Poignant memories collected during the Guslander years at Coco Palms have kept the historic hotel’s mystique alive for people all over the world. Grace Buscher Guslander and her business and lifetime partner, Lyle “Gus” Guslander transformed a small struggling resort
Poignant memories collected during the Guslander years at Coco Palms have kept the historic hotel’s mystique alive for people all over the world.
Grace Buscher Guslander and her business and lifetime partner, Lyle “Gus” Guslander transformed a small struggling resort into an amazing success story that not only put Coco Palms — and Kauai — on the proverbial map but redefined its boundaries as well.
But this is not about how it happened. That story has already been told by her close friend, David Penhallow, in his fascinating book, “The Story of the Coco Palms Hotel.”
The book is filled with names and anecdotes, history, events and pictures that alone are worth the purchase.
These memories instead belong to the countless people whose lives were touched by the magic of Coco Palms in its heyday.
They were the local employees, who worked at the resort and were committed to helping the visionary Grace achieve her dream for her hotel, the island she loved and its people. Many think of her fondly today and still talk about her annual employee events at Christmas, Easter and New Year’s.
“I miss her,” one former employee said. “She was so kind-hearted. She always thought about the workers like family. Our families were like her families.”
They were also the parents, locals and visitors, who brought their keiki to the hotel’s tiny zoo (the only one many had ever seen), to enjoy the antics of resident gibbons, Gus and Lander, or the sometimes naughty, sometimes impudent, but always entertaining monkeys, or the omnipresent peacocks strutting endlessly through the famous coconut grove in all their feathered glory.
And they were the young couples, exchanging wedding vows in one of the most beautiful spots in the world and the honeymooners, spending the first few days of their lives together in an elegant and luxurious resort rich with tradition, pageantry and the Aloha Spirit.
They were the celebrities, seeking a place where they could just be like anyone else, without having to elude throngs of over-enthusiastic fans. Stars and movie-makers from films like “Miss Sadie Thompson” to “South Pacific to the immensely popular “Blue Hawaii,” (starring Elvis Presley), all converged on Coco Palms during these golden years. The list of celebrities who stayed at the hotel reads like a who’s who of Hollywood’s finest.
And they were the star-struck, hoping for a glimpse of movie-star-handsome Elvis before he left the building or the island. And long after he did, long after he was gone, long after Blue Hawaii had been seen by millions of people, they still came, from all over the United States, from Japan, from countless other countries, to pay homage to Elvis, to see the cottage he slept in while he was here, the chapel, the lagoon, and the scenic spots featured in Blue Hawaii.
They were also the honorees, chosen by Grace to be acknowledged for their contributions to Hawaii’s culture, to the travel industry, to Kauai, Hawaii or the United States, and invited to take part in the elaborate tree-planting ceremony she conceived.
It was so important to her, she kept tight rein over every aspect of the solemn ceremony, from personally writing the unique scripts (which she tailored to each individual) to choreographing exactly where each employee would stand. As a malo-clad climber scaled the selected mature tree, the honoree would plant a young one next to it hopefully ensuring the survival of Hawaii’s largest coconut grove.
In all, 127 trees were planted under her direction, 127 commemorative plaques were placed at the base of chosen trees and more than 127 people added another remembrance to the ones they already had.
Coco Palms spawned so many memories over the 32 Guslander years: The dramatic torch-lighting ceremony, held promptly at 7 p.m. each night; the upscale restaurants with their wonderful meals and menus; the musical dinner performances by choirs like the Kapaa Mormon Choir or St. Catherine Church’s renowned choir, or Coco Palms’ own Larry Rivera, who still performs and still watches over the hotel he has been devoted to for most of his life.
The recent news that demolition permits had been approved was received as welcome but bittersweet by some who still long for the old days and doubt whether they can ever be replicated or restored.
Only time will tell for sure, but the positive attitude of the new owners, as reported in the pages of The Garden Island, and their willingness to go to the lengths they have to secure the needed permits is encouraging.
The only certainty is that it is time for Kauai to say goodbye to what was and welcome what can and will be with the support of our island and its people.
A former employee once described Grace Buscher Guslander as an “immaculate” woman who took such pride in her hotel and the beach that fronted it she would send workers every day to canvass Wailua and make sure no litter was left on its sandy shore. And she would personally pick up and dispose of any scraps of paper she spotted on the hotel grounds.
What would she say if she could see her beloved hotel today?
Aloha.
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Rita De Silva is former editor of The Garden Island and a Kapaa resident.
