By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Bob Kato decorates the Ewa mansion.
Ewa Plantation
By Nadine Kam
hosts a big party
Assistant Features Editor
Star-Bulletin
The sight of an old mansion would spark visions of dollar signs in many a Realtor. But while most would be quick to think, "Sell!" Bob Kato is one Realtor who, instead of counting the ways to profit from the former Ewa Plantation Mill's Manager's Home, began plotting ways to pay for its restoration.How much money would it take to return the 70-year-old two-story, five-bedroom Colonial Revival mansion to its former glory? One-and-a-half million dollars, give or take a few bucks. Yet Kato said the funds raised by the Friends for Ewa, the nonprofit corporation formed to preserve the home as a historical landmark, "is miniscule."
Kato, a former acting executive director for Hawaii's Plantation Village in Waipahu, said that to be considered for construction and operational grants from philanthropic organizations, "We need to show substance; not just people power, but financial backing."
So the friends are making one big fund-raising push this weekend when the "second city" is host to Ewa City Lights, the Ewa Plantation Carnival and Christmas Festival of Trees tomorrow through Sunday along on Renton Road.
There will be 150 Christmas trees on display, a life-size Santa's Village and Santa's Workshop, E.K. Fernandez games and rides, antique car show, 120 craft booths, 20 food booths, plant fair, health fair and a plantation artifacts exhibition, and more.
The friends are expecting 60,000 to 90,000 spectators and the entertainment line-up reads like a who's who on the Hawaiian music scene with the Krush, Na Leo Pilimehana, Sistah Robi, Willie K and Amy Gilliom, Sudden Rush, BB Shawn, the Makaha Sons, Forte, Sunland and many others slated to perform.
The festivities come at a time when Ewa could use a little good news. Recent headlines have depicted Ewa as a playground for corrupt individuals and government employees who billed the city for projects never done.
"The scandal really shook the foundation of Ewa because people assumed we were part of it."
With too few watchdogs on the Leeward side, Kato said the Friends for Ewa banded together when they saw changes starting eight years ago. "We were afraid the city would demolish all the structures plantation in origin."
For those left a little wary by recent revelations, he has the articles of incorporation and tax documents to prove the friends are serious.
More important, Kato has the perfect credential. He grew up with his grandparents and parents in the Ewa Plantation's C Camp and remembers with pride the old Ewa Carnival -- the inspiration for this year's event -- which had the power to draw people islandwide.
"One thing they would do was fill the old Ewa Gym swimming pool with fish -- tilapia, moonfish," Kato said. "People would catch fish, take them home and release them into fish ponds in their back yards."
Later, Kato's father moved downtown for better job opportunities, but Kato still spent weekends and summers in Ewa. "I still remember the bon dances and going to moves at Ewa Theater, which was in a quonset hut. It was more fun than downtown."
The last Ewa Carnival was in 1971 when the Ewa Mill shut down and the last manager moved out of the mansion.
Today, the Friends for Ewa office is set in the mansion's maid quarters next to the kitchen, entered through a Romanesque porch in back of the house. Kato considers it an honor to work on the premises.
"When I was going to school we couldn't set foot on the manager's front yard. The only time we were allowed on the property was Christmas. We could come to the front door and get candies and cookies."
Starting with the manager's house, the friends' ultimate goal is to transform the old plantation into a world-class living museum "like Old Williamsburg," Kato said, "a town where old artifacts can be displayed, people in the community can get jobs, and tourists can come in and get docent tours from people dressed in the garb of that era.
"We're hoping the City & County can give us a lease to operate a museum, community center and commercial kitchen so we can establish a food bank for the community."
Community, and not just a string of lights, after all, is what Christmas is all about.
Seasonal fun
What: Ewa City Lights, Ewa Plantation Carnival and Christmas Festival of Trees
