Civic club honors
cultural living treasures

A luncheon fetes the work of
Aluli, Brandt, Peters and Thompson

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By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

Four pillars of the native Hawaiian community were honored yesterday as cultural living treasures by the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club.

Performers, family and friends paid tribute to Irmgard Farden Aluli, Gladys Ainoa Brandt, David Merritt Peters and Myron "Pinky" Thompson at the club's annual scholarship luncheon at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

One highlight was when Aluli, the most prolific female Hawaiian composer since Queen Liliuokalani, took the stage to perform her first hit song and her family's alma mater, "Puamana."

Aluli, who was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 1998, also is known for such compositions as "E Maliu Mai" and "Lapahoehoe Hula."

Those in attendance will also number among Auntie Irmgard's memorable compositions a song about having "luau feet," delivered by her nephew and roaster Hailama Farden.

The audience rose to its feet to join the Kamehameha Schools Concert Glee in its rendition of the school's alma mater in honor of Brandt, the first native Hawaiian principal of the school.

Brandt has also served on numerous boards, most recently as a governor-appointed interim trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. During several years as chairwoman of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, Brandt was instrumental in starting the Center for Hawaiian Studies, which may soon bear her name.

One of Brandt's "Broken Trust" co-authors, U.S. District Judge Samuel W. King, roasted Brandt, attributing her leadership skills to "rewriting the rules to suit herself."

Myron "Pinky" Thompson was honored for his service as a Bishop Estate trustee and a founder of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

Society spokeswoman Elisa Yadao, also formerly spokeswoman for the Bishop Estate trustees, poked lighthearted fun at Thompson, telling stories about their travels together, including his ability to lose things like passports, Bishop Estate credit cards and even a rental car. In one anecdote, Yadao said Thompson -- father of master navigator Nainoa Thompson -- lost himself on a business trip, almost causing them to miss a flight.

Queen Liliuokalani Children's Center trustee Tom K. Kaulukukui Jr., introduced Peters, the board chairman, by delivering an abbreviated life history that included a brush with police after cutting a day of kindergarten, a military career, serving as an assistant to U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, crash-landing airplanes, parachute jumping -- and sewing.