WAIMEA – Take a handful of assorted events, add ample amounts of food vendors, sprinkle with some new goods from vendors at the craft tent, garnish with a nonending slate of entertainment and hungry patrons, and sit back and enjoy.
WAIMEA – Take a handful of assorted events, add ample amounts of food vendors, sprinkle with some new goods from vendors at the craft tent, garnish with a nonending slate of entertainment and hungry patrons, and sit back and enjoy.
That appeared to be the recipe for success as Chris Fayé was relaxing with security personnel, Saturday night, the second night of the Waimea Town Celebration held under the shadow of the old Waimea Sugar Mill.
“We sold out of this year’s design,” Fayé said, a testament to the thousands of people that came through the multiple gates set up on both ends of the celebration grounds.
“Eh, bra, you going take pictures of the beer garden?” one fairgoer wanted to know. “Nah, you mo’ like one senior citizen they goin’ let you in,” he added.
Meanwhile, as the sun set on the second day of the annual gathering hosed b the West Kaua‘i Business and Professional Association, vendors in the food booth row geared up for the anticipated rush of hungry diners.
“Welcome to our town,” was the common greeting from people ranging from security guards to workers in the myriad of game, craft, and food booths as they anxiously waited to serve patrons.
Max Hadwin, a Waimea High School scholarathlete had a busy day as he spent part of his morning working with the Menehune cheer squad in preparation for their KIF championship before rushing back to help out in the Football Throw booth.
Proceeds from many of the booths directly benefit the different community organizations and schools, and families of children attending these schools were joined by both visitors and residents from other parts of the island who converged on Waimea town for the gala event.
A group of Chiefess Kamakahelei School students celebrating a birthday took a break from the celebration excitement to walk through town before returning for more of the entertainment.
Events geared around the Town Celebration were spread out throughout the town, starting with the earlymorning 28th Annual Captain Cook Caper hosted by the Waimea High School Track Team.
Kilohana Canoe Club continued with the athletic offerings by kicking off the Kilohana Long Distance Canoe Race off the Waimea Pier site, while the Westside R/C Association joined the offerings this year with a Saturday Remote Control Car races located in the parking lot of the West Kaua‘i Technology Building.
And, if the noise got too much, there were the lei available for inspection at the 6th Annual First Hawaiian Bank Hat Lei Contest inside the West Kaua‘i Technology & Visitor Center.
The Kaua‘i Keiki & High School Rodeo Association hosted their Waimea RoundUp rodeo at the site of the old Waimea Dairy, and on the celebration grounds, a variety of events including the Waimea Theatre Silent Auction occupied people between the Ukulele Contest and the 6th Annual Lappert’s Ice Cream Eating Contest.
A three-day mountainball tournament filled the air at the Waimea Canyon Park, and Gaylene Palama, one of the helpers at that tournament, tried to beat the evening rush for her dinner.
“There’s just too many smells,” she said of the aroma blend that filled the evening air. “It’s so confusing. I don’t know what to eat, now.”
The Waimea Town Celebration is funded by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, Paradise Beverages & the Coors Brewing Company, and the County of Kaua‘i with services and donations provided by the Kikiaola Land Company, Malama Rentals, Waimea Plantation Cottages, Kikiaola Construction, Darick Akita Electric, the Waimea Big Save, Ishihara Market, Coca Cola, Lawai Beach Resort, the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board, Matson, Aqua Engineers, Pioneer HiBred, Service Rentals & Supplies, Kapa‘a Ice Co., Toolmaster, Brewer Environmental Industries, Waimea High School Project Graduation, Nalani Malama, and the Garden Island Disposal.
