PUHI — Special occasions permeated the atmosphere of The Community Market sponsored by the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau in partnership with Kaua‘i Community College Saturday at the KCC campus. The upcoming Mother’s Day observance expanded the weekly market to embrace
PUHI — Special occasions permeated the atmosphere of The Community Market sponsored by the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau in partnership with Kaua‘i Community College Saturday at the KCC campus.
The upcoming Mother’s Day observance expanded the weekly market to embrace vendors of Kaua‘i Made products and featured expanded hours for shoppers looking to fill Mother’s Day gift lists.
“We actually moved the expanded market back a week to avoid conflict with the orchids,” said Melissa McFerrin, the Kaua‘i Farm Bureau market coordinator.
The Kaua‘i Orchid Society opens its annual Mother’s Day Show and Sale starting at 1 p.m. Friday at Kukui Grove Center. The show will continue until Saturday afternoon, offering a variety of show specimens as well as flowering orchid plants for Mother’s Day presentation.
“People can order flowering live orchid plants until Wednesday to ensure delivery on the Mainland in time for Mother’s Day,” said Fely Sams of Orchid Alley, who had samples of her packaging available for people to view. “Mother’s Day is one of the busiest shipping dates in the year and I’ll be working Sunday just to get a jump start on the Monday orders.”
McFerrin said the same deadline also applies to Tropical Flowers Express who offers a variety of cut tropical flowers for shipment to the Mainland.
Following the Wednesday deadline for shipping to the Mainland, Sams said she will concentrate on the live flowering plants for island shoppers at her Kapa‘a shop as well as at the Kukui Grove show.
Elvrine Chow of Heavenly Hakus, a lei maker, was busy working with Cheryl Bridgman of Arizona in teaching her how to make a ti leaf lei.
“I don’t know how I’m going to do this, but I’ve got to leave early because I want to be at the Kaua‘i Museum at their May Day Lei Contest,” Chow said.
“This year, I’m presenting one of the special awards to the Youngest Lei Maker so I cannot be late.”
She said the ingredients being used by Bridgman were surplus from lei she created to enter into the museum’s contest, pausing from her instruction to present a plumeria lei — the very first lei created by Bridgman.
Michael Gregg of Ka‘apuni Nursery was celebrating a birthday on Cinco de Mayo, along with Bianca Palmer, who was helping at the Barkaroo while being visited by Ron Wiley of KQNG Radio Group, who was doing live on-air reports of the market.
“I’m happy,” said Kim Tamaoka of the Garden Island Federal Credit Union. “I found my Mother’s Day present so my mother will be happy.”
