Power of palaka runs deep with canoe-traveling Santa

Sometimes a bit of fun begets more fun, and this column is a case in point.

Palaka stories flew about via email and around Facebook.

One tale involved red palaka shorts worn by the late impresario Kimo McVay. Keith Haugen also posted an account of McVay buying up local supplies of palaka to arrange for a manufacturer to make sneakers with the fabric.

They "sold like the proverbial hotcake," via J.C. Penney, he said.

But wait. Please make sure young children are not nearby as you read the rest of this column.

The Palaka Santa who has arrived on the beach at the Outrigger Waikiki each year for nearly two decades to kick off the Christmas season will reprise his role this year at 9 a.m. Dec. 14. He will arrive as usual, aboard an outrigger canoe.

It will be the 18th year of his only-in-Hawaii arrival, said Donald Boyce of Kailua.

Reading the "Buy Local" column on Aloha Friday inspired him to call.

Turns out he has three palaka Santa suits with matching palaka slippers and a couple of traditional Santa suits on which all the fur, at least at one time, was all lamb’s wool. "It was extremely heavy," he says.

For those who are wondering, he volunteered that his full beard is the real deal.

The palaka Santa suits were created by a seamstress his wife found, who had some palaka at the time, he said. "I take extremely good care of them."

Part of the palaka Santa suit he has is "an absolutely gorgeous palaka vest that I wear with my gold watch and the chain. I love palaka," Boyce said.

The palaka slippers are regular slippers with palaka fabric sewn around the over-foot thong part, to add fun and whimsy to his Hawaii-style Santa appearance.

Boyce wasn’t always destined for holiday greatness, though.

He loved woodworking from his high school days, and worked at Bonded Materials Co. in Campbell Industrial Park, but for much of his adult life, he worked in the hospitality and food and beverage industry, notably for Spencecliff Corp.

He worked at Puka Puka Otea, recently featured in two "Rearview Mirror" columns by Bob Sigall, and was a manager at the lamented Ranch House in Aina Haina. Reading the two-part column "brought back so many memories," he said.

Then there was his near-death experience with infectious pneumonia.

"On Christmas Day" his wife got a phone call from Castle Medical Center physicians saying, "If you want to see your husband, you’d better come down," he said. His wife brought their seven children with her "and brought them in one or two at a time to say goodbye."

He lived.

"I was so impressed with what they (hospital staffers) did, I have gone back … (each year) to say thank you," giving candy canes to all the workers.

He has since become a popular holiday attraction and an in-demand Santa.

The Outrigger connection is at least partly because "he’s the husband of one of our employees here at Outrigger Waikiki," said Nancy Daniels, director of public relations for Outrigger Enterprises Group.

"He’s phenomenal. He just exudes wonder and cheer," she said. "The kids just gravitate to him," she said.

Indeed. When our phone conversation was over, he burst forth with a warm and hearty "ho ho ho," just before he bid "aloha."

———
Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.