WAIMEA — Waimea Canyon Middle School student Silna Lau tenderly fingered the edges of a student-produced artwork during a break in the school’s Financial Literacy and Business Technology class.
“This is pretty good,” Lau said. “It’s a lot better than I expected.”
Lau is part of the class taught by Megan Miller who extends an invitation to people to come to the Menehune Product Fair that is scheduled for Dec. 11 at the park in the shadow of the sugar mill in Waimea.
She was getting acquainted with some of the products the class will be vending.
“We’ll be there from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” the class said collectively. “We’re going to have art, including photography, food from the school’s Home Economics class, and more.”
Miller said the intent of the class is to form a company, eventually going online, to sell student-produced products from the school with the intent of fundraising for the Waimea Canyon Middle School.
“Yeah, it’s to fundraise for the school,” the class chirped. “And, to support and buy local stuff. This is a physical sale so people can see what the school’s students can produce.”
Student Jaycia Serreira-Haumea said the food is good.
“We’re going to feature food produced by students in the Home Economics class,” Serreira-Haumea said. “They make cake pops which is cake squooshed around a Popsicle stick and covered with frosting and decorations. Nobody around here sells those, and I only found some at a coffee shop, but they’re expensive.”
Other food faire include comfort foods like Spam musubi, small snacks, and possibly live entertainment.
COVID-19 rules will be observed, including the wearing of face masks, and social distancing with no large gatherings despite the event being held outdoors.
“You can come to Waimea to have fun,” one student in the group said. “We might have live music if the people talk to the musicians. It’s always fun in Waimea.”
But, how do you get the message out during this time of COVID-19 and the businesses adapting to the new constraints being put on them by the pandemic?
The answer comes Dec. 11 at the Waimea Product Fair.
“We can always tell them by the eyes,” the students said above their face masks. “We want people to come.”
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
