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I was at a Mainstreet Pahoa Assoc. meeting last Tuesday and the subject of Pahoa Village turning 100 years old came up.
There is some initial planning starting up to think up some events and ways to celebrate our funky little village.
I toss this out in case anyone finding the topic intriguing and wants to get involved....
MSPA could always use some help on project like this.
If you have any interest post here or contact me through the web.
If you have any good ideas toss 'em out here and let's see if they stick.
Mahalo
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What about cool commemorative t-shirts with the profits going to meet some unmet need in downtown Pahoa that will benefit all ages and types of people? And a historic walking tour with maps showing where different things have been. For instance I just found out that the parking lot behind Luquins used to be a wood processing plant. And where was the soda plant or even the notorious tofu factory where the fire started that burned down most of the town? This could tie to the website Damon talked about so people could look at the pictures and download the map online and then go find the places, sort of like a treasure hunt. And of course you need to have a big birthday party with food, and music, and all the flavors of Pahoa coming out to play together.
Carol
Carol
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I would like to see a series of talk story and story telling from the elders in the village. We are losing a generation of fine hard working people with memories that go way back.
I think a large part of looking back on Pahoa's history could be through the eyes of those who lived it.
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Rob - When approx does it occur? 2009?
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Yep, 2009 is the centennial year.
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I wonder if Pahoa High has any teachers who could get some students involved a class project doing things like documenting oral histories from family members and gathering photographs to copy, while their relatives who have the living memories are still alive.
I have a friend who did something like that in his American History classes with the WW I memorial in the small town in Oregon where he taught. Other than the obvious ethnic heritage differences (Scandinavians versus Hawaiians and Japanese) the demographics of the two towns (Pahoa and Junction City, Oregon) are amazingly similar: small insular rural working class communities where everyone is related, which formerly had a local resource extraction based economy mixed with large scale agriculture, where most families are now dependent on jobs at least a 45 minute commute away, and where there has been a recent large influx of new residents (working class Hispanics/retired Main landers)who are changing things by their very presence.
My friend said he was blown away at how the project just grew; members of the community, family members, and local amateur historians just crawled out of the woodwork to help the kids with their research. People really wanted to be sure these stories got told and helped the kids find the key people they needed to interview, and helped make it happen with phone calls, transportation and Nursing home visits. What started as a little class project to fill the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas in his 20th century American History class turned into a major all school project with huge community involvement.
The best generation to collect these stories are currently in middle and high school. Improvement in technology has made it so much easier too. If they get these stories now, they can pass them down to their children and grandchildren.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
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I think that Pahoa's main goal for the centennial should be simple: be there for it.
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