While planning its 11th party, the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle, organizers of the party, said the event has become more difficult to coordinate and is realizing less profit despite increased revenue.

Over the past decade, the event has raised more than $170,000 — from a net low of $7,000 to a high of $23,000 — which was used for projects such as improving landscaping at Alala Point, the median at the entrance to town, at the Hamakua/Kailua roads intersection and maintenance that ran as high as $18,000 a year.

But rising party expenses and a decline in participation and donated material has the group thinking of new ways to raise money for projects that have cost about $60,000 each.

"We're not saying we won't have another party, but it will not be quite like this," said Lyn Turner, president of the Lani-Kailua group. "We could do something different, reinvent ourself. This is the last year the town party will be in this format."

The Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle will approach other organizations such as the Kailua Chamber of Commerce and the Kailua Urban Design Task Force in hopes of creating a partnership for future fund-raisers, she said.

The chamber, which plans Fourth of July events, recently worked with the city to bring Sunset on the Beach and Sunset in the Park to the community.

The Kailua Urban Design Task Force was instrumental in the vision project to plant monkeypod trees in the median in front of Kailua Shopping Center.

Pohai Ryan, executive director of the Kailua Chamber, said a partnership is possible and she thought the chamber board might be receptive.

Having planned the Sunset events, Ryan said she can think of several ideas that might be profitable for everyone involved. Getting more people involved is key to better events, she said.

"It's always easier when you have a partnership," Ryan said.

The annual town party features a Taste of Kailua, in which local restaurants sell menu items and compete with one another in taste and decorating contests. Local entertainers perform and area residents sell their plants and crafts. Community organizations also set up information booths.

In the past, because the event is a nonprofit fund-raiser, many items needed for the party were donated, Turner said. In recent years the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle has had to pay for things such as electricity and fencing material, which she said adds up along with other costs.

Even some restaurants have declined to participate, citing hardship, she said, adding that there will be no plant sale this year.

The event faced cancellation this year because no coordinator would come forward, but Turner's husband, Jim, agreed to take on the task along with his full-time job, she said. She and Steve Knox, her brother, are co-coordinators for the event.

Molly Mosher-Cates, vice president of Kane'ohe Ranch Co. Ltd., empathized with the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle and said the Sunset events were costly and time-consuming to plan. Although they were not highly profitable, the events strengthen community relations and bring people together, she said.

"Maybe they would have to get more people, more groups involved," Mosher-Cates said. "It's definitely something Kane'ohe Ranch would like to see continue. Perhaps there's a way that the Kailua Chamber, the Kane'ohe Ranch and other organizations can step in."