as “Auntie Nona”—Beamer made countless lasting contributions to Hawaiian culture.

Born in Honolulu in 1923, Beamer began learning hula at age 3 from her Big Island grandmother. She would later become a respected kumu hula (hula teacher)—and a leader in restoring hula’s traditional cultural roots.

An educator for four decades at Kamehameha Schools, Beamer coined the term “Hawaiiana” in 1948 to define the Hawaiian culture courses she introduced into the school’s curriculum.

When school trustees threatened to curtail the curriculum in 1997, Beamer issued a protest letter to the state Supreme Court, condemning their actions and mismanagement. The letter sparked public debate over the actions of the powerful court-appointed trustees (who were also in charge of Kamehameha Schools’ lucrative land trust then known as Bishop Estate). The public uproar would end with the trustees’ removal and an era of monumental reform at the school.

Most folks, however, knew Auntie Nona best for her many contributions to culture and the arts.

Beamer was a composer of songs—most famously, “Pupu Hinuhinu” (Hawaiian meaning “shiny shells”), which is still sung by schoolchildren. She was also a storyteller and prolific author, with more than a dozen books, tapes and CDs to her credit.

Beamer was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 1974, and presented with a lifetime achievement award by her peers at the 1992 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards—the Hawaiian music equivalent of the Grammys.

Our condolences go out to the Beamer ohana.

  

The 45th Merrie Monarch Festival ended last night with Hula Halau O Kamuela taking the lead prize of top hula halau.

The Oahu halau (troupe) took the fest’s "overall" honors by topping judges’ scorecards in women’s kahiko (traditional) and auana (modern) dance in Friday and Saturday night competition. Hula Halau O Kamuela—led by kumu hula (hula teachers) Kauionalani Kamanao and Kunewa Mook—also took top women's honors in both dance styles at the Big Island hula competition last year.

Oahu kumu hula Sonny Ching’s Halau Na Mamo O Puuanahulu troupe came in second overall, with top scores in men’s kahiko and auana dance.

Competition for the fest’s overall prize was strong. In the end, a single point was all that separated the first- and second-place halau on judges’ scorecards.

A complete list of Merrie Monarch Festival winners is here.

Video of the winning performances will be posted on KITV.com throughout the week. However, if you’re in need of a hula fix now, an already-posted collection of clips of the fest’s other competing halau should keep you sated for an hour or two.

  

Congratulations to Kalimakuhilani Akemi Kalamanamana Suganuma!

Kalima to her friends, we’re guessing.

Suganuma won the 2008 Miss Aloha Hula title at yesterday’s opening evening of Merrie Monarch Festival competition on the Big Island.

In a tiebreaker.

Two dances were required of competitors last night—a hula auana, or modern dance; and a hula kahiko, or traditional dance.

Oahu resident Suganuma danced the final performance of the evening, matching dancer Kapalaiula de Silva in judges’ scores. The judges reconvened, applied some complex Merrie Monarch math and declared Suganuma the winner.

Suganuma also won $1,000 for her Hawaiian language skills, demonstrated by her chanting. But the big prize is simply the honor of the Miss Aloha Hula title.

Click here to see Suganuma’s auana dance to Hawaiian songwriter Mary Kawena Pukui’s “Kilauea.” (You may need to download a free Microsoft media player first.)

The festival continues in Hilo tonight with group competition in hula kahiko. It will be broadcast live in Hawaii on KITV Channel 4. But you can also catch competition streamed live on KITV.com beginning at 6 p.m. Hawaii time (midnight on the East Coast, 9 p.m. on the West Coast).

The Merrie Monarch Festival concludes Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. (Hawaii time) with hula halau (or troupes) performing hula auana, followed by the fest’s awards ceremony.

Did anybody out there stay up late last night (or wake up early this morning) to watch the competition on the Web?


 

The 45th annual Merrie Monarch Festival begins tonight.  This is the World Series, the SuperBowl of hula competitions, bringing the best hula dancers from around the world to Edith Kanakaole Stadium in Hilo, Hawaii.

If you can’t get to Hilo, KITV.com will provide live streaming video. (Of course, if you are near a TV set in Hawaii, you can simply watch the broadcast live on KITV Channel 4.) 

Tonight, April 3, is the competition for Miss Aloha Hula 2008.

Friday night, the competition begins for halau, hula troupes.  That night both men’s and women’s halau compete in kahiko, traditional hula.

Saturday night brings the modern, or auana, competition.  That night the winners will be announced in an emotional ceremony.

Live coverage begins tonight at 6 p.m., Hawaii Time.  That’s midnight on the East Coast, 9 p.m. on the West Coast. 

Here's the complete schedule (all times are Hawaii):

Miss Aloha Hula: Thur. Apr. 3, 6-11 p.m.
Hula Kahiko: Fri. Apr. 4, 6-11 p.m.  
Hula Auana:  Sat. Apr. 5, 5:30-12 a.m.

 

The Merrie Monarch Hula Festival—for many practitioners, the World Series of hula—opened on the Big Island this weekend.

