Pride rules again at Palolo celebration
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
The crowd may have been smaller, at least partly because of the bus strike. And there may not have been any inflatable attractions this go-around.
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But the ninth annual Palolo Pride Community Celebration — a genuinely old-fashioned grassroots festival — was rollicking as ever. A crowd estimated at more than 3,000 enjoyed the live music, games, contests, door prizes, and 43 food, craft and education booths.
James Kealoha, of Kaimuki, a reading and special-education teacher from Jarrett Middle School, gets drenched at the Splash Ket Ball booth at the ninth annual celebration at the Palolo Valley District Park. The booth raised money for the school's foundation.
"We don't have any money, so everyone volunteers and we come up with whatever we can," said celebration chairwoman Geneva Carden, who said the largest Palolo Pride celebration crowd was around 7,000.
Dozens of volunteers from the community, schools in the area, and Palolo civic and private organizations pitched in. Volunteers from the Life After Prison organization not only provided security, but also helped to set up the entertainment stage.
Carden's husband, Frank, is the volunteer director of entertainment. But he may wear more volunteer hats than anyone else involved.
"We try to get donations," he said. "But we run it with whatever we've got."
The Cardens have attended every Palolo Pride celebration, which was started to counter negative stereotypes associated with the valley. Attitudes about drugs and crime were so prevalent that in the beginning there was strong resistance to Palolo having a pride day at all, they said.
With its success, the celebration has become an annual tradition. Because the 10th festival will be next year, the Cardens are promising to "pull out all the stops."
"Palolo is a very close-knit community," said Geneva Carden. "We're trying to have some pride in this very diverse community.
"We've got babies and we've got seniors. We've got low income, high income and everything in between.
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"We've got Hawaiians, Samoans, Tongans, Micronesians, Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, African Americans and haoles.
Vicky Gouland, 11, and John Frederick, both of Palolo, do pushups for prizes from Aloha Military Lodge No. 635. Prizes included rulers, cups and pencils.
"It takes time to get to know that many different cultures."
This year the theme is "Rebuilding a Foundation of Healthy Living for Palolo," so there was plenty of health information and products available.
There were also games, prizes and fun in abundance. Byron Thomas, 13, an eighth-grader at Jarrett Middle School, won $10 cash for doing the most pushups — 62 — in 45 seconds.
James Kealoha, a reading and special-ed teacher at the same school, came up with an innovative way to beat the 89-degree heat: become the most willing victim at the Splash Ket Ball contest booth. Folks lined up to throw balls through a hoop, causing overhead water balloons to drench Kealoha time after time.
No one was laughing harder than Kealoha.
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
