Moana Street

Arise: 2012 Mutual Theme Song

2012-01-17T09:20:00.001-08:00

TAKE ME BACK TO THE KINE

2012-01-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Aloha.....
I am writing for the first time in a very long time a lot has happened in that time the most important is that I did it! I brought my family back to Hawaii.... Believe me when I say that it was not the easiest move but once I took that leap I have not looked back. My kids thank me every day for bring them to this Paradise were a kid can be a kid... they run outside, play in the waves at Hukilau beach, hike the mountains of the Ko'olau's, in surf shorts and t-shirts with the Pacific sun kissing there hapa skin....
When I say it wasn't the easiest move I am referring to the fear I had as a parent in bring my kids who have been raised in the mainland to Laie... I place I understand but can sometimes be difficult to maneuver as some who doesn't understand the culture and the unwritten rules that have been established. But I will tell you that my personal fears where unfounded as my kids have come and fit in with out any issues or growing pains fitting right into the melting pot that is Laie.
The other thing that worried me was the cost of living and I wont lie it is not easy paying some of these prices for things like Milk and even bread... but things even out you spend more here and less there, You still end up on the losing end financially but... This past Saturday my wife and I drove up to the Laie point to eat a plate lunch we got from Papa Ole's . We watched the waves break on the rock its strange how comforting that is, we watched as a mother whale and here baby jumped out of the water for about half and hour... we drove over to Sunset and sat on the beach with my boys and watched the sun set... it cost me nothing.
The saddest part to me about moving back here is realizing that so many of my friends and class mates are not here for what ever reason... there are a lot of people who are still around and the feeling of Laie still is as strong as it ever was but I wish some how more people could find there way back home....

Mele Kalikamaka

2010-12-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

Mele Kalikamaka

It's Christmas time and its freezing over here on the mainland… Thinking back to the time before I had ever seen snow…. When the days were warm and Santa Claus wore slippas and shorts.

I was teaching my kids the Hawaiian version of 12 days of Christmas… its funny to hear them try and sing it with a pidgin accent and realize how not local my kids are.

I am grateful for the chance this year to take the family home for the summer… I am planning to make it a yearly tradition. My boys learned to surf and got to spend time with cousins… it was great to just walk the streets with time to cruse in stead of rushing around trying to get in every second of sights and sounds…. We cruised on the beach and hung out with friends and family… it was almost like being home for realz.

My lil sister found some old pictures of my grand parents in Laie back in the days it was cool seeing them, it reminded me that Hawaii is really home… proud to be from Laie and the islands.

Maybe one day I can find a way back… Like many of you I know that is the dream…

Aloha from the Uyehara's

2010-09-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

2010-09-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

Summer has come and gone, I spent it in Laie and it was like breath of fresh air. People are always talking about living in a bubble in Laie and I say "what's wrong with that, isn't that what Zion's all about?" Anywayz from the moment I saw my kids running bare foot on Hukilau beach I knew that I was depriving them of the most essential of birthrights... the simple pleasures that I took for granted growing up in paradise. It's almost like a dream when you get back to the mainland and slowly you forget and resume your daily tasks and only once inwhile catch yourself in a day dream....

I walked down the old street and even sat with Mike Jackson on the drain outside his house, it was like stepping back in time. But sadly I woke from the dream to find myself driving down the highway back to my house.

Summer Dreams

2009-06-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

When ever the weather changes I begin to get home sick for Laie... I often close my eyes and imagine that I am sitting at Hukilau listening to the waves break on the shore. It never really is very helpful at curing the longing I get to go home.
So I am sure that there are many others of you who wonder what you were thinking when you made the decision to leave Hawaii... I thought that I'd go for a couple of years and come back, but its now been 9 years and it doesn't seem like I will return to live there any time soon.

I am grateful for the experience of being away from the bubble of Laie, but the longer I am away I wonder what's wrong with living in a bubble? Especially when that bubble is on the North Shore of Paradise!

Quinn Curran came over a few weeks ago and we talked into the night, remembering stories of Moana Street... Laughing at a childhood that few can really understand. We talked about the Tree and about playing on the street, we remembered when the tram would come down the street and we'd yell out Aloha to the tourist...