Hula troupes from around the state and worldwide are still arriving daily in Hilo, to compete.

Yesterday, Hilo’s Civic Auditorium saw the festival’s traditional opening hoolaulea (celebration).

But yesterday afternoon, our friends at Kilauea, photographers Stephen and Donna O’Meara, shot this photo of Halau Hula Keolu Makani O Mauna Loa.

This halau—as hula troupes are called in Hawaii—made a pilgrimage to Kilauea caldera to pay respect, by dancing for volcano fire goddess Pele.

Traditionally, this halau would go all the way to 300-foot-deep Halemaumau crater to dance—often right on its edge. That’s not possible this year. Conditions are uncertain and hazardous. The crater’s erupting with steam and ash, ejecting toxic fumes and occasional rocks and lava particles.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park rangers escorted the dancers to this spot, called Steaming Bluff, within sight of Halemaumau. 

Other dancers are expected to congregate both at Steaming Bluff and also at the spot where the current Kilauea flow pours molten lava into the sea.

We’ll post winners once hula competition begins on Thursday night. All three nights of competition will be streamed live on TheHawaiiChannel.com.

A schedule of Merrie Monarch Festival events is here.

 

We always knew Hawaii volcanoes were unprecedented.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists have been analyzing the steam and gas plume that’s been gushing from Halemaumau crater at the summit of Kilauea since March 11th. 

They've found something they didn’t expect: the H₂O in their test tubes is not from ground water. It's been released from the molten subterranean magma itself.

They’re calling it “juvenile water,” and it’s never been seen before anywhere on the planet, says Jim Kauahikaua, chief scientist.

There was more good gas news, released today at a press briefing on the edge of the crater.
 
Levels of toxic sulfur dioxide at the summit are six to ten times greater than before the eruption—bad news for anyone downwind, especially anyone with respiratory problems.
 
The good news?  Sulfur dioxide reacts with sunlight and the atmosphere and soon breaks down. So all those folks living on the Kona Coast have little to be concerned about. Sure, they can see the haze—and that’s no fun. But they can breathe a sigh of relief that there’s little SO₂ in the air.

In addition, there’s cultural fallout from the on-going summit eruption. The annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival—the world’s most prestigious hula competition—begins in four days and lasts for a week.
 
Traditionally, each hula halau (troupe) visits the rim of Halemaumau to honor fire goddess Pele. That won’t be possible this year.

So the staff at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is making other arrangements for the dancers. “We’re going to have other areas where they can come and be escorted by park rangers,” said park superintendent Cindy Orlando today.

Hawaii County mayor Harry Kim added that his staff is doing likewise down at the coast, where dancers will come to pay their respects next to the flowing lava still entering the sea.


 

One of the state’s signature cultural festivals kicks off in Honolulu this weekend.

The annual Honolulu Festival is three days of music, art, dance, games, demonstrations and workshops aimed at spotlighting the cultures of Asia and the Pacific. Artisans from Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Korea, Tahiti, the U.S. Mainland and, of course, Hawaii are in town.

By-invitation-only events with Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and other dignitaries kick-off the fest today. But the best of the festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, largely in Waikiki and at Ala Moana Center, all open to the public, and mostly free.

You’ll find the schedule of Honolulu Festival events and entertainment here—including where to catch aboriginal dancers from Australia, hula troupes from around the Pacific (including Japan), Hawaiian quilt demonstrations, Korean dance and even the Virginia-based Potomac Falls High School Band.

The “don’t-miss” event of it all is the Honolulu Festival Grand Parade, 4:30 to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The bulk of the fest’s 5,500 entertainers and artisans will march down Kalakaua Avenue—many of them showing off what they do best. There’ll be floats, dancers—and somewhere in the middle of it all, a 33-foot-long fire-and-smoke-spitting dragon—manipulated by more than 200 handlers from Kyushu, Japan.

 

The grand dame of Waikiki hotels is celebrating a birthday.

The Moana Surfrider Resort opened in 1901—the first hotel on Waikiki Beach. To celebrate, it’s hosting “A Time for Music, Memories and More” on Sunday.

It’s an afternoon of stories, history, live Hawaiian music, hula and, of course, birthday cake. And it’s all complimentary and open to all who wish to attend from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the hotel’s Banyan Courtyard.

The storytelling should be cool. Hawaiian storytellers will talk about the notable events, grand parties and even grander guests that have stayed at the Moana over the years. (Oooh, gossip!) You’ll also hear about the recent restoration of the more-than-century-old “first lady of Waikiki.”

Complimentary tours of the hotel will be offered from noon to 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

There’ll also be an elegant chocolate-themed afternoon tea on the Moana’s Veranda, a fundraiser for Historic Hawaii Foundation. Unfortunately, it’s $100.

On the other hand, you can have regular tea service—for a lot less—at the Veranda any afternoon, just like someone we know very well recently did.

More information on the entire schedule of Sunday afternoon birthday festivities is here.

Happy birthday, Ms. Moana. We should all look so good at 107.