Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial

Inspiring oratory. Celebration in song and dance. Precision military pageantry. The solemn sounding of “Taps.” Most of all: A chance to remember, honor and give thanks.

You’ll want to join us for the 25th annual Memorial Day weekend observance at the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. It’s at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 26 – the day before Memorial Day – on the Kapiolani Park lawn in front of the Natatorium.

Memorial Day weekend is, of course, all about exactly what the War Memorial Natatorium itself is all about: Our obligation never to forget.

We remember the sacrifices of those – and especially those from Hawai’i – who died in World War I and all of America’s wars. And we remember, honor and support the men and women – and especially those from Hawai’i – who have served and continue to serve in America’s armed forces.

Speakers and Guests

It will be an outstanding program:

Representing active duty military personnel at the podium will be Lt. Gen. Francis J. (Frank) Wiercinski, commander, U.S. Army Pacific. The general – who will retire shortly after a distinguished 34-year career – served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007 as deputy commander of Multinational Division-North. He was also a brigade combat team commander in the 101st Airborne in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. A 1979 West Point graduate, his decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal and Bronze Star with “V.”

Speaking for veterans and for the families of Natatorium honorees will be retired U.S. Army Reserve lieutenant colonel Kenrock (Ken) K.S. Higa. He is a grandnephew of Pvt. John Rupert Rowe, the first of Hawaii’s sons killed in combat in World War I, who died in France on July 31, 1918. Mr. Higa’s great-grandmother, Rebecca Rowe, was Hawaii’s first Gold Star mother.

Special guest Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, will also present remarks.

The Joint Base Pearl Harbor/Hickam Honor Guard, Hula Hālau Olana, fourth graders from Waikiki Elementary School, and others will contribute their talents to a memorable occasion. Pre-ceremony music begins at 9 a.m.

Natatorium Memorial Day Service: Details

What: The 25th Annual Memorial Day Service sponsored by the Friends of the Natatorium
Who: You, your ohana and your friends
Where: Kapiolani Park at the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium
When: Sunday, May 26, 10 a.m. [Sunday: The day before Memorial Day]
Come early: Music begins at 9 a.m.
Tented seating will be available.

Make a Day of it at the Natatorium

You don’t have to leave when the service is over. After all, the Natatorium was built so that we could honor war heroes by enjoying with our families the freedom for which their sacrifices paid.

So gather your ohana for a picnic in Kapiolani Park, or take them for a swim at Kaiamana Beach, a beautiful spot just Diamond Head of the Natatorium. (The beach exists, by the way, only because the Natatorium’s seawalls are there to protect it.)

Either way, be sure to spend a few moments looking at the Natatorium itself, reflecting on the men and women in whose honor it stands. And in whose honor, we hope, it will one day reopen.

Don’t miss the opinion piece in the May 14 Star-Advertiser by Peter Apo.

It’s important not just for the substance: Peter’s call for a two-year moratorium on threats to demolish the Natatorium, providing time and a safe space for a campaign to fund restoration.

It’s also important for the eloquence and passion with which Peter makes his case.

“A Measure of Who We Are”

Read this passage, for instance: The Natatorium, Peter says, “is priceless as a statement of the character of Hawaii’s people. It is the stuff of which great cities are made. It can rise again, joining the old with the new, the aged with the young, the tourist with the local, and the rich with the poor. How we treat her in this hour of crisis will be a measure of who we are as a society. We can either rise to greatness, or take the path to moral bankruptcy and mediocrity.” Powerful.

Peter is a former state representative, current trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and a longtime and highly respected civic and cultural leader in our state. He is also president of the Friends of the Natatorium.

We urge you to read his op-ed in the paper or online and to respond with a letter to the editor or comment. For those of you out of state who don’t have access to the Star-Advertiser, we publish Peter’s words here Continue Reading »

It’s started.

Less than a week after the city and state announced plans to raze the Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial, someone is treating it as an abandoned ruin.

This morning, Kelsey Ige spotted graffiti on the Natatorium’s mauka wall:

Kelsey, art director at the Waikiki Aquarium next door to the Natatorium, took the photo and sent it to us.

We are crushed that someone has defaced this legendary and important war memorial. It may perhaps have been an attempt to honor the edifice (note the “Farewell Natatorium 2013” inscription to the right). Even so, it’s a terrible shame that it’s come to this, that someone thinks the Natatorium is so far gone and so close to demolition that it’s fair game for tagging.

Friends of the Natatorium Will Persevere

Just for the record: The Friends of the Natatorium haven’t given up, and neither should you. There’s plenty left to fight for, and plenty of fight in us. Whether it’s in the State Capitol, in Honolulu Hale, in the court of public opinion or in a court of law, remember: This is not over.

