Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Volume XXXI, Number 48, 24 March 1937 — Hilo Parks Are Improved Under Woman's Direction [ARTICLE]

Hilo Parks Are Improved Under Woman's Direction

Wiiai a woma» park supcrintendent ean do in three is shown 'oy thc improvements Jn loeal parks acc.omplished by Mrs. Anna Lai Hipp» r.icmb(!r of the pa.rk commission for four years, who has bcen substitutnu' as park ,supi'rintcndo!it during the pa.vt.three weeks during the vacation leave of the superixitendent, Manuel Tavares.. Mrs. Lai Hipp s

a.s actlng end tod.<iy. t An inspeCtkn tour of ax< he loeal parks Friday showed deflnite improvement during the three wce\cs' peiiod under Mrs. Lai Hipp. And Uie b('Rt part of it all is that. Mrs. Lai. Hipf brought about the improvements with the same group of men who are always kept at work in the parks and with the same amount of money allotted for the work. Perhaps- the best pieee of improvexnent work done by Mrs. Lai liipp was at Reeds bay park where in one day she had the men haul large rocks from Keaukaha whieh were placed on the boundary lines of the park area. Due to bad weather these stones had not been painted white, but when painted, they will be an added attrac:tion on the park grounds as well as being practical. "The park commission wants to protect the grass in this park, especially near the Yacht club. Many motorists have built roads on the grass by continually going over it," Mrs. Lai Hipp said. Plants in Bloom

At Liliuokalani park tlie tall weeds and bushes whieh had almost obstructed the view of the Japanese house from the main road were hauled away. Care has been given the azalea plants and now over 50 plants are in bloom. Coconut island scores of fullgrown coconut palms have been planted in the places where trees were scarce. The planting was done entirely under Mrs. Lai Hipp's supervision. Mooheau park, parts of whieh were an eyesore, had been Mrs. Lai Hipp's worry for sometime. La'rge stumps of trees at the Puna end of the* park, whieh had rotted at the roots. were dug up by wedges and sledge hammers and the holes filled with dirt. Grass will be planted there and a niee lawn will be the result. Large stacks of pipes, rubbish and odds and ends clotted up the entire Puna end toward the beach, and these were hauled away. California grass, "honohono" grass and rubbish were hauled away by "thc truck!oads.

The lovely palm trees lining Knmehameha Ave. in the Shinniachi district in front of the Royal thcater were kept in good shape and old leaves tnmnxed under Mrs. Lai Hipp's direction. The trees in thc Puna end of thx's small park belong to the Hawaii Consolidated Railway and the Hilo Iron Works and should be taken care oX by them, Mrs. Lai Hipp said. Anothcr pieee of good work donc hy Mrs. Lai Hipp is at Rainbow Falls park where two trees whieh were too tlose to the Hilo Memorial hospitai nurses' cottage wcrc cut dowu and truckloads of gra»s wcre taken awuy. Weeds liad covcrv.'d thc loveiy stone walks in thc park «und Mrs. Lai Hipp saw to it that thcv ,were pulled oui. i"or thc p;ist three weeks Mrs. Lai Hipp has visUcd and supcniUonded ihe work in all ihe loeal parks at icast iwiee a day. hau- UiH'ii trimmed. Krasi pullwi oui. rubbtsh hauied away and new trces> plasUt\l -ali duruuc ihe hhui i. ot Uircc wceks aloiiii wiili the rouunc work thc park wurk<>ī> do m lawiuuowun; thf er««s «nd t>icV:in£ up rubfcish.