LIHUE — Eileen Winters had just gotten a new Alaskan Malamute pup which she wanted to march in the Lights on Rice holiday parade. She said she discovered the parade was in jeopardy during the orientation meeting at the Vidinha
LIHUE — Eileen Winters had just gotten a new Alaskan Malamute pup which she wanted to march in the Lights on Rice holiday parade.
She said she discovered the parade was in jeopardy during the orientation meeting at the Vidinha Stadium parking lot. That realization led to The Rotary Club of Kauai taking ownership of the parade.
“Lights! Lights! Lights!” said Lorraine Wichman of Tire Warehouse who started decorating their float following the early closure of the tire shop Wednesday. “There are lights everywhere! Where else are you going to find this many lights in such a small area?”
The Lights on Rice holiday parade is one of three major events slated Friday in downtown Lihue to mark the start of the holiday season. A new addition will have Kukui Grove Center debuting a lights-set-to-music display following the parade. Kauai Museum hosts its annual Christmas Craft Fair and food event from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Preceding the parade, the Festival of Lights begins the countdown with Santa at the Historic County Building where the Kauai Chorale will unleash voices of the holidays under the direction of Lois Ricciardi.
“This is the biggest, coolest, most attended event in the whole year,” said Laurie Nakama. “It’s a parade thing. I can’t really define it, but it’s definitely a parade thing.”
Chairs appear along the sidewalks early Friday morning, building throughout the day as people reserve spots along the parade route which runs from Hoolako Road near the Ace Hardware, ending at Eiwa Street.
The county’s Department of Parks and Recreation was busy mowing the lawn, doing final checks of the lights in the trees and in the lobby of the Historic County Building, and hosing down sidewalks.
“We gotta do this,” said Orlando Ragsac. “Gotta clean the place for all the people who are going to come out this Friday.”
The parade will feature more than 60 units and 3,000 participants.
“Wilcox Hospital just said they’ve got about 300 walkers — more than they’ve ever had,” Winters said. “We expect to have more than 12,000 viewers along the parade route. It’s going to be so exciting.”
The 50 kids on the Kalaheo Sunshine Express have been practicing their songs for the parade since September and they can’t wait until Friday. That’s when they’ll be riding their 50-foot float, which is a train comprised of four cars and pulled by a pickup truck.
The kids will be performing numbers from the musical, “Legend of Polar Mountain.”
“It’s an Inuit tribe legend about kids who got lost in a snowstorm and it’s a full show that we take all over,” said Laine Griffith.
Winters said the county has received an exemption from the no lights because of the endangered seabirds and the Vidinha Stadium lights will be left on until 8:30 p.m. to accommodate people working to disassemble parade units.
“We’d also like to remind people to clean up after the parade,” Winters said. “Last year, we left the place a mess, and it was through the efforts of the youth at the Lihue Missionary Church that everything got cleaned up. We don’t want this. This is our home — if you bring it in, take it back out.”
Josie Pablo, recreation director at the Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital, has been bringing her residents to the parade since it started two decades ago.
“We like the lights, and seeing all the people,” Pablo said. “For the residents, it brings back so many memories of Christmases in the past, and they feel so good about being able to view the many lights like everyone else. This all adds to making one feel like it’s Christmas.”
