TALES TO GROW BY: LEGENDS, MYTHS, AND FABLES AT MISSION HOUSES MUSEUM

Pūnana Leo O Kawaiaha`o Students Featured In First of Three Exhibitions For 2011

HONOLULU, HI – Stories are being told at Mission Houses Museum!  Beginning Tuesday, March 22 the museum plays host to the first of three student exhibitions in their Chamberlain Gallery.  Pūnana Leo O Kawaiaha`o, a Hawaiian language medium preschool is working with the museum to present three separate displays focusing on the stories and legends of O`ahu’s oceans, a fundamental part of Hawaiian culture and life.

Mo`olelo and ka`ao, are traditional Hawaiian stories and legends that play an integral part in the Pūnana Leo curriculum. Through these tales children learn about the Hawaiian culture’s kūpuna (ancestors) as well as the culture as it exists today. As students explore the mo`olelo and ka`ao featured in the exhibit, they also learn about the `āina (land), kai (ocean), values, people, and responsibilities that are part of Hawaiian society as well.

The exhibit focuses on the oceans of O`ahu. As a very important part of Hawaiian culture and life, the ocean provides sustenance, spiritual connections, a means of travel, education, protection, a way of life, and so much more to the people of O`ahu. Mission Houses Museum and Pūnana Leo O Kawaiaha`o join in inviting you to this celebration of all the things that make our oceans and people special March 22 through May 7th.

If you are interested in working with the museum to showcase your students’ artwork depicting universal stories in our world, please contact Curator, Elizabeth Nosek at 808-447-3928.

For upcoming topics through the end of the year, visit www.missionhouses.org and click on programming. 

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Mission Houses Museum Groundbreaking

Ceremony for Kahua Ho‘okipa

What:                    Mission Houses Museum will break ground for its performance mound, Kahua Ho‘okipa.

When:                   11AM, Thursday, March 17, 2011, open to the public, admission is free.

Where: Onsite at the Mission Houses Museum campus

Details:                 The ceremony and invocation will be conducted by Kahu Curt Kekuna, Senior Pastor of Kawaiaha‘o

Church and will be attended by local dignitaries and government officials.  Kahua Ho‘okipa, is scheduled for completion in May, and will be the focal point of entertainment and events hosted at Mission Houses Museum.

Concept Drawing of Mission Houses Museum’s Kahua Ho‘okipa

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Mission Houses Museum, located in Honolulu’s Historic Capitol District, is known worldwide as the place where the Hawaiian written language was developed in collaboration with the ali‘i. The museum preserves the oldest and second oldest documented houses in Hawai‘i and the largest collection of Hawaiian language books in the world.

For more information: www.missionhouses.org

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Hawthorne CAT and the Rotary Club of Metropolitan HonoluluPartner on Historic Mission Houses Project

Volunteers will help build a community garden using coral blocks from the Honolulu Fort

HONOLULU (March 14, 2011) – Hawthorne CAT, the leading large equipment dealer in the Pacific, and the Rotary Club of Metropolitan Honolulu have partnered to volunteer equipment and labor to build a community garden on the Mission Houses Museum grounds using coral blocks recovered from the historic Honolulu Fort nearly 30 years ago.

Hawthorne CAT will donate several pieces of equipment for use in the completion of the Community Performance Garden, including a Caterpillar backhoe and loader, as well as equipment operators. The garden of native Hawaiian plants will be ringed by the blocks, which were discovered when the Amfac building was torn down in the early 1970s. Some of the blocks are two feet by four feet and weigh several hundred pounds.

The garden will be shaped like a pie wedge, and is expected to host public and private events, as well as school programs. The public groundbreaking will be held starting at 11 a.m. on March 17, and work will start March 19 at the Mission Houses Museum on 553 S. King Street in Honolulu.

“Hawthorne CAT is proud to support such a historic project,” said Bobby Whitworth, general manager of Hawaii operations for Hawthorne CAT. “We hope these coral blocks can now be fully utilized for appreciation by many generations to come.” 

Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional and community leaders. The Rotary Club of Metropolitan Honolulu received its Charter on August 25, 1986, with 70 charter members, and is now the second largest in the Hawaii District 5000. As signified by the motto “Service Above Self,” Rotary’s main objective is service — in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world.

Hawthorne CAT is the leading large equipment dealer in the Pacific, with eight regional facilities on Oahu (Waipahu and Mapunapuna), Hawaii (Hilo and Kona), Maui, Kauai, Guam and Saipan. Hawthorne CAT is proud to continue a historic legacy of serving Hawaii, home of the first U.S. Caterpillar dealership opened in 1925. This division provides sales, rentals, parts and service of Caterpillar and allied brand machinery and power systems.