The Merrie Monarch Festival is back, yeah! It’s been a long drought. But before I go any further, am I the only one who thinks that the Edith Kanaka‘ole Tennis/Multi-Purpose Stadium should be renamed the Edith Kanaka‘ole Hula Stadium? Sports are fine but hula is Hilo’s claim to fame.
There weren’t many people watching from the bleachers this year but it was still better than 2021 when the arena was practically empty. I followed it on television and missed the enthusiastic crowd. I especially wanted to see the graceful ladies resplendent in holoku with bouquets of bird of paradise, anthurium and cattleya in their hair. I always wished I could pull off that look but no can. A lack of regal poise and too short in stature, auwe.
This year’s Merrie Monarch was starting to look like old times, even though the small audience was restricted to halau hula and their families. Kimo Kahoano was back with dramatic introductions and Paula Akana showed how pros do it. I was glad to see the language specialists and applauded the newly crowned Miss Aloha Hula Pi‘ikea Kekihenelehuawewehiikekau‘onohi Lopes who had a perfect score in Hawaiian language and answered all interview questions in ‘olelo.
Talk about raising the bar. You go girl!
Mahalo to Luana Kawelu and her devoted crew for keeping everyone safe. If all goes well, we can hope for a full-blown Merrie Monarch Festival in 2023.
Even though I can’t always get tickets for the evening competition, I like to attend the craft fairs to ooh and aah over the fabulous artistry on display. But this year thanks to old age (mine) and the lingering pandemic, I stayed away, feeling not quite ready for prime time.
Thank goodness for television where I was glued all week and happy to see the enthusiastic crowd bustling at the Civic Auditorium (Afook-Chinen for youngsters and newbies.) But while shoppers were jostling each other, I noticed many were maskless, a surprise because I thought great care was taken to make sure safety precautions were followed. This was certainly true in the stadium, but maybe not at the Civic.
Much as we all want to get back to normal, especially for this time of year when Hilo hosts the biggest and best hula event in the world, is it too soon to completely let our guard down? At an age when the road ahead for me is getting shorter, I’m not willing to be a COVID casualty since there’s still lots to do like annoy the kids and be a thorn in your side. So even though I’ve had all my shots and am cautiously relieved there is no longer a mask mandate, I continue to wear mine indoors because I’m not yet ready to hele on.
We’re holding our collective breath to see if COVID has turned into a seasonal nuisance, like the flu. We can now test ourselves with home kits but it also means that getting an accurate count of cases is difficult. During Merrie Monarch week amid all the festivities, there were 491 reported new cases of COVID on Hawaii Island and as I’m writing this, it’s now 565 here with numbers going up in all counties in the state. Experts are saying the real number could be seven times higher. Yikes!
So it ain’t over. But if hospitalizations stabilize, perhaps we can soon look forward to throwing those pesky masks up in the air like academic caps at graduation.
See you at the Merrie Monarch Festival in 2023!
I hope.
Rochelle delaCruz was born in Hilo, graduated from Hilo High School, then left to go to college. After teaching for 30 years in Seattle, Wash., she retired and returned home to Hawaii. She welcomes your comments at rainysideview@gmail.com. Her column appears every other Monday.