[ Natural History ] [ Arts & Culture ]
[ Braddah-Nics ] [ Local Grinds ] [ Spotlight On ]

Natural History

THE PERFUMED ONE
(Hedychium coronarium)

'Awapuhi keokeo, white ginger, is also known as the ginger lily, the butterfly lily and the garland flower. Large herbs, native to tropical Asia, the gingers are found cultivated in well-watered gardens as well as growing wild along streams and damp, cool roadsides.

The upright, herbaceous, evergreen plants grow 3 or more feet in height, with spikes of many highly perfumed flowers at the tip. Several sturdy leaf stalks sprout from underground rhizomes and the leaves, nearly two feet long, are arranged loosely along the stalks. Flowers appear mostly from late spring to late fall. Individual three inch flowers stand out from the green bracts of the central cluster. The old stalks die back after the flowering period.

When conditions are right, the plants grow very quickly and can quickly overrun any space allotted to them. They certainly have become naturalized throughout the wild in the forests of windward Maui. At times, the impenetrable entanglements of the stands of white gingers and their cousins, the yellow gingers, can challenge even the most determined of hikers. The plants grow so well and so extensively in the wild that some people are convinced they have been growing in the Islands since the beginning of time. Not.

There are 1,300 species of ginger growing in the tropics. One of the most prized is the white ginger. It was probably brought to Hawaii before 1871 by the Chinese who valued them for their fragrant flowers. The plants are universally loved for the exquisite fragrance of their flowers, which are even more pleasing than the yellow and even longer-lasting. In India, the white ginger is considered to be the most charming of all the gingers.
Plant lover and journalist Peggy Hickok Hodge calls the white ginger "probably the most highly cherished as far as perfume is concerned." The cut flowers give off their sweet fragrance for days.

In the late 1800s, botanist Hillebrand described the white gingers as "very common and occasionally found as escapes." By the time he got to Hawaii, the treasured plants had already taken off for the forests.

White ginger lei are made from the delicate orchid-like flowers. The flowers are usually gathered for lei in the evening when they are just beginning to open. They are placed in a shallow pan of water until their membranous sepals pull away from their petals. The sepals are then removed and the flower stems snipped off to about a quarter of an inch from the base of the flowers.

White ginger is a source of perfume produced commercially in Hawaii. In its native India, its cousin, the yellow ginger, was found to contain fibers suitable for the manufacture of paper. The only problem is there is not enough of the plant fiber in the plants to make the process commercially feasible today.
 

[ Top ]

Arts & Culture

DA COUNTY FAIR

The very first Maui County Fair was held over the Thanksgiving weekend in 1916. Under the white tents spread out over 10 acres in Wailuku, where Wells Park is now located, the fair was a community affair that drew thousands, and became a tradition that grew and changed as the County grew and changed.

The people couldn't get enough of it. After a hiatus during 1917 and 1918, the fair opened its gates again in 1919 at the Fairgrounds in Kahului. By the late 1990s the old Fair display buildings were gone, the Fairgrounds had been developed into prime commercial complexes, and the County Fair moved to the grounds and buildings of the War Memorial complex in Wailuku. Except for the period between 1942 and 1946, when it was interrupted by World War II, the Fair has opened every year around October.

Every year there were new delights. The Fair became famous for its special sporting events. Over the years the program has included more than 25 sports. Horse-racing was king for years, attracting the finest horses and riders in the territory.

It was phased out over the years, to be replaced by football games and a demolition derby. At various times, boxing, tennis, golf, baseball, football games yacht racing (both real yachts and those made from cardboard milk and juice cartons), a soap box derby, ice skating (in 1938) when the Ice Follies were performed on the first ice rink on Maui, and jujitsu have been part of the fair.

One of the most unusual highlights of the Fair was the staging of a sham battle between two infantry forces of the First Battalion, 299th Infantry during the 1941 Fair. Over 5,000 people packed the Fairgrounds grandstand and surrounding ground to watch the battle.

