Smoke rose from the stacks, and the factory rumbled like a locomotive on the tracks, eager to get going.

HC&S, the last sugar plantation in Hawaii, began its last harvest Tuesday. Two months ago parent company Alexander & Baldwin announced that, due to sugar prices, wet weather and the cumulative effect of other pressures, the 145-year-old sugar operation across 36,000 acres on Maui will close later this year after its last harvest.

On Tuesday morning all the employees — from little offices, massive trucks, out in the fields or within the dark warrens of the factory — came together for a blessing.

“Lift up your eyes and look to the fields, for they are ready to harvest,” Greg Shepard said to the group gathered on the red-brown dirt behind the factory. The preacher from Keala Church of Maui had many verses to chose from — the Bible talks a lot about harvesting.

“Bless every employee as they go out to the fields and return from the fields,” he said. Later, Shepard walked through the factory and prayed over the equipment.

This harvest started without an official cane fire. Last week 100 acres of cane burned in an accidental blaze started by a vehicle in the fields. There was enough cane from that incident to keep the mill busy for the first day or so. Depending on wind and vog conditions, the first cane fire could be lit early Thursday morning.

A&B President and CEO Chris Benjamin returned to Maui for the blessing. He served as plantation manager at HC&S in 2009-2011. “Just look at this weather,” he said, admiring the clear, bright morning. “We just need 250 more days like this.”

Benjamin walked among the crowd shaking hands and leaning in to talk to people. There was too much adrenaline for it to be a sad scene. The factory was thrumming and people were ready to work. “The prevailing feeling was pride,” Benjamin said later. “People were saying things like, ‘It’s an honor to have been a part of HC&S,’ and, ‘Let’s make this the best harvest ever.’”

Plantation manager Rick Volner thanked everyone for how they have carried on despite the crushing news of the closure. “I have been amazed by the amount of dedication and loyalty,” he said.

After the blessing all the employees gathered for a group photograph — the kind of historical picture you find in a drawer in an antique store or in a frame in a museum, but it’s right now. The beginning of the end was Tuesday.

Photographers climbed up on the cab of one of the big hauler trucks to get everyone in the frame. A drone hovered overhead. There were no tears, not yet, but it wasn’t the right mood for the old “one serious picture; OK, now everyone look silly.”

Still, Wes Bissen stood in the middle of the group and raised up two shakas. Slowly and without fanfare, others held up shakas, too.

And then it was time to get to work.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.