Volunteers will keep big tree shining in Kaimuki minipark

A metal-frame Christmas tree will shine for a 28th holiday season atop the hill behind the Kaimuki Fire Station.

The 40-foot lighted display was at risk of going dark this year until Hawaiian Electric Co. volunteered to string a new set of bulbs on the tree before the annual Kaimuki Christmas Parade on Dec. 6.

Twelve HECO workers, volunteering their time, will use bucket trucks to string lights on the tree this afternoon.

"We are absolutely committed to helping," HECO spokesman Darren Pai said. "We heard about the situation there and we know the tree is really an iconic part of the celebration in the Kaimuki community."

City crews usually put up the tree’s lights by the beginning of November to avoid a conflict with the Honolulu and Kapolei City Lights jobs, said Leonard Tam, a lifelong Kaimuki resident who has helped keep the tree lit as a 20-year volunteer for the city Parks Department.

The Kaimuki Business and Professional Association said it emailed a request to the mayor’s office in mid-November for help putting up the lights.

The mayor’s office told the Star-Advertiser it could not locate the request. Also, the city said it does not have the resources to devote to what it called the "unscheduled activity" because city crews were scheduled to work on the City Lights displays.

Westley Chun, director and chief engineer of the city Department of Facility Maintenance, said, "Our department does a lot of heavy lifting for the City Lights, but if the request came and we could honor it, we would do it."

In two previous years, HECO sent volunteer crews to help with the tree, which sits on city land in the Puu O Kaimuki Mini Park and was erected in 1985.