Author Archives: Catherine Cluett Pactol

Nativity Festival Brings Arts Opportunities for Keiki

Thursday, December 12th, 2024

Nativity Festival Brings Arts Opportunities for Keiki

Molokai keiki got into the Christmas spirit on stage during a two-day Christmas Nativity Festival. It was put on by the Hokulani Children’s Theater of Molokai (CTOM), which was established almost two years ago and has continued to generate performing arts opportunities for Molokai kids. Last week, Hokulani CTOM teamed up with other Molokai artists for the inaugural festival.

Featuring a nativity play by the Hokulani CTOM actors, the festival also included performances by the CTOM choir, local singers, the Molokai Middle School Hawaiian Immersion students, and the Molokai Strings Quartet.

“We wanted to highlight all of the things that make Molokai special,” said Vicki Boswell, founder and director of Hokulani CTOM.…

Mele Kalikimaka Molokai-Style

Thursday, December 12th, 2024

Mele Kalikimaka Molokai-Style

Last week’s Christmas Light Parade packed the streets of Kaunakakai. Molokai businesses like Misaki’s, Bayer, Friendly Market Center, Young Brothers, Hawaiian Electric, Napa Auto Parts and more decked out their trucks to celebrate the holiday season. Many of the floats went all out, with flashing lights, fake snow, music, and volunteers dressed up as Christmas characters. The parade, which lasted for nearly an hour, made its way down Ala Malama Ave before setting up at Kaunakakai Ball Park for a massive ho’olaule’a.

Along with perennial favorite Christmas traditions like the light parade, Molokai residents were introduced to a new event this year: the Kukui Holiday Bazaar at the Molokai Education Center.…

MHS Holiday Exhibition

Thursday, December 5th, 2024

Molokai High School News Release 

On Wednesday, Dec. 11, Molokai High School will be hosting our annual Holiday Exhibition. Please join us for a fun filled evening at the Molokai High School woodshop/agriculture/digital design areas from 4 to 7 p.m.  The evening’s activities will include student presentations and projects. Come out and support our students!  We will have exhibits and products for sale, products from our Agriculture, Digital Design, Entrepreneurship, Construction, Culinary, Nursing, Programming, and O Hina I Ka Malama programs. See you there!…

Support Hokulani CTOM’s Journey to the National Stage

Thursday, December 5th, 2024

Support Hokulani CTOM’s Journey to the National Stage

Hokulani Children’s Theater of Molokai News Release

This Christmas season, you can give a gift that lasts a lifetime: the gift of opportunity. Hokulani Children’s Theatre of Molokai (CTOM) is launching a community-wide effort to help our young performers achieve their dreams of competing on a national stage. Our students are planning to compete in a prestigious national musical play competition in California in February 2027, and we need your help to raise $45,000 to get them there!
To kick off this exciting campaign, we’re asking our Molokai ‘ohana to join us in a festive recycling drive throughout December. By donating your recyclable cans and bottles, you can turn holiday cheer into performing arts opportunities for local youth.…

Na’iwa Homesteaders Train for Self-Sufficiency 

Thursday, December 5th, 2024

Na’iwa Homesteaders Train for Self-Sufficiency 

Since February, lessees from the Na’iwa Agricultural Subdivision Alliance (NASA) have been training in job skills to support the development of their homestead community. The hope is that in the near future, these trainees will be employed on their own land, building their own homes. 

 

Working in carpentry, plumbing, electric and more with Aloha Construction, “the goal is to eventually have them have the proper skill sets to maintain their homes and assist with the building of the future homes,” explained Liliana Napoleon, an advocate for the Aloha Construction training program. 

This last cohort was comprised of Richard Maikui, Kirk Kiaha Sr.,…

Aiming Sky High 

Thursday, December 5th, 2024

Aiming Sky High 

Returning for its second year, the Youth in Aviation program gave Molokai kids a chance to see what a career in the air could look like. Run by the Aloft nonprofit, Youth in Aviation walked Molokai keiki through a variety of jobs like pilot, air traffic controller and airport mechanic. 

 

One of the highlights from the weekend program was a chance to fly in both helicopters and planes, as well as start their own flight logbooks. The program aims to foster home-grown pilots, in the hopes of making air transportation more available for Molokai residents. 

 

“They had a blast,” said Randell Albertson, a Maui firefighter who started the Aloft nonprofit.…

Yard to Table

Thursday, December 5th, 2024

Yard to Table

With Thanksgiving fresh in the mind, The Molokai Dispatch reached out to our local University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (UH CTAHR) agents to get ideas for a couple easy crops that Molokai residents can grow in their own backyards. Kyle Franks, UH CTAHR Extension Agent, had a couple suggestions.

Sweet Potato

“It’s easy to grow,” said Franks. You want to start with what’s called slips, which are rooted sprouts that grow out of the sweet potato tuber. Franks recommended using the slips from the new growth ends of the mother plant to avoid weevil eggs.

“Weevils are one of the more predominant pests for sweet potatoes,” he explained.…

La Ku’oko’a

Thursday, December 5th, 2024

La Ku’oko’a

Last week, Molokai residents had an opportunity to celebrate La Ku’oko’a, or Independence Day for the Kingdom of Hawaii. Honored annually on Nov. 28, the day marks the 1843 recognition of the Kingdom of Hawaii’s sovereignty by England and France, and the work of figures like Timoteo Haʻalilio, William Richards, and George Simpson. 

 

This year, residents celebrated at the Molokai Community Health Center on Nov. 29 with varieties of cultural demonstrations, live entertainment, silk screen printing and more. 

Earlier in the week, a program series dedicated towards Hawaiian history met outside the Molokai Public Library for an afternoon of oli, mele and education about this historic time period.…

Beating the Weeds

Thursday, November 21st, 2024

Hawaii Edible Landscaping News Release

The Molokai community is invited to attend the free online class, “How to Beat the Weeds Naturally with Ecological Agriculture” on Thursday, Dec. 5, 5:30-7 p.m. with David Sansone of Hawaii Edible Landscaping.

The class will teach how to let nature do the work to eliminate the weeds, reduce labor and costs as well as increase production, improve the soil, and increase drought resistance. Some practices covered will include the animal tractor system of weed elimination, cover crops, ground covers, and mulch crops that can be chopped and dropped to smother weeds.

Sansone has been researching, developing, and demonstrating ecological agriculture and agroforestry systems for gardeners, farmers, and native species restorationists for over 20 years in a wide variety of climates and growing conditions.…

Georgiettie Likopualehua W.I.P. Tancayo

Thursday, November 21st, 2024

Georgiettie Likopualehua W.I.P. Tancayo

The stairway to heaven opened on Oct. 27, 2024 for Georgiette Likopualehua W.I.P. Tancayo to return home to her maker.
On March 12, 1961 Michael (deceased) and Irene Tancayo welcomed their eldest child, Liko. She attended Kaunakakai Elementary, MHS, and graduated from the class of 1979 from Kamehameha Schools. While on Oahu, she worked at Shiro’s Saimin restaurant, joined the Honolulu National Guard, and enlisted in the Air Force. After marrying, she welcomed her son, Kegal-Joe Fook Kun M. Burrill.
Returning to Molokai, she worked various jobs at Kaluakoi Hotel and Golf, Kalaiakamanu Hou Church, Molokai Visitors Association, Mahalo Airlines, Mrs.…