Waialua beats with new heart
By Will Hoover
Advertiser North Shore Writer
WAIALUA — An old-fashioned small-town throng jammed into the tiny 1-acre Waialua Park yesterday afternoon, and the much-anticipated dedication of the new community bandstand was finally a reality.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
As the sounds of the Royal Hawaiian Band wafted on the breeze, folks young and old enjoyed the concert, snacked on free shave ice, popcorn and ice cream and marveled at the spectacle of so much activity in the park.
Hundreds of people turned out in Waialua Park yesterday for the dedication of the new Waialua bandstand, built on the grounds of a bandstand long demolished. The Royal Hawaiian Band provided musical entertainment.
If there had ever been a bigger day in Waialua's history, no one could recall it — although some said the pau hana celebration marking the end of the Waialua Sugar Mill in October 1996 probably tied it.
But that's only if yesterday morning's huge lu'au, May Day Festival and 60th Anniversary Celebration at St. Michael's School a half mile from the park was not factored into the equation. That extravaganza logged an estimated 1,000 students, parents, parishioners and alumni out on the school lawn.
"I've only been here eight months, but one woman told me she's never seen such a crowd in Waialua," said St. Michael's pastor Chris Keahi.
State Rep. Michael Magaoay, who grew up in Mill Camp, a short distance from the park and down the path from the town's landmark smokestack, called the bandstand dedication "the beginning of the rebirth of Waialua."
"I remember when I was growing up, the theater was over there, and Fujioka's store was right there, and the bank was right there. They're all gone now. Well, the bank building is still there, but it's the Sugar Bar these days," said Magaoay, D-46th (Kahuku, North Shore, Schofield).
The idea behind building a bandstand was to reinvigorate community spirit after the closing the mill, which had been the town's reason for existing. Such a structure could be a focal point for all manner of get-togethers and celebrations, it was thought.
"This is great," said resident Ken Martyn, who along with wife Rhoda was the driving force behind the bandstand. "I'm delighted that we've finally reached this point."
Back in 1997, Martyn thought a six-sided gazabo in the park could be completed in about a year for $75,000. Instead, the project took seven years and cost around $400,000.
The fact that the bandstand exists at all has much to do with the Martyns' getting it included in Mayor Jeremy Harris' community vision process. City crews dutifully showed up in force yesterday to set up chairs and erect more than two dozen large blue umbrellas for shade.
Seeing a new bandstand in Waialua sparked a flood of fond memories for many.
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"I like the looks of that bandstand," said lifelong area resident Millie Cataluna, 72. "They did a good job on it. I remember the other bandstand that was here in the park. But that was such a long, long time ago."
King Malcolm Zara, 13, and Queen Gabrielle Perdido, 13, presided over the May Day Court yesterday at St. Michael's School, which was celebrating 60 years in Waialua. The May Day program and lu'au drew about 1,000 people.
"I remember the old bandstand, too," said Rose Baltazar, who grew up in Waialua. "We used to do all kinds of things in this park when I was a kid. Then it seems like people just drifted away."
In 2001, the existence of a former bandstand in the park was questioned after a number of old-timers said they had no such memory.
The debate was put to rest when Hale'iwa resident Roger A. Borges unearthed three yellowing photos of a simple rectangular wooden structure that graced the park between two banyan trees in the 1930s and '40s, and possibly the '50s; nobody seems to know when the thing was dismantled.
Yesterday, bandmaster Aaron Mahi was momentarily puzzled about how to fit 36 members of the Royal Hawaiian Band in the gazebo, which is miniature compared with the larger Kapi'olani Park bandstand they use.
"We might have to put the percussionist outside the bandstand," Mahi said, thinking aloud. In the end, every musician fit in nicely, although a few of their instrument cases poked out the edges.
"This is just going to be the heart and soul of this community," said Mayor Harris, who attended the dedication along with numerous dignitaries and celebrities.
Entertainer Jimmy Borges, who performed with jazz musician and Rose Baltazar's husband, Gabe Baltazar, recalled visiting Waialua friends and relatives regularly as a kid.
"Coming from Kalihi, what was exciting for us kids was that Waialua was really country," said Borges, who vividly recalled playing on the old bandstand. "To me, it was like going on a vacation."
Manuel Bunda, 83, remembers when the park had annual plantation Christmas programs and even a boxing ring to the left of the new bandstand. He boxed there once himself, he said, when he was 9.
The boxing ring is long gone. But like many in the community, Bunda has high hopes that the park will again host holiday programs and regular activities.
To that end, Ken Martyn took the bandstand microphone to make what qualified as an important announcement about the coming of the Schofield Barracks jazz band:
"The next concert will be on June 6," he said to the applause of the crowd.
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8038.
