Last Sunday's general membership action: we cleaned a second puhala (just ma uka of the big one) for Sue Pignataro, the club's mea ulana lauhala whose papale have been major silent-auction items at our last two fundraisers. That‘s Kaleomanuʻiwa Wong pulling dry leaves off the tree while the rest of us hack away at the California grass below. Since we had an hour left and Albert Ueligitone was willing to man the overloaded wheelbarrow, we then cleared out the old imu rock pile, wire crate, and pallet that were cluttering up the ʻakulikuli patch. All in all, it was quite a day. 
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Last year's Poi & Papale fundraiser generated enough money to sustain our scholarship program through the 2017-18 school year. But this every-other-summer P&P left a little hole in our current calendar, and we decided to fill it with Kumaikalala, a slightly smaller-scale event whose returns are meant to 1) further contribute to our scholarship fund, and 2) provide travel assistance to potential KHCC delegates who are hoping to attend  the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs' convention in Seattle this October. We have a number of young people on our board who can't otherwise afford it. Our membership approved this effort and designated a one-third, two-thirds distribution of profits: a third to scholarships, and two to convention travel.

No laila, on Sunday, July 2, over 120 of our kakoʻo joined us for an evening of the best in Hawaiian food (thanks to Tammy and Danny Smith of Hale Kealoha), music (thanks to Hoku Hanohano winners Chad Takatsugi and the Lum brothers of Keauhou), hula (thanks to the ladies of HMI), and silent auction treasures (thanks to Sue Pignataro, Normie Chock, Herman Marciel, Kauka de Silva, Kaleo Wong, Nick Tomasello, Kurt Brunner, and Cosette Harms). We met our fundraising goal of $5000 (we even exceeded it by a bit), and just as importantly, we celebrated the connections and kuleana that cannot be neglected if our lahui is to thrive. Mahalo palena ʻole to all who came, worked, cooked, sang, contributed, cleaned-up, and reconfirmed our Hawaiian place in the piko of Kailua. Aue, ke aloha e!

June's general membership meeting at Ulupō included about 30 people-hours of work in our three pūnāwai. Sites of Oahu explains that these springs were used to "wash pigs" for offerings on the heiau above, but other accounts of the purity of the water, its source beneath the heiau, and its importance to the loʻi below all suggest otherwise to those of us who do our best to listen to the stones. Mahalo to all who brought/sent food to fuel our efforts, to Aunty ​Grace Hu and Clara Burrows in particular.
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We offer below a month-hopping glimpse at what, a year ago, was a trash covered pile of imu backfill and is now a pu‘u ‘akulikuli (a mound of ‘akulikuli) that began with eight little guys given to us by Rick Barboza of Hui Ku Maoli Ola. E ulu, e ulu, kini o Kailua i ka po. May you grow, may you grow, O multitudes of Kailua in the po (the dense growth) of Ulupo.

It's been a great week for Ulupo: WCCC wahine weed-whackers on Wednesday with Rick Scudder of 'Ahahui Malama I ka Lokahi, 30 MINA (Malama I Na Ahupuaʻa - UHM College of Social Services) weeder-planter-mulchers on Saturday with Ryan Uenten of Hikaʻalani, and a dozen-plus Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club shoulder cleaners on Sunday with Mapuana de Silva. The only thing missing – and it's a mea nui – is the hand of Kaleomanu'iwa Wong. He'll be back in 12 days from Tahiti (by way of Rapa Nui, Pitcairn, and Nuku Hiwa), and it's plain to anyone who knows Ulupo that the place itself deeply misses him.

From Tadia Rice:  Please join Hawaii Maoli as we honor Mapuana and Kihei de Silva with the 2017 Ka Mana O Ke Kanaka Award on Saturday, March 4th at the beautiful Moku Ko‘olaupoko at Makapu‘u Meadows. Also honored will be conservation advocate Ulalia Woodside and Senator Gilbert Kahele (posthumous). These four remarkable individuals have made kanaka maoli their hana po‘okela. Each has made significant contributions to the Hawaiian community with their leadership in community development, business, and cultural preservation. Inspired by our honorees, the theme of this year’s event is NaPua no ka Wekiu (flowers of the highest branch).

From Kihei and Mapuiana:  Lisa Okinaga, a student, graduate, and dear friend of ours recently composed a mele for her Nuʻuanu home. Its chorus tells us, "Aloha kuʻu ʻaina / Aloha wale e." One of several ways to translate this seemingly simple expression is: "I love my land. I love it without hesitation or qualification; I just love it." Aloha ‘aina, in all of its simplicity and complexity, is what keeps us going. If honor comes to us, that honor belongs to the ʻaina that we do our best to serve.