Brody Robinson had a smile brighter than the hot sun that beat down on Kaua‘i Saturday at the Kukui Grove Center that was enveloped by the bright, bold sounds of symphonic horns saluting National Agriculture Week.
“He really wanted that,” said Brody’s mom, raising her voice and repeating the response over the musical presentation of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band Big Wave Brass Band. “It’s a miracle plant!”
Brody was the recipient of the miracle plant brought over to the celebration of agriculture presented by KGC and the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau in collaboration with a host of community sponsors adding their contributions to celebrate National Agriculture Week/Day that raises awareness of the impact agriculture has on life.
“This is a ‘miracle’ plant,” said Kaua‘i Community College instructor Brian Yamamoto, who in addition to the miracle plant, had other not-everyday starters and plants like vanilla cuttings, and more. “You eat this and sour things taste sweet. You can even eat a whole lemon.”
Stephen Fujii, a regular Pau Hana farmers’ market shopper, rushed in following the Kawaihau senior softball team’s win at the games contested at Kaumakani.
“Where’re the eggplants?” Fujii asked. “They said you need to get here early or they’ll sell out.”
Eggplant starters were indeed a big seller as volunteer Joni Gokan — she is the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau’s education “volupnteer” — kept pulling out starters to replenish the tabletop offering at the event that carried strong overtones of the garden fair and the KCFB fair that have been shuttered for more than two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gokan’s presence, along with that of Carolyn Lum and the ladies of Kaua‘i Community and Family Education, signaled that, in addition to the free giveaways, application forms for the 2022 KCFB scholarship and the FCE Trimble Foundation awards were available to help open future opportunities in agriculture.
“Happy 151st birthday, Prince Kuhio!” said KCFB President Laurie Ho. “We’re all celebrating a coming out of sorts. Yawadee and Bronson Yadao of Hale Botanic have their succulents. They haven’t been out in the market since before getting their jobs, and Sue Okada of Sue’s Unique Jewelry hasn’t been able to sell her items for two years. This is the first time Jean Souza of Kaua‘i Ocean Discovery is out in the public, too. This is spring into action!”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Kuhio pushed through Congress the first racial entitlement program (Hawaiian Homelands). Today there are hundreds of government-funded Hawaiians-only programs giving megabucks to Hawaii’s favorite racial group. So of course the tycoons of Hawaiians-only programs LOVE Kuhio. But that was the ONLY major “good” thing Kuhio did.
This newspaper doesn’t like readers to be reminded about Kuhio’s bad deeds:
At annexation time, when his “Hawaiians” needed him, he went to South Africa for 3 years to fight in the Boer War on the side of one colonial power (England) against another colonial power (Dutch) to see which one would rule over the indigenous people.
In 1915 he filed a lawsuit against Lili’uokalani to have her declared mentally incompetent and get himself appointed her guardian so he could steal her Waikiki land which she had willed to her Childrens’ Trust.
Kuhio was also a Trump-style womanizer.
“Prince” Kuhio was not very princely. It’s long past time to “cancel” him.