Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 10, 1 October 2012 — Move over Sonoma, Wailea will host Celebration of Aloha [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Move over Sonoma, Wailea will host Celebration of Aloha

By Kekoa Enomoto WAILEA, MAUI — A trio of diverse, compelling Native Hawaiian women presents the inaugural Celebration of Aloha 2012 - Sonoma to Wailea. The threeday event offers a series of cultural workshops and events showcasing

entertainment, fashion, food and wine. "The idea is to empower our Hawaiian women and others to make a difference in the eommunity by being successful in business and perpetuating our cultural traditions," said Leilani Kūpahu-Marino, founder of the 1998 Celebration of Aloha in Sonoma, California. Subsequently, she, Puamana Crabbe and Lauwa'e Cazimero formed Anahulu LLC, whieh is producing the 2012 iteration of the event at the Grand Wailea Resort on Maui. "Now if that ean empower others through our professional and personal experiences, then we are fulfilling our responsibility, or kuleana, from our own mo'okū'auhau (genealogy)," and as individuals and community members, said Kūpahu-Marino, a neonatal intensive-care nurse and kumu hula of Hālau Hula O Ku'uleilanimekealohamau, based at Paradise Park in Mānoa, O'ahu. The saga of how the trio met started when, according to Cazimero, she and Crabbe

began dancing 34 years ago in the Tavana Polynesian Spectacular and, later, a Tihati Productions

show. In 1999, Kūpahu-Marino invited the Brothers Cazimero to perform at the second Celebration of Aloha in Sonoma. There, she met Lauwa'e, whose husband is Roland Cazimero. Eventually Kūpahu-Marino returned to Hawai'i. In 2007, Lauwa'e Cazimero invited her and Crabbe to join the world's longest hula line, where the three bonded.

"One day we were sitting down over coffee, and it turned into a

three- or four-hour meeting and

eame to this (Celebration of Aloha)," recalled Crabbe, a renowned fashion designer with an MBA degree. "We wrote it down on a napkin. A liūle event turned into a full event because Leilani has a passion and eommitment to see things to empower women. My thing is to empower women and children; I am an earlyeducation teacher. It's just been a joumey of one thing after another. Three or four months before the event, we said, "Wow, how did we get here?' " Although the Anahulu LLC principals live on O'ahu, the celebration takes plaee on the Valley Isle, where the Maui Visitors Bureau heeame the first sponsor. The island also holds genealogical, familial and friendship ties. Kūpahu-Marino said her grandmother, Edna Sun Yee Kahana, eame from Makawao and her grandfather, Samuel Ka'ilipua Kūpahu, from Klhei. Crabbe said her great-grand-

mother, Julia Kawaikaunu Kana'auao, was from Kīpahulu. Kūpahu-Marino had invited

Valley Isle kumu hula and record-

ing star Keali'i Reichel to perform at the 1998 celebration. "This is how she connects the dots, because it was a first connection between Maui and California," explained Cazimero, whose sister lives in Lahaina. Event proceeds will benefit the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and Mālama O Na Keiki - Caring for the Heahh of Hawai'i's Keiki to Kūpuna, a nonprofit arm of Anahulu LLC, according to Crabbe. "I think the purpose of helping the community is a good thing," Cazimero said. "Basically it (organizing) is a lot of work, but the purpose at the end is the good thing." Many events may offer workshops and shows, but few stemfrom

such a unique , a 1 c h e m y ! of intuitive j connection, ranging from a hula line to isle-based genealogies. "We as Hawaiians I have a very , strong knowi n g n e s s ," said KūpahuMarino, who said she wrote a research paper on "Indigenous Intuitiveness - A Cultural 1 Knowingness." Puamana, she

said, "works with children (and has) a wonder-

ful intuitiveness of knowing how to treat people ... and the importance of building that trusting relationship with one another." Ultimately, the Celebration of Aloha 2012 - Sonoma to Wailea honors mutual trust and goals. "We love eaeh other, being together and contributing to something that's mueh greater than us," Crabbe said. "If I were with any other group of girls, I would have left, because we are all so busy. But when it comes to this event, there's purpose." ■ Kekoa Enomoto is a retired copy editor and staffwriter with The Maui News andformer Honolulu Star-Bul-letin.

Celebration of Aloha 2012 - Sonoma to Wailea > When: 0ct. 26-28 > Where: Grand Wailea Resort, Maui > Features: Friday: opening ceremonies followed bycultural workshops, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Workshop fees may apply. Presenters include nā kumu hula Hōkūlani Holt and 'lliahi and Haunani Paredes, Hui 0 Wa'a Kaulua and Hula Preservation Society. Kimo Kahoano's Aloha Friday Golf Tournament, 11 a.m., $150. Tourney awards banquet, 6:30 p.m., and kanikapila, 8 p.m., $40. Saturday: Fashions With Aloha, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., $40, presenting Puamana Crabbe Designs, Kilihune Ka'aihue of Maui's Hula Rock, Marlenea Salmu and Linda Timm. Haleakalā Sunset Reception, 5 p.m., $250, featuring isle cuisine and California wines. He Hawai'i Au concert, 8 p.m., $55, headliners include Roland Cazimero, Puamana Serenaders, Palani Vaughan, and hālau Ke Kai 0 Kahiki. Sunday: church service with Kahu David Ka'upu; time/site TBA. > Fees: Pricing packages available; prices increase 0ct. 15. > lnfo: celebrationofaloha.com, (808) 3520013 or info@celebrationofaloha.com

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Puamana Crabbe, left, Lauwa'e Cazimero, Aunlie Befty Jenkins and Leilani Kūpahu-AAarino. - Courtesy: Elaine Fergerstrom