CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lanai Princess Kahikulani Santos waved to the crowd while riding her palomino named Hi Ho Silver. The princess and her entourage wore leis symbolizing the Lanai sunset with touches of the island's flower, the emerald kauna'oa.
Floral creations ride
proudly in Aloha paradeTourists and locals marvel at
the beauty that goes on display
The sun gleamed regally on the folds of the raspberry satin skirt and burgundy velvet cape of the Princess of Maui as she rode her prancing horse down Kalakaua Avenue yesterday morning during the annual Aloha Festivals Floral Parade.
"Isn't she just lovely," said Linda Lewis, a tourist from Charlotte, N.C., as she watched the princess, Heather Kaheleonalani Akoi, smile and gracefully wave her arm in aloha to the parade crowd.
"You can just feel the pride of the Hawaiian people," said Lewis, who was ending a weeklong visit to Waikiki.
With 10 floral floats, pau riders and courts from every island, high school marching bands, along with politicians and beauty queens riding Mustang convertibles, the parade delighted crowds lining the route from Ala Moana Park to Kapiolani Park.
There were Shriners with fezzes and squads of elegantly dressed guardsman in crisp white pants and brightly colored jackets showed off their rifle twirling and handling skills with precision.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Members from the All Ohio Cloggers danced pass the crowd during yesterday's Aloha Festivals Parade. The group traveled from different parts of Ohio to perform the Appalachian tap dance known as "clog."
And if beauty is in the details, then the parade shone from the flowers cloaking floats the size of flat bed trucks to the ti leaf and ginger flowers that camouflaged the trash barrels on wheels that cleaned up behind each contingent of pau riders and their horses.
Just as the red banner of the Kalani High School Falcon Marching Band came into sight, 15-year-old Ipolani Salado shrieked, jumped onto the roadway and started dancing.
"That's my school! That's my school," she screamed as her voice drowned into the band's music and the advancing sea of red and white flowered shirts.
Roger Minami of Waimanalo and his favorite beach chair had found a shady spot among some shrubs and yellow hibiscus so he could spot his son, Lokela, a sophomore at Kamehameha Schools as he marched by, playing the trombone.
"This is always the best parade we have," said Minami, with his plate lunch on his lap.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lenny da Hobo from the Aloha Temple Shriners escorted Sue Chang down Ala Moana during yesterday's parade.
The largest high school marching band in the state, The Pearl City High School "Chargers," shimmered in a thick river of purple, silver and white as they marched 300 strong down Kalakaua Avenue. They wore silver helmets with billowing white feather plumes that glistened in the sun.
Defying the hot sun, Denise Doonanco of Alberta, Canada, watched the parade from a shady spot in the front window of Cheeseburger in Paradise.
"We love Aloha Week and come every year for about two weeks," said Doonanco who has been coming to Waikiki with her husband almost every year since 1989.
Doonanco paused as she waved a shaka as the Princess of Niihau, dressed in an elegant navy velvet cape and silver-white satin skirt, rode by on her horse with her attendants and guards.
"I love how all the different islands are represented. And just look at how beautiful the children are," said Doonanco who works for the Royal Mounted Police. "There's real pride here."
