Remember When? KC Drive-In

Waipahu Sugar Mill

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 7:24

As the skies turn a reddish gray and black ash falls from the space above. The smell of burning sugarcane fills your car and you turn on your headlights to drive through the thick smoke up ahead. As you pass through the smoke you turn to see the fields on fire and plantation workers controlling [...]

Hawaii in the year 2000 and Beyond

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 16:21

History

The events of September 11, 2001 overshadowed and indeed, defined the turning of a new millennium. The world would mourn again when an accident on the space shuttle Columbia killed all seven astronauts upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. However, tragedy would give way to overwhelming triumph when Barack Obama was elected President of the [...]

Hawaii in the 1990’s

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 16:10

Back in the day, many in Hawaii could tell you stories of what it was like to make a living as a plantation worker from dawn ‘til dusk. Or, they could tell you of picking pineapples in the fields, making sure not to miss the last truck out at sunset, or about working in the [...]

The Year Was 1943: The 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 16:04

My father turns 85 years old this year. Arthritis in his back and his hands are a source of daily pain and his short term memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be. Yet when I look back at my father’s old army pictures and see a young, fresh, handsome teen smiling back at [...]

Hawaii in the 1950’s

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 21:30

RememberWhen…
Who could forget the historic declaration of Hawaii’s statehood? Do you remember a time when there was no Ala Moana Shopping Center? Do you recall Kilauea Iki’s eruption or Don Ho’s performance at Honey’s in Kaneohe? Did you watch the first color TV broadcast by then KHVH, now KITV-46? If so, you were probably [...]

Hawaii in the 1940’s

Monday, July 6, 2009 22:19

RememberWhen…
In the decade leading up to Hawaii’s Statehood, Hawaii would undergo tumultuous times along with the rest of the world. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, thrusting Hawaii and all of America into World War II. Immediately after the attack, fear of possible Japanese landings in Hawaii led the military to surrounded [...]

Our Island Neighborhoods: Chinatown

Monday, June 29, 2009 2:00

Wafting up to greet you as you enter Honolulu’s Chinatown, is a heady mix of sweet char sui, fragrant flower lei and Chinese herbs and incense. Explore the area for a day and Hawaii’s diversity becomes palpable. Here, yesterday and today, meld. Old buildings stand next to new ones and yesterday’s immigrants from China [...]

Remembering our Past: The 1960 Hilo Tsunami (PART II)

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 14:42

Continued: Remembering our Past: Part I
And so, anyway, finally we got up to the steps and we, Aunty Ida and Uncle Taiyo and Randy and Ruthie we all got into the house and huddled together. The water was up to the second level of his house and you could hear people screaming, and you could [...]

Remembering our Past: The 1960 Hilo Tsunami (PART I)

Saturday, May 30, 2009 1:14

1960 Hilo Tsunami
On May 23, 1960—a full 49 years ago—the waters of Hilo Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii, swept through the small town. A tsunami, the Japanese term for tidal wave, was generated by an 8.3 magnitude earthquake in Chile, South America. The waters receded and then rose just a few feet at [...]