Christmas ornaments honor local traditions

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Staff Writer

This ornament featuring Queen Lili'uokalani benefits Washington Place. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Owen Ho, who invented the much-loved Shaka Santa that dips his toes in the Honolulu Hale fountain each year during the Honolulu City Lights celebration, believes holiday decorations at city hall should reflect our local lifestyle. No surprise then that an ornament connected to Honolulu City Lights is based on a local-style "Snow Family," part of the city hall decor for some years now.

"A Royal Christmas," the 2002 commemorative Christmas ornament benefiting the Washington Place Foundation, will be introduced at an ornament-signing party from 2-4 p.m. Sunday at C. S. Wo. Other signings: 1-3 p.m. Dec. 7, Macy's Ala Moana; 2-4 p.m. Dec. 8, Neiman Marcus Ala Moana. It is a portrait of Hawai'i's last queen, framed by poinsettia flowers and the American and Hawaiian flags.

The ornament sells for $15 and is available at Neiman Marcus, C. S. Wo and soon at Macy's. It's designed to be hung or propped up on a little holder.

The 2002 Friends of Honolulu City Lights Ornament has been "localized," with such island icons as a surfboard, shave ice, lei and a papale lauhala (woven frond hat). Ramona Harris, wife of Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, who has spearheaded this year's ornament effort, will be on hand to sign ornaments from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow at Macy's Downtown and from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Macy's Ala Moana.

The Friends of Honolulu City Lights ornament was designed by Owen Ho, creator of the much-loved Shaka Santa.

"A Royal Christmas," said Cayetano, "is a piece of Washington Place that people can take with them to celebrate the rich history of this house. We have found that this history is so meaningful and of great interest to the people of Hawai'i and to our visitors, too."

Jim Bartels, director of Washington Place, said there is a long association, both happy and sad, between Washington Place and flags. The American consul to the Hawaiian kingdom once boarded there, and the home was the first place in Hawai'i to receive royal permission to fly the American flag, in 1848. When Lili'uokalani lived there as chiefess and heir to the throne, she raised the Hawaiian flag, and kept it so during her reign and after her deposition. Then, on April 3, 1917, she quietly raised the American flag again, in honor of Hawaiians lost at sea when Germans attacked an American ship to start WWI. Both flags fly over the governor's mansion now.

The 2002 Friends of Honolulu City Lights Ornament is third in a series that Ho has worked on; the brass and baked-enamel pieces have become highly collectible. All three are available.