Weekend Update: November 4-6

Do you ever have those moments, days or weeks where you're feeling under appreciated?  Well, I've had a week like that and it was all encompassing. I had moments of feeling alone, moments where I've felt like a failure, and moments of feeling under appreciated, but usually never all three at once.  Yet I carry on, because I know the feeling's temporary.  The one joy I basked in was my children. Their needs are so simple - love and attention. Actually, the same as all of ours when it comes down to it. But I have the power to give my children the love and attention they require. And it's pure happiness to meet their needs and see them on their merry way. Simple.

Friday, November 4th

Uncorked at Mauna Lani, 5:30 pm.

This charity event is to benefit North Hawaii Community Hospital Diabetes Wellness Center. Event tickets include a bonus $15 discount at each restaurant ($60 total value)! As a special gift, receive a special edition wine glass from The Shops at Mauna Lani. Enter to Win 2 FREE Tickets! Tickets: $40 pre sale or $50 day of.

First Friday at The Shops


The Shops at Mauna Lani holds a free concert series dubbed “First Fridays at The Shops.” Catch live performances from Big Island talent at the outdoor stage on the first Friday evening of every month. Plus participating merchants offer shopping incentives and kama‘aina specials at each “First Friday” event. Today's artist: Mark Yamanaka. Check him out here!

"Movie Under the Stars", Queens' Marketplace

"Fat Albert" will be playing tonight! I know you've been waiting for it. Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids come to life and step out of their animated, inner-city Philadelphia world.

Saturday, November 5th

6th Annual Moku o Keawe International Hula Festival, Thursday thru Saturday (November 3-5, 2011)

The Moku O Keawe International Festival will be a three-day celebration of hula and the arts of hula, expressed in many forms. The festival includes a hula competition, cultural workshops, and a Hawai‘i marketplace.

Hula Halau (troupes) from Hawaii, Japan and elsewhere compete in Kupuna (senior), Kahiko (ancient), Auana (modern) hula divisions. Workshops and cultural classes are held throughout the event at Waikoloa Bowl at Queens’ Gardens. (808) 345-9364

Moku O Keawe brings together hālau from Japan, the U.S. Mainland and Hawai‘i in a hula competition in Kupuna, Hula Kahiko and Hula ‘Auwana group and solo divisions. Experience Moku O Keawe this year with great ticket prices:  $5 Lawn seating, $15 Reserved. Doors open at 4 pm, program begins at 5 pm.

Schedule as follows: Kahiko competition, Thursday, November 3; Kupuna competition and awards, Friday, November 4; ‘Auwana competition and awards, Saturday, November 5; Big Island Market Place at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. Friday 8 am - 5 pm, Saturday 8 am - 4 pm

Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden Arbor Day Celebration, 
Tree Giveaway, and Seed Exchange

Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook, will hold a three-day event, Nov. 4-6. Among the highlights: woodworkers making poi boards, free garden tours, and a giveaway of 500 native trees. The giveaway (one per person) is set for 9 a.m. to noon on all three days, while the supply lasts. The trees will be rationed so that there are trees to give away each day. The seed exchange, featuring locally adapted plants, is slated for Sat., Nov. 5, from 2 p.m. For more information, click here.

Free trees while supplies last (limit 2 per family), demonstrations, expert planting advice, and more. Pruning instruction at 11am. The garden is 12 miles south of Kailua-Kona. For more info, call 323-3318.

Coffee & Art Stroll, Holualoa, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A beautiful day of art and Kona coffee tastings as the quaint Holualoa Village becomes a stage for all things coffee.  The Coffee & Art Stroll is a premier marketplace with a diverse collection of artists and boutique art galleries along with over two dozen estate Kona coffee farms.  The Coffee Stroll is an annual event of the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival. Gifts, a keiki art contest, live music and more. Free parking at Holualoa School and the Catholic church.

Community Health Fair, Kaloko Storage Kings, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 73-4864 Kanalani Rd (new industrial area)

Discover ways to feed your family easy, afford, and healthy meals. You can get new recipes for great tasting food to prepare and find local sources for it. There will be delicious food for you try too.

There will be companies promoting family activates including biking, paddling, hiking, running, and more. The National Park Service will be there to show us about the Island’s many beautiful recreational locations. Practitioners including massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, and naturopaths will be sharing important health tips too.

Best of all - It’s going to be a fun carnival atmosphere! There will be a prizes, games for kids, live music, zumba and maybe even a fire engine! There will even be live entertainment and presentations by local schools. And it’s free!

The Traveling Jewish Wedding Band Performance, Kailua Kona Library, 10:30 a.m.

Kona's Traveling Jewish Wedding Band performs the melodies popular at Jewish weddings, bar mitzvahs and parties. Featuring Gloria Blum as vocalist, with Bill Noble on clarinet, Joel Gimpel on violin, Judi Olson on keyboard and Barry Blum on contrabass balalaika, the band takes the audience on a magical journey through 100 years of klezmer music. The Blums' original band's recording is now featured on the Folkways/Smithsonian Institute's website featuring Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead at mickeyhart.net/discography/traveling-jewish-wedding.

Sponsored by Friends of the Libraries, Kona this program is offered free to the public. For more information, contact the library at 327-4327.

Metropolitan Opera Live in HD, Makalapua Theaters, 12:55 p.m. Siegfried.

