Why was the first Ewa tree and light festival so poorly organized? There were beautiful Hawaiian groups way in the back, behind the parking, and a health fair that no one was aware of, because there were no signs, no people, no lights directing crowds. And little girls were crying because they were dancing on a stage full of splinters. But nobody did anything about that for three days! Ewa tree, light festival
had last-minute glitchesThis was the first time such an event was undertaken and there were a lot of birth pains.
But organizer Bob Kato hoped people would be more understanding, noting that the event, which drew upwards to 80,000 people, was all done by volunteers -- 600 of them. No one, not even Kato, got paid.
Unfortunately, there were a number of last-minute glitches. One resulted in the carnival being switched to the grounds of the old manager's mansion, instead of Triangle Park. "So we had to bulldoze all the high growth between the park and mansion in one day," Kato said.
An 80-yard corridor for pedestrians was cordoned off, but a lack of communication resulted in people using it for a parking lot the first day.
Then, "at the 11th hour," the company that had been contracted to provide five stages said it couldn't get five flatbed trucks as it had promised, Kato said. Impromptu staging had to be set up instead.
"Nobody told me" about the splinters; otherwise, "I would have addressed that problem," Kato said. But he accepted responsibility, saying staff should have notified him.
"I admit we had many small problems," Kato said. A critique session was held afterward to make sure they wouldn't be repeated. Regarding your complaint, "I'm sorry she feels this way but I wish she would have just called me."
But he's not discouraged. Next year will be "even better," he said, noting plans to hold it at the new 20-acre city park and combine it with the State Farm Fair.
"Generally speaking, people said it was so nice that Ewa Plantation Village has come back to life after being dead for 26 years," he said.
The Dec. 10 item about bees at the Pali Lookout caught the attention of state Department of Agriculture entomologist Tom Culliney, who says there's nothing to get alarmed about. Buzz on Pali bees
In Hawaii, the honeybee swarm season is March to November, coinciding with the flowering of plants. The Thanksgiving weekend sighting was a little late, but "it's a perfectly natural process," Culliney said. When a colony gets overcrowded, half the colony will tank up on honey, then fly out in search of a new nest.
"They'll take up temporary residence on fence posts and tree branches" until they find a new nesting place.
Honeybee colonies in Hawaii "can get pretty large." On the mainland, colonies average 50,000 bees, so swarms will be about 25,000 strong.
What Culliney wants residents and tourists to know is that honeybees are "really no danger to anybody," unless you get too near their nests. But swarming bees "won't exhibit any defensive behavior because they don't have any nest to defend, yet."
Be careful because bees can "get cranky, like human beings." Otherwise, a swarm of bees "is a wondrous thing to see," he said.
Auwe
While jogging at Ala Moana at 6 p.m., Dec. 7, we saw four local teen-age girls writing graffiti on the mauka bridge, near the Ala Moana Center bus stop. Parents, do you know where your children are? -- J.M.