'Sunset' arrives in West O'ahu

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer

When the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra takes the stage this evening at the Kapolei Fairgrounds for its "Salute to Our Heroes Concert," it will do so under a 4,000 square foot, shell-shaped tent that dwarfs the giant movie screen beside it.

Tyler Ishii, 8, of Nanakuli, reserves a table for his family and waits for his parents to return with dinner yesterday. The Ishiis, along with several thousand West O'ahu residents, gathered at the Kapolei Fairgrounds for the Sunset on the Beach movie. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The symphony's performance of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" will be augmented by a loud, patriotic fireworks spectacular. The pyrotechnics, concert, tent and big screen movies are highlights of the Sunset on The Plains extravaganza that ends tonight at 10 p.m.

But only five months ago the whole thing was the dream of five West O'ahu women. The five hatched the idea one afternoon at Zippy's in Kapolei.

The fact that Sunset on the Plains became a reality at all borders on the miraculous, according to Honolulu Deputy Managing Director Malcolm Tom.

Early last December, when the five women asked the city to sponsor one of its ever-popular Sunset on the Beach events in West O'ahu, Tom reluctantly laid out the hard facts:

"I told them it was not budgeted," Tom said yesterday as thousands of visitors lined up at craft and restaurant booths and prepared for the evening's feature presentation, "Blue Crush."

"I told them it was not scheduled. I said, 'We'll support you, but there's no funds so you would need to go and raise all the money yourself.' And, that's what they did. They raised more than $50,000."

Until recently there was no such thing as the "Kapolei Fairgrounds," Tom explained. The name that was hastily given to a state-owned, 25-acre field of commercial real estate adjacent to Kapolei at the corner of Farrington Highway and Fort Barrette Road.

"Kapolei Fairgrounds" was coined for Sunset on the Plains.

Mary Ann Miyashiro, event chairwoman, was one of those five women who first went to the city. She said after the meeting with Tom, she knew they were in for an uphill battle.

"We didn't even have a name," she said. "I remember about six weeks ago we were thinking, 'Oh, man, we've only got this many restaurants, and that many vendors — how are we ever going to make it?' And then, it was just like the dams broke and everything started coming in."

Area political dynamo, Maeda Timson, joined the campaign and was put in charge of the finance committee.

"I went to all the corporate people in our community," Timson said. "And they came through for us. We had a three-level sponsorship — silver was a $1,000 donation, gold, $3,000 and platinum, $5,000."

Timson and crew raised $55,000. At that point the city joined in with it's organizational support.

Patty Teruya, another of the original five, said an uncommon level of cooperation between the community, the city and county and the state made Sunset on the Plains possible. Volunteers poured in from West O'ahu youth groups, schools, churches and service organizations, she said.

"We are doing things that haven't been done before," said Miyashiro. "For instance, this is the first time the new symphony portable stage tent has been set up — which they are letting us use free of charge for our continuous entertainment. And we are the first Sunset event to have a Skateboard Village. I think we're the first to have this many Xtreme Fun inflatable activities."

Among the more than half a dozen inflatables is the show stopping Ice Berg Challenge, featuring a 35-foot-high sinking Titanic slide and obstacle course.

Not far from the inflatables, skateboarders can go sky born on an 11-foot high, 30-foot wide vertical ramp.

"This is the newest, hottest skateboarding scene in the United States and world," said Tim Farley, co-owner of Team OGIO, who set up the Skateboard Village, on short notice — less than 10 days. The village features skateboard demonstrations and clinics.

Manuel Menendez, director of the city's Office of Economic Development, hailed Sunset on the Plains as a unique way for business owners in the West O'ahu communities of 'Ewa Beach, 'Ewa, Makakilo, Kapolei, and Ko Olina to market directly to customers.

West O'ahu, he acknowledged, is still an unknown entity for many on the island.

"This is an attraction tool that pulls other parts of O'ahu to an area some don't normally come to," said Menendez, who predicted at least 50,000 people would show up over two days.

The city calls this travelling Sunset program "Rediscover O'ahu."

But on the literature and ads for Sunset on the Plains in Kapolei, there's no "Re" — at the insistence of Miyashiro.

"We were adamant that we wanted to call it Discover West O'ahu," she said. "Because, we haven't been discovered for the first time yet."