2022 Mahalo

Celebrating a Year of Pō’ai Pili!

What a beautiful year! Surely Pō‘ai Pili is like a lei of fragrant blossoms, adorning our community with aloha—and the blossoms of this lei are all the beautiful people who have come together to help make this happen. We could never have done it without you.

Mahalo to our volunteer team. Tama Starr and Georgia Pinsky, our amazing copyeditors; thanks for catching any errors, tidying up our text and graphic design, and adding your special touch to this endeavor. Kauwila Hanchett, lead graphic designer; you’re the reason our newsletter looks so incredible every time.

Mahalo nui to our contributors. We honestly never expected to have so many of you; your contributions have added immeasurable value to Pō‘ai Pili. Aldei Kawika Gregoire and Andrew Walmisley, mahalo for providing historical and cultural articles—centered on Kaupō’s wahi pana, nohona Hawai‘i, and ‘ike kūpuna. Your work represents countless hours of research and we are humbled by your generosity in sharing your knowledge so freely with our readers. Also mahalo nui to Kau‘i Kanakaole for your article on the Makahiki season!

Mahalo to our community organizations and churches for providing important information about your programs, grassroots initiatives, and services. We are inspired by your dedicated service to East Maui’s kūpuna, ‘ohana, ‘āina, kai, and communities. Mahalo to Coucilmember Shane Sinenci for timely and relevant updates, we appreciate your ongoing communications with our residents.

Thank you to the ‘ohana who kindly shared loving remembrances of those we have lost this past year and for allowing us to honor your loved ones in our pages. Our hearts go out to you.

For the beautiful short articles that perfectly rounded out each issue, mahalo to Teresa Waters, Lyons Cabacungan, and Sheila Roback; and to Aunty Rose Soon for sharing her inspiring life story with us in our Kūpuna Highlight.

Mahalo to our photographers. Your beautiful photos elevated our newsletter and greatly enhanced our readers enjoyment of Pō‘ai Pili. And, finally, mahalo to the KCAI board for all the updates and articles, and for providing ongoing support for this newsletter—we’ve come a long way since this idea was born at our community meeting in October 2021.

To our readers, we are so thankful for your continual support, and we hope that you have enjoyed this community newsletter! Thank you for your kind feedback, positive encouragement, and aloha.

Pō‘ai Pili is like a tree. It started off as a seed, planted in the fertile soil of ideas. It grew into a sprout, small leaves branching out. As the seasons turned, it grew into a sapling—with buds and leaves slowly unfurling. And now, it is a firmly-rooted tree, with fruit-laden branches that have touched many hearts and lives.

So thank you. Thank you for a year of Pō‘ai Pili. Many hands came together to reach this goal, to plant this tree and see it to its fruition.

Mahalo, Kamalama Mick & the Staff of Pō’ai Pili