Huakaʻi

Huakaiʻi is the annual fundraiser for the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives. It is done in a dinner, program, and live auction format, and was hosted at the historic Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki.

At the Imperial Valley Desert Museum we created an annual fundraiser, as a wine tasting, and watched it grow over a three year period. Huakaʻi is in its seventh year. The first five years the fundraiser was done on site at the Mission Houses. Last year, the event was moved to a new, much more glamorous location, and saw large growth. This year, our goal was to grow the event even more. The program was to honor the work of Tahitian Missionaries who came to Hawaii to help with the translation of the Bible. We had two historical characters developed through our History Theater and a Tahitian band, Mana Tahiti, who were amazing.

We special ordered a rainbow to be placed over Diamond Head. Right at sunset. It worked perfectly as a selfie station. It will take a week or more to do all the bookkeeping for the event, and because there is so much work leading up to Huakaʻi several staff people have taken vacation days this week. But, it was a great event to be a part of. See you there next year. 

Furniture from Trash: Part 2

I struggle whether to think of myself as having a skill at making furniture from trash, or just being cheap. After I got married, I made a bed frame for a water bed that I bought for 1 cent. Deneen and I slept in that bed for nearly 20 years.

In the desert, I made a headboard out of an 8-foot pallet that had been used to ship part of the "Land of Extremes" exhibit. This bed was made from two twin beds put together. It was huge, and the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in.


On September 20, 2016, I wrote a blog about getting a pick up load of trash to make furniture for my unfurnished apartment in Alaska. The score was two signs that had been up at the Unalaska United Methodist Church. These made a fantastic Unalaska coffee table, and a pretty cool bar table. Out of pallets, I made a side table/bar and couches.

The couches were not comfortable. But at least they made the apartment feel like it wasn't empty. Cause you know, it was empty.

I never posted pictures of what the furniture looked like. Alaska was a hard four months. But looking at the furniture makes me a little nostalgic. Richard Barnes, who lived with me in this apartment, is now in Hawaii. He told me that when museum staff moved out of this apartment they sold all the furniture to other people.

I hope they didn't sell the couch. It was not very nice. But I am happy that the tables survived. I really thought they were cool.

One man's trash is another man's furniture!

Hurricane Lane

It is different being back somewhere where you watch Hurricane Central instead of the heat index.

A couple weeks ago we were watching Hurricane Hector as it developed into a cat 5 storm. Though it looked absolutely massive in the satellite image, it did not affect anything here. It just went south.








Tonight, I am waiting on Hurricane Lane. It was a cat 4 storm yesterday, but is now a cat 3. It is south, but not enough south. We initiated our emergency plan at the Hawaiian Mission Houses. In the 1821 House we moved artifacts into the center of rooms and covered them with plastic.

I thought the rain would start at 8pm, but so far it has been a beautiful day. I decided to stay overnight at the museum, but it has been pretty anticlimactic.


I was looking through this blog this evening. I remember being in many storms in the Turks and Caicos, but I hardly wrote about any of them. I went back through the Atlantic Hurricane Seasons to see what I would have experienced.

Tropical Storm Ingrid was in September 2007, mentioned in my second blog post. Hurricane Noel, came through the TCI on October 29, I had just left for Columbus to get Deneen and the boys. On December 11, we ate dinner outside during Tropical Storm Olga, the last storm of the 2007 season. I remember it as one of the best dinner experiences I have ever had. Deneen remembers it as the day we left our kids at home alone during the hurricane.  2008 was one of the biggest hurricane seasons on record. On August 15th, I was in the house on GT during Tropical Storm Fay. I wrote a blog being thankful for the water. Dave Horn came to visit Grand Turk on August 16th. He stayed for a week.  On August 28, I left Grand Turk to get Deneen and the boys who were off island for the summer. In the next ten days, Grand Turks was hit by Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hannah, and then Hurricane Ike tore the island apart on September 7th. So, I went through three storms with very little comment. And the other three storms changed the rest of our lives. 