Singers, acrobats and musicians alternated with circus acts featuring exotic animals. American Indians were a bit unsteady during their performance in the 1934 Wild West Show. It was the first time many of them had made a sea voyage.

The inaugural fair began with a parade of nearly 3,000 children led by the Hawaiian Band of Honolulu, and the star attraction was Daisy the elephant (shipped in from Honolulu only after she was insured a safe return by the Maui Board of Supervisors who issued an indemnity bond "in the sum of $3,000 in favor of the city and county of Honolulu to cover any possible accident that may beset Daisy on her Maui trip.)

A major controversy was the ban by the Maui County Fair and Racing Association, by unanimous vote, of an E. K. Fernandez hula troupe from the first Fair. The "hula and muscle dance entertainers" were not considered appropriate for a "respectable" community. (Within five years, however, the Fair did feature hula, when the Maui Hawaiian Woman's Club presented a program of authentic dances.)

The community participated in producing displays showcasing home-grown arts and crafts including a Japanese lantern procession, photography, and all manner of cooking and other domestic arts, a commercial exhibit of new products, and an exhibit of the latest and best in livestock, plants, and farm products as well as agricultural improvement demonstrations. (Community participation remained one of the best features of the Fair through all the years. Neighbors came to see what their neighbors were doing.)

There were sideshows, baby and beauty contests, fireworks, dog shows, auto displays, harmonica competitions and bull-frog jumping challenges, as well as dancing at a grand ball with music by two bands at the first Fair. The food booths were organized and manned by people raising money for worthy causes, as they are still to this day. The Joy Zone put together by E. K. Fernandez rounded out the festivities.

And the people came. Businesses shut down and children took a day off from school during the Fair. In ensuing years, plantation workers took advantage of the "Maui County Fair Savings Club" that was offered by their employers. Through the year, they could save money directly from their pay checks so the family could afford to go to the fair.

They came...some walking, some on horseback, some by railroad cars or packed into trucks provided by the plantations. And they came from other places as well. In 1947, when Maui had a population of 43,000 people, attendance at the Fair hit 60,000. The Fair was advertised throughout the Territory of Hawaii and touted nation-wide as well. Crowds booked inter-island steamers to capacity at Fair time.

The Maui County Fair, for many years, was considered "no ka oi," the best.
 

[ Top ]

Braddah-Nics Lexicon

STANDARD ENGLISH: He told me he was coming to my party, but he didn't show up.
BRADDAH-NICS: He went tell me he was going go come party, but he nevah.

* * * * * * * *

STANDARD ENGLISH: Nathan is so argumentative!
BRADDAH-NICS: Dat Nathan, him only like make argue.

* * * * * * * *

STANDARD ENGLISH: There is no way that this can happen.
BRADDAH-NICS: Not even!

[ Top ]

Local Grinds

Pork Tofu

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Thinly slice pork into 2 by 1 inch pieces. In a skillet, heat oil and brown pork. Add soy sauce, water, sugar, onion and ginger. Bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes. Gently stir in tofu and monosodium glutamate; simmer gently for a few minutes. Plate and add green onions
6 servings.

 [Top ]

Spotlight On…

Kaunolu Village

Off one of the many beaten paths of the island of Lanai, the ruins of an ancient Hawaiian fishing village known as Kaunolu lays in peace. Said to have been first inhabited during the 15th century, the Kaunolu community flourished until the late 1800's. Although presently dry and barren, the village once contained more than one hundred Hawaiian homes, storerooms, and burial sites as evidenced by the stone foundation remnants of the village. Amongst these stone remains lies a historical artifact of its own: King Kamehameha the Great's vacation home. Built after his conquest of Lanai in the early 1800's, Kamehameha is said to have picked Kaunolu for its reputation as one of the most prized fishing sites on Lanai.

[ Top ]