Kaimuki looking for an angel
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
For the second year in a row, Kaimuki's big electric-light Christmas tree is in trouble.
Advertiser library photo • Dec. 20, 2001
Like last year, the city has told the community that it is unable to spare crews and equipment to assemble the metal poles for the 45-foot tree and string the lights as it had done for some 15 years.
Kaimuki's landmark Christmas tree — erected with poles and wires on the hill behind the fire station — has been a tradition since the mid-1980s. On a clear night, the seasonal display could be seen as far away as Makakilo.
Residents and businesses managed to get the tree up last year, and they hope they can do it again. But they are going to need help — specifically, from a company or someone with a cherry picker.
Every Christmas since the mid-1980s the electric tree in Pu'u o Kaimuki Mini Park has been a holiday beacon for residents in the area and for everyone driving by on the freeway. On a clear night it could be seen from as far away as Hawai'i Kai and Makakilo.
"We are once again trying to make it happen," said Ginny Meade, a member of the Greater East Honolulu Community Alliance.
"We never had any further commitment from the city after last year. They did what they could, pulled their people from everywhere, but they just don't seem to have the resources. We need at least two cherry pickers and the people to run them."
A fund also has been started to expand the Christmas celebration to include lighting up the business district along Wai'alae Avenue, similar to what used to be done in the 1960s.
• For information or to volunteer help with the electric Christmas tree, call Ginny Meade at 737-4125. • To donate to the Kaimuki Christmas tree and street lights fund, send checks to the Kaimuki Business and Professional Association, P.O. Box 10187, Honolulu, HI 96816. Make checks payable to KBPA and designate Christmas Lights Fund.
Last year, Kaimuki resident Leonard Tam started a campaign to erect the tree and replace the wires that hold the tree together. Businesses donated money to buy the parts, volunteers worked to make the repairs, and the city brought together a crew and equipment needed to hang the 16 50-foot strands of green lights.
How to help
The tree went up, but it was after the annual Kaimuki Christmas parade, to the disappointment of many residents.
At the Kaimuki Neighborhood Board meeting recently, the mayor's representative and city Department of Environmental Services director Timothy Steinberger said the city can't spare the crews and equipment this year because they're being used for the Honolulu City Lights program.
Kaimuki's Christmas parade is scheduled for Dec. 5, and residents would like to see the tree shining by then.
"We are asking for volunteers who can supply cherry pickers," said Kaimuki board chairman Vernon Tam.
"Maybe there is a tree-trimming company out there that can do it pro bono."
Rep. Barbara Marumoto R-19th (Kaimuki, K?hala, Wai'alae Iki), a member of the Kaimuki Lions Club, said she hopes the service group will take charge of the project and will hold a meeting for interested parties.
"We are just looking up every avenue," Marumoto said. "We haven't given up on the city, and we could try Hawaiian Electric Co. We are just going to talk about it, hoping against hope that we can pull it off. It is important to the community."
Leonard Tam said residents want to put together an organization to adopt the project so this problem doesn't come up year after year.
"The Lions cannot do it themselves, the (Kaimuki Business and Professional Association) cannot do it themselves, the city is overworked," Tam said. And "with the cutbacks and stuff," someone else is needed. "If we can try to get it as a community effort with the private sector, some of the service groups, and get donations to help defray the cost, it can happen."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
