50,000 lei needed for veterans' graves
By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer
If Maui teacher Barbara Berg has her way, every grave of a Hawai'i veteran will be adorned with lei come Memorial Day.
Drop off lei tomorrow at the following sites: • 9 to 11:30 a.m. at community parks: Ala Wai Community Park, Halawa District Park, Makua Ali'i Senior Center, Wai'anae District Park, Wahiawa District Park, Waiau District Park, Waipahu District Park, Kane'ohe Community and Senior Center, and Waikiki Community Center. • 6 a.m. to noon at fire stations in Kalihi, Waipahu, Waialua, Kane'ohe, Kailua, Waimanalo and Hawai'i Kai. • 8 a.m. to noon at the Honolulu Municipal Building, 650 S. King St., Department of Parks and Recreation, permit section, ground floor. • For more information, call 523-4535.
The special-education teacher and about 60 students of Lokelani Intermediate School in Kihei are among thousands of lei makers statewide who have been busily preparing for the national holiday and local tradition.
Drop-off sites for lei Friday
About 50,000 lei are needed to decorate gravesites at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, the Hawai'i State Veterans Cemetery in Kane'ohe and other veterans' gravesites, said city spokeswoman Ann Niino.
Berg and her students strung flowers for three days in an effort to help meet that need.
Not only did they spend that time making lei — 50 fashioned out of crown flowers, plumeria or bougainvillea — they also discussed the meaning behind the honorable gesture.
"We talk about how perhaps the families will come to visit and they'll see the lei there and they'll know that their family member was appreciated," Berg said. "And then we talk about maybe the soldier who nobody's family comes, but maybe his spirit feels the lei and the love that is put into it."
City officials encourage the public to donate lei for Memorial Day services this year, Niino said. Lei should measure 20 inches to 24 inches from one end to the other and be tied.
"We're always afraid that some gravestones might not have a lei and we want to do everything we can to prevent that from happening," Niino said.
Meanwhile, with thousands expected to visit the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific this weekend, cemetery personnel Friday through Monday will change the traffic pattern to maintain public safety and accommodate gravesite visitors. Traffic within the cemetery will be shifted from normal two-way routes to one-way routes for the weekend.
In addition, police will be stationed at Tantalus and Puowaina drives, Puowaina and Hookui Street, and Hookui and Auwaiolimu streets. Also, left turns from Hookui to Auwaiolimu streets will be prohibited, to ease traffic flow.
Tour companies have been asked to avoid visiting Punchbowl to facilitate access by relatives.
Reach Zenaida Serrano Espanol at zespanol@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8174.
