LIHU‘E — Melanie Okamoto of the county Parks and Recreation Department said the Seniors Craft and Food Fair is a great way to start the holiday shopping. “There was a crowd outside the door before everything opened at 9 a.m.,”
LIHU‘E — Melanie Okamoto of the county Parks and Recreation Department said the Seniors Craft and Food Fair is a great way to start the holiday shopping.
“There was a crowd outside the door before everything opened at 9 a.m.,” Okamoto said. “People were waiting from early in the morning.”
The wait was in anticipation of the limited amount of baked goods and foodstuffs prepared by the kupuna of the various senior centers who come together for a day of fellowship and entertainment while selling items they work on throughout the year.
“This is the first craft fair for the holiday season,” Okamoto said. “The seniors make a lot of things which make good presents so we host this fair ahead of the regular holiday offerings. This Saturday, the circuit starts with the ‘Ele‘ele School Book and Craft Fair.”
A showcase for the talent of the senior citizens, the entertainment spanned the offerings of the different Kaua‘i senior centers. The Lihu‘e Seniors ‘Ukulele Band continued its presentation of mele and hula it offered during the Friendship Force meeting with visiting Brazilians at the mayor’s office last week.
“You have to see Sandra Matsumoto’s Drums Alive,” Okamoto said. “This is something different and there are a lot of people who are getting into it.”
Matsumoto recruited people from the audience, offering a pair of drumsticks, and in tune with assorted music, the people lilted and pounded their way atop aerobic balls planted into laundry baskets and inverted bases of step aerobic pads.
“This is nothing,” a member of the Kilauea Senior Center said. “We have Ed Kenney in the audience today and we’re going to bring him up and see if he’ll sing some numbers for us. Do you even remember who Ed Kenney is?”
The Apple iTunes store describes Kenney as born on Kaua‘i to a Hawaiian-Chinese mother and an Irish-Swedish father and went on to prove himself on stage, in nightclubs and in recording studios, many of his tunes available through the online store.
Basilio “Bunga” Fuertes of the Waimea Senior Centers interrupted his supervision of “Bunga’s Chicken,” a plate lunch offering to call his fellow cross country coach upon learning the Waimea boys team had won the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation cross country championships.
Fuertes is a coach with the team, but opted to prepare his well-known chicken for the seniors, Saturday, his wife asking for his opinion on which pillows to purchase.
“Everyone has fun,” Okamoto said. “People can get good deals, fill some of their holiday shopping needs and the kupuna have fun just being here.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