The city and state announcement last week that they want to raze the Natatorium was a kick in the gut to supporters of the War Memorial.

One of them is Mo Radke, 30-year Navy veteran, former command master chief of the Pacific Fleet and now a board member of Friends of the Natatorium.

The roots of Mo’s disappointment are in his deep respect for those who preceded him in our nation’s service. He has now written about that respect, and that disappointment, in “Honor, Courage and Commitment,” an opinion piece for Honolulu Civil Beat.

“I have a granddaughter who is 1 month old,” Mo wrote. “When she grows up and learns her history, what is she going of think of me and my generation, people who can so offhandedly dismiss the heroism and service of men and women who died to protect the islands we live on?”

Read and Comment

Read Mo’s piece, and feel free to comment here on this page, or on Civil Beat, telling us how you feel.

Or you can tell Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Gov. Neil Abercrombie directly.

This is terribly disappointing. But this is not over.

The mayor and governor announced today that they are restarting the city’s environmental impact study. But there have already been multiple studies. They show that you can’t demolish the pool and build a new beach without breaking the law. And not just one law: lots of them, state and federal.

If this study is done correctly, it will reach the same conclusion. If it isn’t done correctly, well, the natatorium will have its day in court.

The shame is that we’re wasting yet more time. We shouldn’t be fighting in court. We should be working together — city, state and private sector — to restore this magnificent, historical treasure and reopen it.

Help Save Your Natatorium!

Have you been waiting for the right time to speak your mind? This is it!

Tell Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Gov. Neil Abercrombie how you feel. Tell them that this is not negotiable: The Natatorium represents our debt to our veterans. It represents our history. It represents our culture. It must be renewed and reopened.

Our post the other day about a 1942 lifeguard picture brought to light a delightful related story.

We mentioned that one of the people in the photo was Nana Veary, matron of the Natatorium and secretary to its superintendent, Walter Napoloeon.

We also mentioned that Mrs. Veary, who became a well-known Hawaiian spiritual teacher and author of Change We Must: My Spiritual Journey, was also the mother of Hawaii Music Hall of Fame singer Emma Veary.

The Natatorium was her bedroom

That brings us to the related story: How the Veary family came for a time to actually live at the Natatorium. Turns out their landlord needed their rental home back, and… well, let’s let Emma herself be the teller of this tale. It starts at about 5 minutes, 10 seconds into Part 2 of this 2008 Long Story Short interview that Emma gave to PBS Hawaii’s Leslie Wilcox.

A swim first thing in the morning and another last thing before bedtime. Sleeping on grandstands still warm from the daytime sun. “We were happy with our lot, and grateful,” Emma remembers.

Mahalo for the memories, Emma. We’d love to fix the Natatorium, reopen it and let some other little girl doze in the grandstands on some future warm summer evening.

Natatorium friend Noe Bell tells us that this lifeguard photo was taken on June 26, 1942. Noe’s father, Hiram N. Goldstein, is the handsome gentleman on the left in the back row, standing on the wall.

Who’s who in this photo? Tell us in the comments! Continue Reading »

Inspiration for the new Waikiki Natatorium, what could be, again… – Take a look at the Sea Pool at the Bondi Swimming Club in Sydney, Australia

sea pool from Jason Wingrove on Vimeo.

Friends of the Natatorium Vice President Donna L. Ching is just back from a visit to Australia, where she says there are more than 30 ocean pools in the Sydney area alone. She swam in several Aussie “ocean baths,” and brought back photos for us.

“They’re everywhere in Australia!” she says. “You’d think we could get it together and fix our one and only Natatorium!”

Bondi Baths

Perhaps the most famous of Sydney’s ocean pools are the Bondi Baths at the Bondi Icebergs Club at the south end of Bondi Beach.

Bronte Beach pool

Farther down the famous Coastal Walk towards Coogee Beach, Donna reports, she came across ocean pools at nearly every beach. Here’s a photo of lap swimmers in the pool at Bronte Beach, 2 kilometers south of Bondi and the birthplace in 1903 of organized, professional ocean lifesaving.

Clovelly Beach pool

Just a bit further south is this pool at Clovelly Beach.

You can see more ocean pools and “ocean baths” in the Sydney area here and here.

Why not in Honolulu?

Donna’s point is a good one: If Australia can build, maintain and safely operate so many ocean pools, why can’t we take care of just one? Particularly, when that one also happens to be Hawai’i’s official World War I memorial and, for nearly 90 years, a cultural and historical treasure for Honolulu.

The Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium: Let’s fix it and swim there again. Soon. ‘Cuz, hey: Why should the Australians have all the fun?