Ingenuity reigns on prep day for king's parade
By Carrie Ching
Advertiser Staff Writer
Power saws buzzed in a Sand Island warehouse yesterday as Libert O'Sullivan and five others were transforming a bare flatbed trailer into a colorful parade float to be viewed by thousands in tomorrow's Kamehameha Floral Parade.
Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser
O'Sullivan, 73, knows his parade floats. He should — because he's been helping build each float representing the king in 10 of the annual Kamehameha parades.
Chrissy Anjo bundles ti leaves that will be used for decorating one of the floats appearing in tomorrow's Kamehameha Floral Parade.
"Before, we used to use chicken wire and tie the ti leaves to it," he said. "It takes a long, long time. Then I said, 'Why don't we just use a board, paint it green, and staple the leaves to it?' Now it takes one-third the time."
O'Sullivan pulled his hammer stapler out of the toolbox to demonstrate on a piece of plywood. "It's just bam, bam, bam, pau. Easy," he said.
The king's float is one of six that will carry the descendants of Hawaiian royalty as well as musicians and dancers in tomorrow's parade. It begins at 9:30 a.m. downtown at the corner of King and Richards streets, turns down Punchbowl Street, then proceeds along Ala Moana and Kalakaua to Kapi'olani Park.
Yesterday the king's float, sponsored by the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club, was only a flatbed truck covered with plywood and burlap, with three bare banana trunks protruding from the middle. Early tomorrow, it will be decorated with flowers and feather kahili to complete the float, which will carry men dressed as King Kamehameha and his retainers.
Work on two floats sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines and 'Ahahui Ka'ahumanu, a Hawaiian women's civic club known for its members' black holoku and yellow feather lei, was under way at Pier 32 nearby.
Brothers Kimo and Kainoa Jarrett have been helping out with the king's float for five years. At 22 and 19, they're the youngest of the crew by a few decades.
"You can learn a lot from these guys," said Kimo, a senior at the University of Hawai'i—Manoa studying Hawaiian language and journalism. He said they plan to keep coming back to support the Prince Kuhio club and help carry on the parade tradition.
"It's the least we can do to give back to an organization that's helped us out," he said, referring to the scholarships both received from the club. "And to help out the Hawaiian community."
Despite the many hours of work ahead of them, Lahre and U'ilani Correa of the Pearl Harbor Hawaiian Civic Club were happy just to know that the parade will go on this year. "This is our tradition," Lahre said, relieved that the city had waived a $10,000 traffic-control fee that raised fears of a cancellation.
Both Correas will be in the parade. U'ilani, in a white holoku, will be in the contingent of Na Wahine Hui o Kamehameha, a royal order of women descended from Kamehameha the Great. Lahre, in a black suit, will be in the contingent of the men's Royal Order of Kamehameha.
"You should see them by the end, just wilting in all that hot velvet," U'ilani said, laughing. "He'll be walking. But I get to ride."
Reach Carrie Ching at cching@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
