The Polynesian Cultural Center opened 48 years ago this week on Oct. 12, 1963, but its roots go even deeper, to the hukilau in Laie, and a singing group in Waikiki called the Polynesian Panorama.

In 1940 the Mormon chapel in Laie was destroyed by fire. Viola Kehau Kawahigashi thought a hukilau — a fishing festival with a luau and Polynesian entertainment — could help raise funds to rebuild the church. Their first hukilau was held in 1948. Two hundred fifty people paid $5 each, and $1,250 was raised.

"The hukilau continued roughly twice a month until 1971," says PCC Historian David Hannemann, "but enough was raised to build a new chapel by 1950. The chapel was the meetinghouse for the church and was the original, temporary campus for BYU Hawaii, then called the Church College of Hawaii, in 1955."

Songwriter Jack Owens attended a hukilau in 1955 and was inspired to write the "Hukilau" song, which was recorded by more than 100 singers, such as Alfred Apaka, Don Ho and Bing Crosby. Owens also wrote "I’ll Weave a Lei of Stars" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me," which was made famous most recently by the Mamas & the Papas.

In 1959 a group of South Pacific students called the Polynesian Panorama began performing traditional songs and dances at the International Market Place, Kaiser’s Hawaiian Village Hotel and the Waikiki Shell. Tourists could not get enough of them.

Church College leaders thought they could create a home for the Polynesian Panorama in Laie. It could merge with the hukilau program and occupy a 15-acre site next to the college.

The Polynesian Village, as it was first called, took the form of little villages that represented different South Pacific islands. Hannemann called Disneyland for help, and it generously invited him for training and gave him some of its manuals.

Today the Polynesian Cultural Center is one part of a triad. The temple represents the spiritual aspect of the LDS community. BYUH represents the academic side, and the PCC represents the cultural side. Seventy percent of the PCC’s 1,200 employees are students at BYUH who are earning their way through college.

Kalo Mataele-Soukop, who came from Tonga in 1957, was a dancer with the hukilau, Polynesian Panorama and the PCC when it opened. She now serves on its board of directors. "I owe the Church College and the PCC my whole life," Mataele-Soukop says. "I feel I’m a very rich woman."

More than 36 million tourists have made the trek to the PCC since it opened, and students who work there have earned more than $170 million for their educations.

Bob Sigall, author of "The Companies We Keep" books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.