Posted on: Sunday, April 10, 2005
Makahiki celebrates Scouting
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Makahiki, the oldest and probably loudest Scouting show in America, kicked off yesterday morning at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall and, for six straight hours, more than 5,000 Scouts and their families blew the lid off the place.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser Yesterday, the smiles were bouncing wall to wall, as folks lined up at the more than 100 low-tech booths featuring everything from basketball tosses and shooting galleries to beanbag blasters and jousting exhibitions.
One popular attraction was the Pinewood Derby Championships, in which 6-inch, hand-built wooden race cars accelerate down a 32-foot plywood track through the force of gravity.
Over at the Rope Bridge, another perennial favorite, Maxx Taga and Robbie Trent, both 12, were helping others from Ma'ema'e School's Troop 201 man the hemp trestles.
"First they climb the monkey ladder, switch over to the suspension bridge, and then slide down the zip line," explained Maxx, who, unable to bridle his enthusiasm, quickly added at high decibels: "Troop 201 is awesome!"
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser At one point, after more than two dozen hammer-happy Scouts had tried and failed, Micah Palakiko — a 160-pound, 13-year-old from Temple Valley's Boy Scout Troop 117 — stepped up to demonstrate how it's done.
After Micah had nearly blasted the bell off its tower, he admitted that his dad, who had helped set up the display, taught him how it's done.
"He says to hit the block at the very end," said Micah, giving away family secrets.
The teaching and the learning could travel in either direction. Life Scout Kelsey Takara, 15, from Troop 75 in Pearl City, is recognized as one of the best knot guys around. Kelsey and his pals have taught his own dad, Wayne Takara, everything from bowlines to clove hitches to sheep shanks.
"They even roped me into being the scoutmaster 2 1/2 years ago," he said.
What sort of knot did they use for that?
"Handcuffs," quipped Wayne Takara, who, it turns out, really believes that being a scoutmaster is a blast.
This year's Makahiki theme was special — the whole event was a celebration of the 75th anniversary of Cub Scouting and the 95th anniversary of Boy Scouting in America.
In his youth, Keith Larson became an Eagle Scout. Now 42, he's a Cub Scout den leader whose remarkable exhibit on the history of Scouting served as the information booth for Pack 464, sponsored by Mililani Waena Elementary School.
The carefully laid-out timeline collection featured Scouting books, merit badges and other memorabilia dating back to the beginning of Scouting in America in 1910.
The collection included a brown Stetson hat for Boy Scouts. It once was worn by Larson's father, Richard Larson, who was a Life Scout.
The collection also contained a handmade, 6-inch, double-hull sailboat that his son, Garrick Larson, 10, used to win second place in the Pack 464 Rain Gutter Regatta last year.
This year, Garrick improved his design and made first place. He credited the victory on two things: "One, I think I've gotten faster. And the second thing, the kid who got first place last time — he moved."
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8038.
No one can really say what the glee level must have risen to at that first Makahiki in 1911, but if it was half that of yesterday's event, it's no wonder they've kept the fun and games going for 94 years.
Shane Tay, 9, of 'Aiea, left, sparred with Nephi Stevens, 9, also of 'Aiea, at Punahou's Troop 1 jousting booth during the 2005 Makahiki at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. Scout booths featured everything from basketball tosses and shooting galleries to beanbag blasters.
There was the old carnival crowd pleaser from way back, a High Striker — where would-be macho Scouts could try to whack a block hard enough with a sledge to ring a 14-foot-high bell.
James Ahuna, 12, of Kane'ohe, performed a Navajo hoop dance at the Boy Scouts' 2005 Makahiki at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall yesterday. The event kicked off a series of Makahiki shows in the Islands throughout this month. The Makahiki is the oldest continuous Scouting show in America.
