Kukui Holiday Bazaar

Kapa’anui Dudoit got his photo taken with Santa Claus, or Ryan-Shain Kanealli, at the Kukui Holiday Bazaar Saturday night. Photo by Léo Azambuja

By Léo Azambuja

The Molokai Education Center, an outreach site of the University of Hawaii Maui College, offers higher education, career and lifelong training. But providing a little fun — actually, a lot of fun — during Christmas can’t hurt.

The Kukui Holiday Bazaar, held at the center’s kukui grove and parking lot, had live music, local crafts and clothing vendors, food booths, plants for sale, keiki activities and a lot of free stuff on the evening of Dec. 12.

“This is our second year doing it, and it was a way for us to showcase mainly our students’ work and to engage our community and to give back to them during the holidays,” said Theresa Tamanaha, event organizer and UHMC instructional and student support services.

She estimated at least 400 people attended the bazaar, which had music from the local band Six Pak, a keiki corner, a photo booth with Santa Claus, free popcorn, hot chocolate and cotton candy, and about 20 vendors between food and crafts. 

“We had a lot of free stuff,” Tamanaha said.

Education Center coordinator Kelley Dudoit, who was helping with the bazaar’s organization, said the Student Activities Council hosted the keiki corner. 

“They have got different inflatables and games for the kids,” Dudoit said.

People could also purchase poinsettias grown by the school’s agriculture students. By the end of the night, all the poinsettias were gone. 

Students learning how to build homes also went to work.

“We had our construction students put together all of these tables and stuff that you see here,” Dudoit said, adding the students also built a mini greenhouse on display.

Molokai High School junior Kruze Lani emceed the event. The 16-year-old is already tiptoeing into college.

“He is actually taking early college classes, so it is good for us to promote that to the kids,” Tamanaha said.

The bazaar, she said, is a good opportunity to promote the college, letting the community know they offer a lot of different classes, and not all of them are necessarily for a degree. But it is also a way of giving back to the community that doesn’t have a whole lot of family events anymore like it used to have in the past, she said.

Visit maui.hawaii.edu/molokai for more information on UHMC Molokai Education Center.