The idea of raising my children in the shadow of the Koolau's is something that I always thought would just happen, I thought I'd raise my kids with Mike Jackson's kids and Chris Wards and we'd get together at the beach and teach them how to surf and catch fish... I thought I'd get phone calls from BYUH that my boys were climbing on the roof or from security at PCC saying that they had caught our boys playing on the canoes...

So as this summer season beings I guess I will just have to close my eyes and dream of trade winds through my hair and the smell of salt in my nose...

Walking Down the Street

2009-01-23T15:00:00.000-08:00

Aloha, to all. I am now officially addicted to Facebook. I resisted for a very long time but once I gave in, it was obvious that Facebook was created for us Moana street brats. I can’t tell the feelings of Ohana I get every time I see another name on there and can now easily keep tabs on peoples lives that I have missed for so long.
I was up in SLC at New Years and spent some time with Jen and Jill Jackson, and Sister Jackson. It was nice to spend time with them. Sister Jackson told me that Ron had written some things about Moana Street and that she’d get them to me. When I get them I will publish them here for all to read and enjoy.

I was going through my Journal the other day and found a few funny stories from childhood. I wonder if children play the way we did back then, so much imagination and down right belief. I was remembering fishing at the drain with Mike Smith, we’d put the white bread in our mouth, no other bread would do, and get it just wet enough. We would take the bread from our mouth and with our fingers form it into a little round ball and placing it just so on the hook. We would then lower the hook on our fishing line down into the drain… Swinging the bated hook back and forth to get just the right momentum we would let it go and watch it soar down the dark drain hole, plop into the murky water. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent with my face pressed against the cool metal grate of that drain waiting for a fish to take my bait. Lets face it Mike Smith was the expert and would always seemed to catch a fish. I always wondered if it was the way he formed his bread ball, or the hooks he used.

I was remembering Kim Fredricks, her 16th birthday I think, her sister came across the street to the Jackson’s and asked if I would come and sing her a song. I knocked on her door and with all her friends standing there giggling sang her an Elvis song. Later I shared an Art Studio space at College with her. She never brought up the singing either I was really bad or she was utterly embarrassed.

I always would say that if the drain could speak the stories it would tell, besides the countless baseballs it consumed, I myself can think of many a conversation or confession that I shared on those drains. I remember sitting with Anne watch the Walkers circle the block in the evening. Mike Jackson and I would rendezvous there, the last time I was in Hawaii we walked over there and sat and talked, even though both of our family no longer lived there. It felt good to just lay there looking up at the coconut tees and the Hawaii stary night.

Thanks all the comments about this blog, hopefull people enjoy it as much as I have writing it. If anyone wants to write or share a story please feel free.
Much Aloha

Thankful for all the giving

2008-12-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I have written anything here. But after a great Thanksgiving week I had to sit and write a few thoughts. I spent the evening with Jen and Jill Jackson and some friends from BYU Hawaii. I also saw Quinn Curran and his 9-year girlfriend Darleen. These friends are really an extension of family to me; I cannot help but be grateful for the timeless relationships that have extended beyond the boundaries of the street that they began on. I recall this time of year and the annual Turkey Bowl… even now I can see Zack Chase, little Zack Chase, trying to tackle me and giving it all his effort, he’d take me down now with little more than a push. I remember the year of Hurricane Iniki back in 1992, there was no power and we cooked our turkey in an umu, to this day it was the best tasting turkey I have ever had. I recall that we didn’t need much to be thankful for and that we enjoyed the season with simple things. I remember going up to KGMB and signing with Sister Shumway’s children’s choir, I will never forget waking up on Christmas and forcing our parents to watch on our little color TV. Years later I found a copy of the video up at BYU Library and watched it, there were a few tears of laughter and of joy shed that day.
I am greatful for all the friendships that were created and continue because of the magical place, I consider home.

