A celebration draped in tradition
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Kamehameha Floral Parade route
By Kapono Dowson
Advertiser Staff Writer
More than 600 people attended the lei-draping ceremony at the King Kamehameha statue in front of the Ali'iolani Judiciary Building yesterday to kick off the Kamehameha Day festivities.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Children with lei po'o on dark braided hair sat happily and chatted in small groups on the grass as two firefighters from the Kaka'ako Fire Station draped long garlands of plumeria on the 20-foot-high statue of the man credited with uniting the Islands in 1810.
A firefighter from the Kaka'ako Fire Station adds to the many plumeria lei draping the King Kamehameha statue in front of the Ali'iolani Judiciary Building. The ceremony kicked off festivities honoring the monarch.
Others brought their own offering of lei — long, luxurious and abundant in fragrance and color.
"The event commemorates his legacy for the Hawaiian people," said Joelene Lono, a member of the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission.
The festivities will continue this morning at 9:30 with the King Kamehameha Floral Parade. Pa'u riders wrapped in satin and velvets will begin their trot through town at the Kamehameha statue. The riders will move through Waikiki on Kalakaua Avenue, finishing at Kapi'olani Park. Bands, floral floats, and about 3,000 marchers are expected to participate in the annual parade.
Kamehameha Day will be observed on Tuesday, a state holiday.
At yesterday's lei-draping ceremony, children dressed in peacock blue and green material hula costumes from the Kalakaua era adjusted their black kukui anklets and bracelets.
At the call of their kumu hula, they flocked into orderly lines preparing to honor the memory of their former ali'i with music and dance.
Kumu hula Olana Ai said her children have to study Hawaiian history and ali'i. Ai took a deep breath and said the children brought her hope.
She recalled how in her lifetime everyone was predicting that with the diminishing numbers of Hawaiians, they would die off.
"Our numbers are on the rise," she said. "Look at these children, as long as there are the children we are not ended."
For this year's theme, the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission chose Ku'pa'a, Me Ke Aloha — United and Embraced With Love.
"In light of what happened to us as a people and as a nation we need to stand united together," Lono said, reflecting on the impact of Sept. 11. "Not only must we unite as Hawaiians, but we must also stand together with others as part of the country as a whole."
Reach Kapono Dowson at kdowson@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8103.
