Gail's snake lei shows you've arrived

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

There are a number of theories as to how you can tell when you've "made it."

One is that you get recognized while walking around Ala Moana Center, as in, "Eh, try look, das' da kine, yeah?"

Or you know you've "made it" when your 8-by-10 glossy is on the wall of at least three local restaurants, like Columbia Inn, KC Drive In and Ono Hawaiian Foods.

Better yet, if you have a plate lunch named after you at Masa's, you know you've pretty much hit the top.

But there is a new symbol of status and stature.

The snake lei.

Melveen always has one. Loyal had one during the recent benefit in her honor. Jodi Leong wore one last Friday on the 10 o'clock news.

It's absolutely striking. You'd know it if you saw it.

It's made from petals of the crown flower, not the usual crown part you see in lei, but the outside-part. The part most people throw away.

It takes a thousand of these petals to make the lei, which ends up perfectly round, heavy, with a stunning lavender-gray pattern. Beautiful and definitely serpentine.

Gail Harimoto is the artist behind the lei that she prefers to call "crown petal lei." She says she didn't invent the style. She saw someone wearing one and learned how to do it.

She's got it down to a daily routine now, picking 400-500 flowers at a time, separating the petal from the crown, and threading the petals into a lei. The process is more complicated than it sounds: the petals need to sit a few nights before they can be strung or they're too flat.

Just picking the materials can be harrowing: the sap from the plant can cause a terrible rash, and if it gets in your hair, you pretty much have to cut it off. Harimoto wears long sleeves and a mask when she's gathering. And the flowers have to be picked at a certain stage. To make matters worse, she doesn't have any crown flower in her yard. She relies on the generosity of her Pearl City neighbors.

So why would anyone go to such trouble when you can buy a perfectly good pikake at 7-Eleven? "The joy that it gives to people I meet, that's why I do it."

The lei is pretty much in constant production at her house. If she's not making for Melveen Leed's performances, she's sewing for office fund-raisers for Aloha United Way. But often, the lei is destined for someone she doesn't even know — a visiting celebrity, like Kristi Yamaguchi or the cast from "Miss Saigon." Harimoto sends her lei backstage "just because I think it's nice for them to have leis."

Tonight, look for a Harimoto creation around the neck of UH volleyball player Tanja Nikolic. The only senior on the team will be playing her last game in Hawai'i, and Harimoto wanted her to know that she's special. She's made it.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com