On April 12, Pacific for the 54th time will welcome visiting family and friends to the mainland for the 54th annual Lu’au. Na Haumana O Hawai’i, also known as Pacific’s Hawai’I Club, will be entertaining guests all weekend with visiting, Lu’au dinner and of course, the much awaited performance.
Lu’au Chair senior Kristin Apana and fellow Board Member junior Carli Yanamoto agreed that preparation for this event requires great teamwork and makes both the process and the end result very fulfilling.
“It means so much to us to see everyone working together, and it makes us feel like we are home,” said Apana. “Seeing our families helping out with prepping and being here to support us helps us finish off the spring semester strong.”
Yanamoto added that Lu’au was not only a great way for the club to spend time together, planning the events but it was also an opportunity to share Hawaiian culture with the rest of the campus.
NHOH adviser Edna Gehring said that the club is continuously looking to make improvements to Lu’au, making it bigger, better and reaching out for more participants.
The one thing that stays the same, however, is the pride and level of effort that goes into Lu’au each year, according to Gehring. She said the energy and hard work put in by students and their parents has continued to be great throughout each Lu’au. The support is non-stop whether it is preparing flower arrangements, bringing supplies, setting up props or greeting attendees.
“Every family has their own skill set and it brings diversity within our own culture together,” said Gehring. “We start to get worried the week of the event, if we are going to finish the leis on time, and before we know it, our parents have finished it and we have our backbone supporting us the entire time.”
The theme to this year’s Lu’au is “Onipa’a I Ku’u One Hanau,” which translates into “One Foot on the Sand.” The saying is meant as a representation of Hawaiian history of celebrating both new friends and familiar traditions.
Floor-level tickets for this year’s Lu’au are sold out but bleacher seat tickets are still available and can be purchased by clicking on the Lu’au link on Pacific’s front page. From there, click on the link for the Lu’au facts page and at the bottom there is a link that directs to the ticket-purchasing site. Prices vary by age and whether the ticket includes dinner and the show or just the performance.
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