Beverly Motz walked briskly from the Blaisdell Center parking lot toward the arena yesterday, clutching her purse as she hurried to catch the start of the ordination and installation of Bishop Clarence "Larry" Silva.

"This is the first time I've been to something like this. ... I had to be here," said Motz, who converted to Catholicism 37 years ago. Motz, a district manager for Border's Express, said she left work early and made it just as the ceremony was beginning.

Motz was among an estimated 3,500 people who braved traffic and crowds to witness the installation of the fifth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.

People began to arrive at 1 p.m. to get good seats while others rushed in from work just in time for the 4:30 p.m. ceremony.

Alvin Simpliciano, along with his 8-month-old daughter, Andrea, arrived around 3 p.m. in a bus with parishioners from St. Joseph Church in Waipahu. "We left early. We wanted to avoid the traffic," he said.

It was the first event of its kind for Simpliciano, who said it was important for him to come out to support the "local boy" bishop. "Religion plays a big part in my life, and I wanted to bring the little one," he said.

Julie Kroeker, 37, came with Catholic Campus Ministry from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and brought her 10-month-old baby, Miles. "I really wanted him to be able to say he was here," she said.

On her way to the arena, she said, she became worried at the sight of lines of buses and a closed entrance off Ward Avenue. "I was so relieved, though. I got in there and there was still a lot of space," she said.

Sean Rostron, 28, from Kahala, said he and his family were looking forward to the pageantry and ritual of the ceremony. "I haven't been to an ordination. It should be fun," he said.

Denise Smiley, 47, from Hickam Air Force Base, brought her 18-month-old baby along with her 10- and 21-year-old children. "I knew it would be a mixture of the Hawaiian and the Catholic tradition, so I wanted my family to see that," she said as she stood in the aisle scouring the risers for seats.

For these Catholics and the hundreds of others who attended yesterday evening, traffic and crowds wouldn't have stopped them. "I see it as a historic, once-in-a-lifetime event," Kroeker said.

Sidney Quintal, director of the city Department of Enterprise Services, said he had expected 5,000 to 6,000 people would attend the event, but estimated yesterday's turnout at about 3,500. Some people may not have come because the event was televised or because they could not arrive from work in time, he said.

Quintal said parking was adequate, in part because many people rode the 28 buses that brought attendees from various island parishes.