on Kamehameha Day By PAUL C. CURTIS – TGI Staff Writer Actual holiday is Monday The Kamehameha Day state and county holiday isn’t until Monday, but the parade associated with that holiday is set for tomorrow. Beginning at 10 a.m.,
on Kamehameha Day
By PAUL C. CURTIS – TGI Staff Writer
Actual holiday is Monday
The Kamehameha Day state and county holiday isn’t until Monday, but the parade associated with that holiday is set for tomorrow.
Beginning at 10 a.m., the parade will include an honorary King Kamehameha and his court, several horseback units, floats, decorated vehicles, the Kapa’a High School Junior ROTC color guard, Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, and several Native Hawaiian organizations.
The Royal Order of Kamehameha and its Women’s Auxiliary, Ka’ahumanu Society, Hale O Na Ali’i, groups old and young from Alu Like, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Kamehameha Schools’ preschool program are among the Native Hawaiian groups scheduled to participate in the parade, according to Shelly R. Cobb, Kaua’i member of the statewide King Kamehameha Celebration Commission.
King Kamehameha will be portrayed by Justin Keolukai Burgess.
Immediately following the parade, a ho’olaule’a, or celebration, will feature non-stop entertainment until 3 p.m., except when the parade awards are presented.
Parade grand marshals are Lena and Art Palama of Kalaheo, who will ride horses the entire parade route from Vidinha Stadium down Rice Street to the Historic County Building in Lihu’e.
The honorary parade marshals are the mother and son team of Anna Sloggett and David Penhallow.
The pa’u marshal is Lelan Nishek, and the pa’u queen is Lani Aranio. Pa’u in this case means the type of dresses or sarongs female horse riders favor in Hawai’i.
Representing the various islands of Hawai’i as pa’u princesses are Ku’ulei Andrade, Moloka’i; Anna Sugai, Maui; Sherrie Carveiro, Ni’ihau; Jerrilee Bukoski, Kaho’olawe; Lori Barretto, Lana’i; Lezlee Kubo, Hawai’i (Big Island); Meilyn Po’ai, Kaua’i; and U’ilani Corr, O’ahu.
Hyatt Regency Kaua’i Resort and Spa and Kaua’i Marriott Resort and Beach Club will participate in the parade, along with the Pu’uwai Canoe Club, state Sen. Jonathan Chun, state Rep. Bertha Kawakami, members of the Kaua’i County Council, Hawaiian Airlines, FM97, the all-girls rodeo, Kaua’i Board of Realtors, KONG Radio Group, United Airlines, Miss American Star and a bevy of beauty queens.
At the Historic County Building stage, the Alu Like senior group will finish the parade and kick things off, followed by Braddah Joe and Keoni Mahuka, the Lihu’e Senior Center entertainers, Leilani Rivera Bond and her halau, Hawaiian Soul, and others. The awards ceremony is scheduled for 1:30.
It took an act of the 2001 state Senate to confirm Cobb as the Kaua’i member of the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission, for a term that will expire June 30, 2002. Actually, it took a Senate Concurrent Resolution, after Governor Ben Cayetano submitted her name to the Senate for consideration and confirmation.
Last year, there was no Kaua’i commissioner, after Edee Bandmann recommended Cobb take the slot so there would be some young blood to keep the celebration going on Kaua’i, Cobb explained.
Bandmann asked Cobb to take over, and shortly thereafter Cobb received a letter from Cayetano telling her of the appointment. Currently a morning disc jockey for FM 99.9 HITS radio, Cobb is a flight attendant on extended leave from Hawaiian Airlines.
The Senate Committee on Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which Cayetano’s message introducing Cobb was referred, determined Cobb “has the necessary character, experience, and qualifications to serve on the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission.”
Cobb has been a first-place winner in both the Aloha Week and Kamehameha Day parades as a pa’u rider, but said yesterday she is too busy to run the celebration and also walk or ride in tomorrow’s parade.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
