Discover the ‘treasures beneath our feet’ at Wailoa Center

Wailoa Center welcomes the new year with a most unusual exhibit.

“Lost and Found — Treasures Beneath Our Feet” is put together by an enthusiastic group of artifact hunters. This group is comprised of Richard Pawlicki, Janet Pawlicki, Darren Gomez, Tom Krieger and Sheldon Lacsina. On display will be photographs and paintings related to the process of discovering the thousands of objects they have found.

The public is invited to their First Friday reception from 5-7 p.m. Jan. 3, 2020. Light refreshments will be served.

Richard Pawlicki says: “For many centuries people have inhabited our island home. Each generation adding to our existence. For just as long, people have been forgetting ‘Where did I leave my … ?’ Now comes a group of explorers who search for what was left behind. We call these items artifacts. I have discovered that all such items are our collective story here in Hawaii. My friends and I want to share some of those ‘artifacts’ with you, both in the hope you like what you see and that these items will inspire you to seek your own ‘treasures.’”

The exhibit will feature many metal objects found with a metal detector, a huge marble collection, bottles, pottery, utensils and jewelry. Each object tells a part of the story of life on the Big Island.

The group wants everyone to enjoy what they see and ask as many questions as they can. Visitors will learn various methods to find and extract the treasures beneath their feet located by new and old technology.

There will be a special event from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, where the team of collectors will be at Wailoa to further educate the public on what they do and what is involved in extracting treasures from deep under foot. Pawlicki will plant objects underground just outside Wailoa’s surrounding wall where he will demonstrate his metal detector techniques and let the public try it out for themselves.

Wailoa Center is is free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The center is closed Saturdays, Sundays and state holidays.

For more information, call 933-0416, email wailoa@yahoo.com or visit wailoacenter.com.