Monthly Archives May 2010

Photos from the Natatorium's Memorial Day Service

31-May-10 | Comments Off on Photos from the Natatorium's Memorial Day Service

Mahalo to everyone who joined us at the Natatorium on Sunday for our 22nd annual Memorial Day observance! It was a beautiful day and a memorable morning: thought-provoking addresses by our speakers, Lieutenant General Benjamin Mixon and Kim Napier; beautiful, meaningful vocal and hula performances; the inspirational participation of our military men and women and the King’s Guard; the presence of so many veterans. Here are just a few photographs from the ceremony. To see more on Flickr, click here. For a slideshow, click here. Another set of photos is available on Picasa here. A Picasa slideshow here. Thanks again!
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Categories: Events, Hula, Images, Memorial Day, Uncategorized, and Veterans.
Tags: Benjamin Mixon, Kim Napier, and Memorial Day.

Join us: Memorial observance at the Natatorium on Sunday

27-May-10 | Comments Off on Join us: Memorial observance at the Natatorium on Sunday

Please join us this Sunday morning, May 30, for the 22nd annual Memorial Service at the Waikiki Natatorium. We remember Hawai’i’s soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines with music, hula and oratory. And we do so at the place dedicated to their memory by the people of our state. A music and hula prelude starts at 9:30 a.m. and our moving formal ceremony begins at 10 a.m. This year’s theme is “Ku pa’a i ka ho’ihi, ka ho’omana’o, me ka ho’ala,” or “Committed to Respect, Remembrance and Renewal.” Our keynote speaker, representing veterans and active duty military personnel, will be Lieutenant
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Categories: Events, Hula, Memorial Day, Uncategorized, and Veterans.

City Contracts Demolition EIS as Memorial Day Weekend Begins

27-May-10 | Comments Off on City Contracts Demolition EIS as Memorial Day Weekend Begins

Honolulu Weekly is out with an update on the Natatorium fight. The bottom line: As we head into Memorial Day weekend, the city is inching ahead with efforts to (unbelievably) demolish Hawai’i’s official memorial to World War I soldiers and sailors. Veterans, preservationists, environmentalists and — importantly — the law and regulations stand in the way of those efforts. As you’ll read in the Weekly’s story, the Friends of the Natatorium are still fighting. We’re confident of victory, but the fight may be a long and hard one. What can you do? You can contribute to the cause. You can
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Categories: News coverage and Uncategorized.
Tags: Honolulu Weekly.

Swimming at the Heart of "Living Memorial" Design

09-May-10 | Comments Off on Swimming at the Heart of "Living Memorial" Design

It was a bold, out-of-the-box decision to build a pool – a pool “of Olympic proportions” – as Hawai’i’s official World War I memorial. The story of the Natatorium’s conception, design and construction is told in the final chapter of the 1928 book Hawaii in the World War by Ralph S. Kuykendall. That chapter is available online here. In fact, the entire book is online, starting here. It’s well worth reading. And it’s well worth remembering the words of Gov. Wallace Rider Farrington to the Territorial Legislature of 1927, arguing for the rapid completion of the entire memorial: “We should
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Categories: History and Uncategorized.
Tags: Duke Kahanamoku, Farrington, and Natatorium history.

Save the Date! Memorial Day Service on Sunday, May 30th

05-May-10 | Comments Off on Save the Date! Memorial Day Service on Sunday, May 30th

You are invited to the 22nd annual Memorial Day Service at one of Hawai’i’s most important monuments to America’s military heroes: The Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. Mark your calendar: 10 a.m., Sunday, May 30 (the day before Memorial Day), in Kapiolani Park right outside the Natatorium’s gate. We gather there every year to commemorate Hawaii’s honored war dead in speech, ceremony, song and dance. We gather there because the Natatorium stands as a symbol of the freedom and of the American way of life preserved for us by the men and women who have fought in all our nation’s wars.
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Categories: Events, Memorial Day, and Uncategorized.
Tags: Memorial Day.