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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, October 9, 2002

Arboretum provides beauty for calendar

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

A new calendar featuring detailed color photographs of the lush plant life in remote sections of Manoa Valley is not only a fund-raiser for Lyon Arboretum — where the photos were taken — but the first step in a new marketing plan to draw more people into the pristine area.

Bruce Behnke's lens opens to the lush plant life found at the Lyon Arboretum. Behnke's photos grace a fund-raising calendar produced by the arboretum.

Photo by Bruce Behnke © 2002

"There are many people that even live right here in the valley that have never been to the arboretum," said Alan Teramura, director of the arboretum and a professor of botany at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. "It is just amazing. Hopefully with images like this it will start to pique people's interest, saying, 'Gee! There are some neat things out there. I've got to take a look.' "

Using only natural light to capture the colors and textures of the tropical plants, nature photographer Bruce Behnke spent six months shooting thousands of digital images that were culled to just 16 shots for the calendar.

Behnke, who will retire as president and general manager of Kaiser Permanente Hawai'i in December, even used his vacation time to capture the images.

"I wanted to catch the arboretum at all times of the day and seasons," Behnke said. "Every time you go there it is a little different."

The idea for the calendar was developed during meetings between Teramura and Behnke, who was looking to spend time in the garden taking photos. Profits from the calendar will go to the Lyon Arboretum Association, the garden's nonprofit support group.

"We are hoping we can do this every year," said Behnke. "The Missouri botanical garden has a calendar and people wait in advance for it to be issued."

Teramura said 2,500 of the 11- by 17-inch calendars have been printed and are selling for $14.95. The calendar is available at the arboretum's gift store, at Rainbowtique shops in the Stan Sheriff Center and Ward Centre, at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and through UH Press.

At a glance

What: The Harold L. Lyon Arboretum

Where: 3860 Manoa Road (at the end of the road near the Manoa Falls trail head).

Open: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Phone: 988-7378

Web: www.hawaii.edu/lyonarboretum

The 194-acre Lyon Arboretum, part of the University of Hawai'i, contains more than 5,000 tropical plant species, including one of the largest palm collections found in a botanical garden.

Teramura said with the expected acquisition of neighboring Paradise Park by UH, the arboretum is looking at long-range plans to enhance access and the visitor experience. He has asked the UH College of Business Administration to develop a business and marketing plan for the arboretum as a class project.

Last year the arboretum received 15,000 visitors, including 4,000 students taking part in the Children's Education Program to learn about Hawai'i's plant life.

The arboretum operates with an annual budget of about $1 million, with half that money provided by the university. A quarter of the budget is generated from grants and contracts, and the remainder is raised through plant sales and visitors who pay a suggested $2.50 to walk through the arboretum.

Teramura pointed out that the Waikiki Aquarium gets 300,000 visitors a year and charges $7 a person.

"I'm not saying we could get 300,000 people up here right away, but we could easily double the number and if we increase accessibility to our collection and did a modest increase in our entry fee, we could do much more with it.

"(The arboretum) is a special place that residents and tourists can come to. When we think about Hawai'i as a tropical paradise, Waikiki is not that tropical paradise. But they can come here and experience a tropical rainforest environment. People just don't know about it."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.