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While it feels good to learn that a gift has been made in your name to a charity, how nice if that gift includes a little something extra just for you.
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1. In 1991, when my son was 5, we built a toy Hawaiian sailing canoe from a simple kit sold at the gift shop at Bishop Museum, where Nainoa Thompson studied the principles of celestial navigation in the 1970s. The little canoe is still there ($8.99), along with the hardcover children’s book “Hoku the Stargazer,” by Ellie Crowe and Juliet Fry, and illustrated by Kristi Petosa Sigel, about a little girl who sails with her puppy to save a friend in distress (Island Heritage, $13.95).
Grown-ups (hint) will love the gift shop’s new, locally hand-printed kitchen towels ($15). Shop Pacifica is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily but will be closed Dec. 25; visit bishopmuseum.org.
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2. Show support for the Hokule‘a voyaging canoe and its Malama Honua world tour, dedicated to peace and the protection of our shared global environment, with T-shirts and trucker hats ($25 each) and roomy canvas bags ($18).
Or give a Polynesian Voyaging Society annual membership with a donation of $100 or more, and they’ll throw in a membership shirt. Purchase online at hokulea.com.
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3. The advent of island winter is marked by the arrival of the kolea, the subject of a new book, “Hawaii‘s Kolea: The Amazing Transpacific Life of the Pacific Golden-Plover” (University of Hawaii Press, $16.99), by Oscar W. Johnson and Honolulu Star-Advertiser “Ocean Watch” columnist Susan Scott.
Coming from Alaska, “These far-flung plovers make some of the longest nonstop migrations in the world,” the authors write. The elegant bird’s graphic gold, white and black plumage is echoed in the Hawaii Audubon Society’s kolea T-shirt ($20). Both are available through hawaiiaudubon.org and at the authors’ book signing and talk at the society’s annual banquet and sale, 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Treetops Restaurant, Paradise Park; tickets, including dinner, are $45.
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4. It wouldn’t be the holidays without joyful sounds, and our world-class Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra keeps the pulse of paradise going. If you buy tickets for any four concerts, the Flex Five Package gives you a free ticket to a fifth concert of your choice. So if you give tickets (starting at $34) for upcoming performances, say, “Holiday Pops” (Dec. 10-11), Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” (Dec. 29-30), “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (Jan. 6-7) and Schubert “The Great” (Feb. 19), choose a bonus such as “Romeo & Juliet” (May 14), Rachmaninoff with Andre Watts (June 11) or one of the many other offerings in a rich and varied season.
For tickets, drop by the HSO box office at 3610 Waialae Ave. in Kaimuki, call 94-MUSIC (946-8742) or visit hawaiisymphonyorchestra.org.
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5. This year, thanks to a new state law, Hawaii Correctional Industries is offering craft-works by inmates for direct public sale. The choices include lap-size patchwork quilts ($16), elasticized fabric covers for serving dishes ($14 a pair), quilted bottle gift bags ($12) and salvaged-wood bangles ($24 in koa, pictured; prices vary), bowls ($24, pictured), velvet-lined jewelry boxes ($150) and furniture to order.
Part of the proceeds go to a crime victims fund, said HCI’s Nicholas Angel. Inmates receive modest pay along with skills training. The showroom is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at 801 Dillingham Ave., second floor; visit hawaiici.org.
“5 Things We Love” is a shortlist of newly discovered stuff you have got to see, hear, wear, use or eat. Please keep in mind that featured products may be in short supply and may not be available at all store locations; prices may vary. Tell us what you are loving by emailing features@staradvertiser.com.
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