KHS fundraisers include birthday bash, tea party

LIHU‘E — A reenactment of the famous Coco Palms torch-lighting ceremony and performance by Hoku award winner Kainani Kahaunaele are two highlights of the annual Kaua‘i Historical Society Pa‘ina.

The Oct. 23 fundraiser at Smith’s Tropical Paradise in Wailua will celebrate what would be the late and former Coco Palms manager Grace Guslander’s 100th birthday.

A women-only tea party at the Wilcox family estate on Weke Road near Hanalei Bay is slated for Sept. 10, with Victorian attire required. The host is Patricia “Patsy” Sheehan, at Kauikeolani, the former homestead of Albert Spencer Wilcox and Emma Kauikeolani Wilcox.

There will be food, tea, croquet, parlor games, handwriting analysis by Angeline Welk, prize drawings and more, beginning at 1 p.m.

Lori Marston is the KHS volunteer who has put the Hanalei bash together, said Mary Requilman, KHS executive director.

New to KHS is a collection of letters from members of the Isenberg family, former engineers and managers at Lihu‘e Plantation Company’s sugar operations.

The collection was offered at auction on eBay. A KHS member alerted Requilman of the online auction. Members of the Wichman family successfully bid on the historic items and donated them to KHS, said Requilman.

Dolly Kikuchi has been translating the handwritten letters from German to English, a challenge made more difficult by the fact that some of the letters also contain Hawaiian and Latin words and phrases, said Requilman.

KHS has at least 57 complete manuscripts, including histories of the Kaua‘i Polo Club, YWCA, Mokihana Club, late Judge Jacob Hardy and many others, she said.

Also included in KHS collections are photographs donated by Dennis Fujimoto, The Garden Island and Carol Ann Davis.

Visit www.kauaihistoricalsociety.org or call 245-3373 for more information.