WAIMEA — The scent of malasada from the West Kaua‘i Methodist Church wafted across town and could be smelled from as far away as the Waimea Bridge, Friday and Saturday. That enticed the line of motorists negotiating through town to
WAIMEA — The scent of malasada from the West Kaua‘i Methodist Church wafted across town and could be smelled from as far away as the Waimea Bridge, Friday and Saturday.
That enticed the line of motorists negotiating through town to stop and check out the action at the 33rd annual Waimea Town Celebration.
Kane Turalde, a coach with the Kilohana Canoe Club, was busy loading the Waimea Pier park with early arrivals for the Saturday canoe race.
“We have a full schedule this year,” Turalde said while holding the opening for Kaiola Canoe Club to unload its trailer. “They have four boats here, and they said one more is still coming.”
Chris Faye, a WTC organizer, said there were 30 boats scheduled to be entered in both the Men and Women’s categories.
“They’re going to have to land at the beach this year,” Turalde said. “That should give spectators a good show.”
Thousands of people streamed through the parking lot in the shadow of the old Waimea sugar mill and overflowed to the West Kaua‘i Tech Center where the Visitor Center hosted the First Hawaiian Bank Paniolo Hat Lei Contest and the Paniolo Hall of Fame exhibits.
“We were lucky the Tech Center invited us to set up this year,” said Denise Sheffer, an advisor with the Waimea High School Remote Operated Vehicle robotics program. “Because we could set up at the Tech Center, we didn’t have to write a check to have a booth at the WTC. We can save that money to help with the trip to the Big Island in May when the team goes over for the underwater robotics competition.”
Numerous community organizations base their major fundraising around the WTC hosted by the West Kaua‘i Business Association, and one of those organizations was the Waimea High School Project Graduation which had just gotten a grant from the A&B Foundation along with the Kaua‘i and Kapa‘a high school programs.
“Fundraising for Project Grad is a full-time affair,” said Esther Estes, the Waimea coordinator. “We’re selling ‘College Cuisine’ cookbooks and if people want to help, they can call the school after the Celebration for their copies.”
Connie Clausen of Zero Waste Kaua‘i said the new environmentally-friendly aspect of the WTC this year was the addition of a third waste container in the beer garden.
“This year, when you purchase your beer or wine, it comes in a recyclable container that goes in the new container,” Clausen said. “We still have the county’s recycling container for plastic and glass, but this year, we’ve added the one for drink containers.”
That green aspect was not limited to the beer garden as Gale Sagucio of JJ Ohana, located in Hanapepe, had a strawberry which converted into a reusable shopping bag.
When a bag is needed, you push the strawberry’s innards outward and there’s the bag. Once done, the bag is pushed back into the strawberry where it becomes a fashion item.
Sagucio said people can visit her shop in Hanapepe for the bags once the WTC ends.
Patrick McLean, consultant for the West Kaua‘i Main Street program had literature about the program, but greeted guests at the east entrance with information about the first motorcycle show which will wrap up the WTC, Sunday afternoon starting at noon.
“This is a full house of different sporting events,” said Chris Faye, noting that the softball tournament, Capt. Cook Caper run, the 3-on-3 basketball tournament and rodeo all have their own followings.
But for members of the West Kaua‘i Methodist Church, the priority was on cranking out malasada under the watchful eye of Becky Komaki, whose recipe is the key to the tasty morsel that drew seemingly unending lines at the booth.
“This is Becky’s day,” one member said while ladling out a batch to a waiting tray. “It comes once a year, but look at her, this is her day.”
For more information, visit www.wkbpa.org/events.html.