Update: Lane stayed at sea, moving at about 2mph, and was continually downgraded all day. Friday evening it was just a tropical storm and that did not even make landfall in Honolulu. Everyone is glad we prepared for an emergency that never came.

Kerplunk House on Designboom

Last year at the Hello Wood Art and Architecture Festival in Hungary, Lucas and I had a long conversation about "typology."

By definition: a classification according to general type, especially in archaeology, psychology, or the social sciences. 

This past year we have seen several projects built or conceived that, when I put them together, look very similar, like a typology. Though each was a unique project with its own complex issues to solve. Including Cathedral Village, which was submitted for Hello Wood: Cabin Fever

Kerplunk House, at the Imperial Valley Desert Museum.
Photo: Breyden Anderson

Ghost House, at the Space Saloon art and architecture camp in Morango Valley.
Photo: @-danielshwartz

Furniture from Trash

In 2016, when I went to Alaska, I moved into an unfurnished apartment and then built furniture out of pallets I found. This was discussed in a blog post dated September 20, 2016.

When I moved to Hawaii I moved into an unfurnished apartment, but I decided I would buy all new furniture. But it soon became apparent that I like the furniture I had built from trash more than the furniture I could buy. So, as I walked back and fourth to work, I began looking for discarded materials.

What was needed first was a very large pallet, not the usual ones you see. I found one in front of a Japanese restaurant that was being remolded. It had originally had kitchen equipment on it when it shipped to Hawaii. Perfect for a headboard. Others followed. And soon I had the makings of a set.

For several days I worked in the small wood shop at the museum, cutting, sanding, painting, sanding, and varnishing. Before Deneen arrived, I had put together a more than functional bedroom.

Her first week here we happened to walk by a Sears appliance store and happened into a $4,000 display mattress that was 75% off. An extra 10% "if we bought right now" was an offer we could not refuse and our functional bedroom has become quite nice.

And, the only cost was a 75% off mattress. 

Making Connections

Last week the Maile Wreath, the newsletter of the Hawaiian Mission Houses, was completed and mailed. This was the first issue I had to write something for and I though a few people would enjoy it. 

As I am very new to the Hawaiian Mission Houses, and new to Hawaii, I have spent my first few weeks trying to make connections. I have been meeting individually with trustees and have found that I have lots of connections here - from families who owned property in the Imperial Valley, where I have just come from, to the many connections to Ohio, where most of my family still lives.      

    

The connection that has perhaps been the most surprising is my connection to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. When Samuel J. Mills shared his vision for foreign missions with his friends, James Richards, Ezra Fisk, John Seward, and Luther Rice, the five college students formed a secret society that they called “The Brethren.” It was not long after this that Mills, Rice, and Richards moved to Andover Seminary where The Brethren was reorganized and new students recruited, including Adoniram Judson. It was within this small group of friends that Henry Ōpūkahaʻia became a catalyst.

Adoniram Judson became one of the first five missionaries to be sent out by the ABCFM. Arriving in British India right at the beginning of the War of 1812, this original mission faltered and Judson moved on to Burma as a Baptist missionary. He studied the Burmese language, wrote a Burmese grammar book, and translated the Gospel of Mathew. In 1817, a printing press was sent to Burma and Judson oversaw the first materials printed in Burmese in Burma.

The history of Adoniram Judson was a fixture in the mission-oriented American Baptist churches pastored by my father. Judson University is an American Baptist college where my father served as a trustee, where all four of my siblings attended, and where all three of my children graduated. This past September, my family received a Legacy Award from Judson University. Connections are important, I am glad to have made this one.  

Spring Break

Well, Spring Break came a went - rather quickly. Deneen was here for a visit. We had a great week of trying out local restaurants, swimming in our pool, and finally eating at a table.

The Metal Punch Folding Patio Bistro set from Target served as the perfect place to have dinner on the lanai.













And an even better place to watch the fireworks over Waikiki Beach that happen every Friday night at 7:45pm.