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Lahaina’s annual
Kamehameha
parade canceled
Merchants say state officials
By Gary T. Kubota
took too long to confirm
a parade leader
Star-BulletinLAHAINA -- Kalei Sombelon's family has done bake sales, swap-meet sales, and garage sales to prepare their colorful horse-riding unit for the Kamehameha Celebration on Maui. But the Sombelon family and relatives won't be riding their horses down Front Street in Lahaina today.
The 83rd annual parade, honoring Kamahemeha I, who united the Hawaiian Islands under a single rule, has been canceled on Maui.
"There's no sense in being mad," Sombelon said. "This thing was out of anybody's control."
Instead, there will be a Ho'olaule'a today, with entertainment under the Lahaina banyan tree from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Lahaina merchants blame a lack of support and coordination on the part of the state Legislature and the Cayetano administration for the cancellation.
They said state officials took too long to confirm a successor to Oliver "Buzz" Fernandez, the Maui parade commissioner, who resigned for personal reasons on Jan. 20.
The commission requires parade leaders to be appointed in a lengthy process that includes nomination by the governor and confirmation by the Senate.
It wasn't until March 24 when the nomination of Lyons Naone III was submitted by the governor's office. He was confirmed as the commissioner on April 24 and still hasn't been formally sworn in.
"Without a commissioner, we can't do anything," said Morrison, executive director of the LahainaTown Action Committee. "They've known the date. They could have expedited it. If we had the commissioner in January, February or March, we could have done the parade."
State Sen. Marshall Ige, who was on the Economic Development Committee reviewing appointment of King Kamehameha Celebration commissioners, said he didn't think the Legislature took a long time to confirm Naone.
"Four weeks is reasonable," Ige said.
Cayetano declined comment.
Fernandez said he felt the Maui group could have held a parade.
He said he was given only six to eight weeks to organize a parade once and although there were no pa'u riders, the princesses of various islands rode in convertibles.
"We had a good parade anyway," he said.
"It's a good event. I think everybody there is trying to do a good job."
Morrison and Naone said they were never informed directly about the cancellation of the parade.
Morrison said she heard about the cancellation when an editor for a Hawaii visitor publication called her.
Fern Gravelek, senior editor of This Week publications, said when she called the Kamehameha Day celebration commission on May 5, she was told the parade on Maui was canceled.
Keahi Allen, a state organizer for the Kamehameha Celebration, said her office had difficulty finding a volunteer on Maui willing to serve as commissioner.
Allen and Naone said the April 24 confirmation provided too little time for people to prepare for the parade.
Allen said the commission has not received a letter saying Naone was confirmed, nor has it received a letter saying when there will be a ceremony in which he will be sworn in as commissioner.
Allen said she normally plans a year or two ahead to allow the participants to reserve sites for the celebration and conduct fund-raisers.
Celebration organizers say since state money for the parades was eliminated, they need more time to organize a volunteer effort.
"I prefer we would have no parade rather than a bad parade," Naone said.
Lori Sablas, a former commissioner, said with the economy improving, she hopes the state will resume funding the parade.
"We challenge the government to give back the funding," Sablas said.
Sombelon said she knows a number of people who look forward to visiting Lahaina once a year to watch the parade and she's hoping the event will happen next year.
The event has been an opportunity for her family and relatives to work together, some gathering flowers, others working as crafts persons to decorate the pa'u unit.
"It's just a fun thing," she said. "We're not going to give up."
