Kailua to try night market
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
A new farmers' market is scheduled to open in Kailua in September, with local foods and produce.
Bernadette Benigno of Country Comfort Catering prepares lumpia specialties at the Kapi'olani Community College's weekly market, which operates on Saturdays. A Thursday night market begins Sept. 9 in Kailua, using much of the operating methods that have helped the KCC market succeed.
The Hawai'i Farm Bureau Federation, in conjunction with the Kane'ohe Ranch Co., will host the Kailua Thursday Night Farmers' Market starting Sept. 9 in the new parking structure behind Longs Drugs on Kailua Road.
The weekly nighttime market — the only one in Hawai'i — will be open from 5 to 8 p.m.
"We see this as community-building," said Mitch D'Olier, president and chief executive officer of the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation and Kane'ohe Ranch Co. "It will give the community a chance to gather regularly on Thursday evenings."
He also hopes the evening market will encourage people to patronize Kailua restaurants and shops, which experience a drop in business on weekdays.
Kailua Thursday Night Farmers' Market
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Lingle to sign proclamation Gov. Linda Lingle will sign a proclamation at 1:45 p.m. Thursday to commemorate National Farmers' Market Week, which begins tomorrow. |
Plans also call for a restaurant to provide hot dinner plates. The Farmers' Market at Kapi'olani Community College features a hot breakfast prepared by various local restaurants on a rotating basis. Today, Murphy's Bar & Grill will serve breakfast.
The city operates an open market from 9 to 10 a.m. Thursdays at Kailua District Park. It's part of the city and county's 31-year-old People's Open Market program, which attracts more than 1 million people to the 25 market sites on O'ahu each year. Prices are usually 35 percent lower than retail stores. Vendors sell local fruits, vegetables and flowers.
"We all need to learn to eat our own food that's grown and produced here," D'Olier said. "And so that reinforces our agriculture and food production industries and all the talent there's here. ... This is a chance for the community to gather around an opportunity to purchase great food products that aren't otherwise available."
Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Correction: A previous version of this story included incorrect information about who prepares the breakfast dishes for the Farmers' Market at Kapi'olani Community College.
