Wahiawa is a little town on the way to the North Shore. It was here that Del Monte company first grew and canned pineapple in 1902. In July 1900, James Drummond Dole won a government auction for 61 acres of land. He built the Dole cannery next to his pineapple fields in Wahiawa and packed his first cans in 1903. By 1904, Wahiawa was known as "The City of Pines". Some years ago, the Wahiawa Pineapple Festival came to be.
Another major pineapple company is the Maui Gold Company. Thought the company has been in existence since the 1900s, it took them nearly 80 years of hybridization to develop this particular pineapple variety. It has only been sold for the last 12 years. These pineapples have 3x the Vitamin C, are juicier, and less acidic.
Do you love their float with the surf boards and hula skirt for the truck? In Hawaii, parade floats give out goodies. I never imagined we would get whole pineapple.
Son1 clutches his pineapple gift
We also got pineapple from the folks on the Dole float. Below, behind the costume pineapple is a papaya tree. It must have been at least twelve feet tall. The Dole float was a plantation theme, with a fruit stand. That is how Dole first started in Hawaii, as a road side stand. If you look between the two girls in the yellow Dole shirts you will see the word Dole. The letters are all made of fresh island flowers in a lei fashion. Below the pineapple characters are real pineapple plants. This is a children's ukulele band. A ukulele is a Hawaiian small instrument derived from the Portuguese guitar in the 19th century. It only has four strings, and is played by plucking. Most traditional Hawaiian music incorporated the ukulele.
Wahiawa is just outside of Schofield Barracks, the army post on this side of the island. Mahalo Nui Loa means thank you from the heart in Hawaiian. To the right of the American flag is the red, white, and blue Hawaiian flag.
After the parade, Son1 and I made our way to the festival held in the community park. The camera was left in the car. That's too bad. I didn't get pictures of the pineapple salsa or the pineapple chocolate dipping station, or any of the other free pineapple food. But my biggest regret was not taking pictures of the Chinese lion dance, because I learned so much, including feeding the lion with money.
The Chinese lions were accompanied by drums, a gong, and cymbals. These instruments are the voices of the lions, and set the mood for the lion dancers. The lion dance is performed by two dancers, one at the head, and the other at the tail. There were two lions. When they began dancing, and when they finished, they bowed to one another, three times each. These particular lions (by their facial features) were male. When there is more than one lion dancing, one lion is the alpha male, and the other follows suit. This wasn't too hard for these lions, since one lion was danced by adults, and the smaller lion was danced by keiki (children in Hawaiian). The lion cub copied everything the alpha lion did. Neither lion turns his back on the other, as a means of respect, and also civilization and tameness. As the lions dance by, it is common to give the lion money, to bring good fortune. This particular dance organization is a non-profit that preserves Chinese culture, so any money they receive goes into their dance club fund.
Son1 really wanted to feed the lion, so I handed him a dollar. When the lion danced by he became so timid. The instruments were very, very loud! He watched another little girl feed the lion a dollar through his mouth. Son1 felt brave instantly, and headed toward the head of the lion. The lion's head dropped low to the ground, as part of the dance. He missed Son1's hand! The dance jumped up high, and extended the lion's head far above his own head. As he came down, a boy reached through the mouth of the lion, and clasped the dollar from Son1's hand. He absolutely loved it!
What a fun festival! I never used to like pineapple as a kid, and now I LOVE it! One day, I'd like to take a pineapple top and try to grow it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my site today!
So when I get closer to delivering this baby, will you send me good Hawaiian pineapple to eat every day? :-) Mmmmmm.
ReplyDeleteYummmm...pineapple! Is it cheaper there than it is here?
ReplyDeleteYEAH the prices of Pineapple lately
ReplyDeleteare like gas prices...hehehe
What great floats and Fun for you and SON1.
Hope you have a great weekend! O yeah I have been putting more pics on my blog...breaking all the rules! lol
Pineapples are still pretty cheap in California. I picked up a large one for $2.75 the other day, and I believe it was a Maui gold. Funny that the park had a pineapple and chocolate stand, because I can never eat the two together without getting a stomach ache. One day I had pineapple followed by chocolate pudding and I was sick all night. Then I knew my stomach did not like the combination when I got a similar stomach ached when I ate some chocolate covered macadamian nuts after eating some pineapple.
ReplyDeleteHow fun :) Our friends lived in Richmond for a couple years and there was a watermelon festival...much to the disbelief of some they had watermelon pie, lol.
ReplyDeleteYeah I thought at first it was going to be a SHARK! But thank goodness it was NOT! I tried getting pictures but the boys wanted to run out in the Water..so I had to coral them back IN!
ReplyDeleteGA has Peach and Watermelon, Crawfish and there is a RATTLESNAKE ROUNDUP Festival!
BTW I love the pic of Son1 holding the Pineapple! He looks so serious holding his LOOT!
ReplyDeleteHEY any takers on your house Swap???? YOU know we all are dying to know!!!!!! I love the Idea!
ReplyDelete$2.79 for the pineapple
ReplyDeleteTakers on my house swap...hmm...no. Maybe if I make it more open ended and give more notice. Tickets to Hawaii are super expensive now with ATA shutting down, American reducing flights, and Aloha going bankrupt. Prices to CA are double what they usually are from here. Thank YOU LORD for frequent flyer miles and free companion tickets!
I like the big pineapple on the Dole float - she sure looks happy!
ReplyDeleteAh, Schofield Barracks... I'm sure Abe has a few stories he could share about living there back during his high school days ;).