Part of the famous Ring cycle, Wagner's cosmic vision focuses on his hero's early conquests, while director Robert Lepage's revolutionary stage machine transforms itself from bewitched forest to mountaintop love nest. Sung in German with English translation provided simultaneously on the screen. Time: 12:55-6:55PM at Makalapua Stadium Cinemas, Kailua-Kona. Cost: $24; $22 seniors; $20 student w/valid ID; $18 child. For more information, call 329-7133, email sscadden@hawaii.rr.com or visit Metropolitan Opera HD Live.

West Hawaii Seed Exchange (see above), Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, 2 p.m.

The annual seed exchange coincides with the garden's annual Arbor Day Plant Give-Away. Farmers and gardeners are invited to bring saved seed, cuttings, huli, and corms of food crops that grow well in home gardens and on farms. Please bring envelopes to gather seed, and be sure to name the known varieties that you bring. The goal of this yearly gathering is to network seed among home gardeners and local farmers. Coming together to share our knowledge and varieties encourages home production and food security for West Hawai'i. If you have not yet started a home garden please come and meet experience gardeners, and talk story about locally adapted varieties you can grow to feed your family. For more information, contact Diana Duff at hokudi@aol.com.

Honaunau Ola Mau Loa Free Concert & Benefit, Keoua Honaunau Canoe Club, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Honaunau Ola Mau Loa, featuring a Polynesian Dance Party with Te Vaka, is also the launching of a community visioning project for the Honaunau Bay area. This event is presented by the Keoua Honaunau Canoe Club and is sponsored by 'Apono Hawai'i and Pasifika Foundation Hawai'i. Wear your dancing feet! The world famous South Pacific music group, Te Vaka, is performing a FREE acoustic concert. Their Friday night concert at the Kahilu Theater in Waimea is sold out, so this is a wonderful opportunity to hear one of the most talented and unique world music acts in existence. There will also be local musicians, food, a Pasifika-style drumming workshop, a kava bar and information booths. In addition, the event will benefit local paddler, Gladi Hoagland, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor right after she won a gold medal at the state championships in the 60+ women's race. There will be a silent auction, featuring art, goods and unique services. Donations to assist Gladi will be accepted, as well. Free to the public. For more information, call 328-8721 or email acurrie@hawaii.rr.com


Chocolate, Chocolate! One Island Sustainable Living Center, Honaunau, 4 - 7 p.m.
Our third Chocolate Chocolate! event with delicious chocolate tastings, music, and art returns to One Island’s sustainable living center for a delightful sunset experience of locally grown, locally made, and innovative chocolate-inspired products. 4 - 7 p.m. overlooking Kealakekua Bay. $12 tickets provide 2 servings (including a savory entre option with beverage, or sweet treats) with additional $6 tickets available to purchase gifts items for friends and family. These are delightful, magical events that definitely twinkle! Mayan spiced hot chocolate will be a special new feature for this fall event.

RSVP to hawaii@one-island.org to reserve a parking space; tickets can be purchased online at their web site.

Sunday, November 6th


Parker School's 12th Annual Heneghan 5k Fun Run and 1k Keiki Run, Parker Lower School, Waimea, 7 - 10 a.m.

Registration begins at 6:45 am, the keiki 1K race begins at 7:30 am, the 5K race begins at 8 am at Parker Lower School. Advance general entry fee is $30 for adults, $20 for students, and $15 for keikis 10 and younger. The fee includes a t-shirt, food and refreshments. Family package: $75 for a family of 4 or more. Family registration form continued on back of registration form. Participant registrations postmarked after October 28, 2011 will be considered late registrations and participants will not be guaranteed a t-shirt on race day. Childcare will be provided for children of 5k participants. Registration forms for this event are available here.

"Kuka Kuka O Honaunau" Kupuna Talk Story, Honaunau Beach Church Lot, 3 - 7 p.m.

Danny Kaniela Akaka, Jr., will be the featured guest at Kuka Kuka O Honaunau, a kupuna talk story event at the Honaunau Beach Church Lot. Akaka is the highly respected kahu, musician, and master of ceremonies at the monthly "Twilight at Kalahuipu'a" talk story series at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel. Stories and songs of the old days at Honaunau will be shared at this event, which is presented by Ka 'Ohana O Honaunau/Kukulukumuhana O Honaunau and is sponsored by Hui Kuapa, Ala Kahakai Trail Association, and the National Park Foundation through the generous support of Lowes Charitable Education Foundation, the Anschutz Foundation and Ahmanson Foundation. Time: 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Honaunau Beach Church Lot. Free to the public. For more information, call 640-8074 or email bnavas@hawaiiantel.net.

"Tropix" Chamber Music Recital / Benefit, Fairmont Orchid, Kohala Coast, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m.

The Orchestra of the Hawaiian Islands presents the chamber music of "Tropix", a duo that includes Brazilian violinist Manoela Wunder and Resident Conductor Philip Simmons on guitar for a French & Latin program featuring works by Debussy, Ravel, Paganini, Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla, and others. Tickets are $25, with proceeds going towards the new Instrumental Music Program at Parker School. Tickets are available at Kona Wine Market and at The Great 4-D Movie Ride at the Shops at Mauna Lani. For more information, call 808-315-0885 or email amusicfest@aol.com

As always, whatever you decide to do this weekend, live strong, love fiercely. Shower your kids with your time and attention. That's the gift which will be treasured the most!