KAANAPALI, Maui >> Feelings about Lahaina expressed as art flowed Friday at a beach park on the edge of the Maui town leveled by fire Aug. 8.
About 200 people, including Lahaina residents who lost their homes to the wind-driven wildfire that killed at least 98 people, took part in the late afternoon event billed as a community gathering and art party at Hanakao‘o Beach Park.
Part of the purpose for the “art making project,” according to organizers, was to create demonstration signs in opposition to Gov. Josh Green’s Sept. 8 declaration welcoming tourists back starting Sunday to West Maui areas mainly between Kapalua and Kaanapali, which is where many Lahaina evacuees are living in hotels.
Artistic creations, including some scenic paintings, also were produced for other purposes, including personal expression, healing, love and support.
Participants from keiki to kupuna filled about a dozen picnic tables and conveyed messages that included “Stand Together,” “Stronger Aloha,” “Lahaina Strong,” “Malama Lahaina” and “Keep Lahaina Lands in Lahaina Hands.”
Angela Tuipelehake is a 2001 Lahainaluna High School graduate who lives in Las Vegas and flew back to Maui on Thursday to be with her best friend and former classmate, Theresa Marzan.
Tuipelehake decorated a poster board with a big red “L” on a green hillside next to “Lahaina Strong 96761” while sitting next to Marzan, a ninth grade teacher at Princess Nahienaena Elementary School, which was spared by fire but remains closed.
Tuipelehake’s work was guided by Marzan’s 9-year- daughter, Ailey Maielua.
Organizers and supporters of the event donated paint, markers, canvas panels, plywood sheets, cardboard, poster board, and other art supplies along with wooden sign handles and food that included a truck bed brimming with young coconuts that were being cut open and served with a straw.
Red shirts printed with “Lahaina Strong” were given out to displaced Lahaina residents.
Noah Munz, a 25-year-old lifelong Maui resident living in Wailuku, brought a serving tank of iced mamaki tea made from tea leaves picked from his backyard garden.
Munz said he was there to support people who have urged Green to delay the West Maui tourism reopening plan.
“It’s just too soon for all these people to come back,” Munz said. “It’s going to cause stress and confrontation.”
Thomas Oliver, operator of the Waikomo Shave Ice business in Paia, cranked out frozen treats to the delight of young and old as a way to show his support.
After a prayer with participants holding hands in a giant circle, Pa‘ele Kiakona, one of the event organizers, thanked everyone for turning out.
“We never really got an opportunity to speak out as things continue to roll on,” he said. “We never were thought about in a lot of the decisions that are being made, so this is an opportunity to get that down on a poster so we can let the world know how we feel.”
Kiakona also said the gathering was an opportunity for the community to be together.
“We may not be bonded by blood, but I think all of us here are bonded by fire,” he said.
Kiakona said no organized demonstrations are planned in the coming days against West Maui tourism reopening, though backers of the gathering still feel strongly that visitors coming back to West Maui hotels, restaurants and shops previously staffed by a lot of Lahaina residents will not be healthy for displaced residents, especially those who had traumatic experiences amid the fire.
Friday’s event followed a Tuesday rally at the state Capitol on Oahu where several dozen Lahaina Strong members and their supporters implored Green to delay the planned West Maui tourism reopening.
A delegation delivered a petition with 11,141 signatures to Green’s office, and invited the governor to Friday’s gathering.
Green did not attend, though Courtney Lazo, who was born and raised in Lahaina, set out a chair with a sign reserving it for the governor.
Green has previously said that there is no right time to restart tourism in West Maui in balance with community healing, but that waiting causes economic suffering.
Many Maui residents, including some from Lahaina, support the reopening because they rely on tourism for jobs.
An estimated 8,773 people are still out of work on Maui, and nearly 8,000 people who lost homes in the fire are living in hotels as temporary shelter.
West Maui contributes 15% of the state’s tourism revenue, and the drop in tourism there and the subsequent job losses are taking a toll on the island’s economy and residents.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen was invited to Friday’s event and did attend for about an hour. He talked with old acquaintances and others, including Kiakona.
The mayor announced Sept. 27 that West Maui’s tourism reopening would be staggered, with an initial phase from the Ritz-Carlton Maui in Kapalua to Kahana Villa followed by two subsequent phases closer to Lahaina with unspecified timing.
The last phase is for an area from the Royal Lahaina Resort to the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, which is next to Hanakao‘o Beach Park and is where a majority of displaced residents are sheltering.
Bissen has not changed his plan, but said Friday that he welcomed hearing more about other views expressed by community members. The mayor also said it was nice to be at the gathering.
“I think this is community at work,” he said. “Peaceful, together, real ohana.”
