Cowboy Hall of Fame to add ten
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser KauaÎi Bureau
WAIMEA, Kaua'i — The Kaua'i and Ni'ihau Cowboy Hall of Fame will induct 10 new members this year, including horsemen who were great at running cattle, training horses and also at playing polo.
This is the second year of the Hall of Fame, which last year named nine cowboys and one horse to the panel.
Two of this year's nominees, Harold Aiu and Eddie Taniguchi Jr., are already fixtures in the statewide Paniolo Hall of Fame.
Nominees and the families of those who have died will receive their awards at a ceremony at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Kaua'i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu'e. The ceremonies are free and open to the public.
Exhibits featuring photographs and information about the cowboys will be on display through Sept. 15 at the West Kaua'i Visitor Center in Waimea.
The nominees are Aiu, Taniguchi, John Solomon Malina Sr. and his son John "Pili" Solomon Malina, Jr., Manuel S. Andrade and his son Manuel Andrade, brothers Norman Kalani Hookano and Delbert "Kaipo" Kaipoleimanu Hookano Sr., Jose "Joe" Kanoa and Francis Gay.
Aiu was a cowboy with Kekaha Sugar Plantation Ranch who won the Century Team Roping at the Makawao Rodeo in 1995 at age 78. Taniguchi, a third-generation Makaweli Ranch cowboy, is training his granddaughters in rodeo horsemanship.
John "Johnny" Solomon Malina, Sr., was foreman at Charlie Rice's ranch and was a member of the championship Kaua'i Polo Team from 1917 to 1923.
His son was a cowboy at Rice's Kipu Plantation and Ranch, a horse trainer and polo player. He made his own rawhide ropes and whips.
The Hookano brothers are fourth-generation members of the Hookano family working as cowboys at Makaweli Ranch.
Manuel S. Andrade, born in 1896 in Lihu'e, was hired by Makaweli Ranch as a cowboy after starting as a gardener and milkman.
He ran his family's slaughterhouse, which still operates today. He entered rodeos as a partner with his son, who continued the slaughterhouse operation as well as the family's OK Ranch.
Kanoa was ranch foreman for Kekaha Sugar Co. and was noted both for his skill at raising cattle and for his tasty beef laulau.
Francis Gay, the Gay in Gay & Robinson, was one of the founders of Makaweli Ranch and raised Durham Shorthorns brought by the Sinclair family from New Zealand in 1965.
Last year's inductees to the Hall of Fame were Kaluaikoolau, William Kahookano Uahinui, Moses Kauahi Hookano, Alfred "Ohu" Kaohu Hookano I, Eddie Taniguchi Sr., Melvin Kauwila Pahulehua Sr., Warren Selwyn Robinson, Antonio "Tony" Wong and Joseph Punilei Manini Sr. Taniguchi's horse, Big Jim, was also named to the Hall of Fame.
This year's Kaua'i and Ni'ihau Cowboy Hall of Fame activities are sponsored by the West Kaua'i Business & Professional Association, West Kaua'i Visitor Center, Hawai'i Tourism Authority , Economic Development Alliance of Hawai'i, Kaua'i Economic Development Board , and Hawai'i Island Economic Development Board.