MeleKalikimaka

Jens B-day

2008-07-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

This past week was a great one for me. Mike Jackson came to town, I have known Mike since before I could talk and think of him more of a brother than a friend. It was great having him around, it reminded me of the connection we have with one another and how no matter the space or time there it is, true friendship something that will always remain.
We drove up to Salt Lake and went over to Jens house, it was her birthday and we gathered together with other friends to wish her a happy birthday. Pam Harvey and her husband were there from Kentucky; her sister Cindy was there fresh from her permanent spot as reigning drama queen a Kahuku. Heather and Morgan Merdock showed up too with half their clan 5 and one on the way wow. Little Jill and here family were there, she’s a mom x 2…. errrr I am getting way to old. Cam Ottley showed up later that evening and we all laughed and talked story, it was a great time.
It was nice to hear old names and where and what they were up to, and obviously sad to talk of some of the ones who have not fared so well. But the love that was conveyed while we spoke of these famous Moana street brats was always present. Strange that there is a feeling of family with each other, we can speak of things that no one else can understand, laugh and cry and comprehend. Am I getting a little to deep….
I was happy to hear from Liz Rago and I checked out her blog, I also love looking at Jills blog. I also ran across Jeff and Kathys blog, if there are others out there I sure would like to know so I can add them to my list.
Saturday Mike, Jen my wife and I went to watch the Police, it was totally fun, we bumped into Quinn and Darlean we went out to eat and once again I found myself thinking wow, what a great thing to have, dose every one have this??? A connection that runs so deep, I guess I feel it more because I was living in the South and rarely came across a familiar face. But it could also be the fact that that time in that little town on that little island is a little special. Aloha

Summer in Laie

2008-06-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

Summer time is finally here, the sunshine has a way to reminding me of the good old’ days. Ward camp, b-b-q’s and just hanging out talking story till the sun went down. I remember riding my bike down Moana street to Mike Jackson’s to see if he wanted to go to Pounders or hike up to Laie falls. Who could have had a better childhood then those fortunate kids who called Laie home?
Summers seemed to last so long and there are so many adventures that fill my mind as I write this that I don’t know where to start. I remember one summer I was about 8 when we decided to start a tree house club in the Curran’s Banyan tree. They were doing construction up at BYU and Quinn and Mike Smith and I would go up there and find everything we needed to build our club. I recall climbing to the top branches of that tree and along with Quinn and Mike building our dream club house. We would swing from branch to branch 50 feet or so above the ground like little monkeys or Tarzan. Sister Curran would hold her breath as child after child would make there way up into the branches and play chasing tag or war, dangling carelessly from a limb and then leaping to another. As an adult now I am amazed that it was even allowed but as a child I was in heaven.
When my dad was a Bishop of the Student ward, we had so many weddings that we attended, so much food would find it’s way into our fridge, Kalua Pig, Chow min, Sheets of guava cake… the list goes on and on. I recall in the 5th grade counting the seconds on the clock with Roger Clarke and Mike Jackson as the bell finally rang, we screamed and jumped up and down, summers here, summers here. That summer I spent a lot of time at the BYU pool and the game room. Memories of riding my bike, through the streets of Laie, heading off to some new adventure, are so vivid in my mind.
As I got older and was in College summer meant that I could make some real money, and I recall the first year that I could push canoes. I had watched others like the Hannaman boys push the tourists up and down the cannels. Chris Ward and I had even broken into PCC to try our hand at it. I remember when it was my turn I was proud of the title Canoe Boy. Summers in Hawaii are special enough but living on a street with 50 kids made it beyond fun. Playing in the streets some new made up game or kick the can would always last forever. I can see the faces, Zach Chase, Quinn Curran, Mike Jackson, Alan Walker, Jimmy Joy… wow that’s a blast form the past. Later when I came home from England my fist summer in Hawaii I spent reminiscing with Anne and Josh Chase and Betsy Smith. I could go on and on with stories and names but I will save that for another time. One last thought and that is for some reason those families are spread out across the world, unlike other places where you can go home and see the families there after years away, Moana Street, just because of it’s nature, is ever changing. I wish there were a way we could all reconnect once again. Ohana is family and there is a special bond for the Moana Street Ohana...

Beautiful Laie

2008-04-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

Yes the debate continues, where can a person live in beautiful Laie. It seems that this has been the center of many of the article of this blog. I just can't get over the fact that with things as tight as they are in Laie that there is not a long term answer. The fear of any real answer is that with new housing development the elements that make Laie the place it is changes.
The new president of BYU-Hawaii is caught is a tough position. Hopefully he can feel the unique nature of Laie and not as other haloes want to turn it into another Mililani. The country nature of Laie and the permanent residents are hopefully taken into account. After seeing all the changes over the years, not all for the best for the community, but driven by someone’s agenda.
I believe that there can be a balance of the two and I trust that there are those in the community that feel as strongly as I do that there is a need to keep the small town country feeling.
A few years ago I traveled to Kauai and was surprised at how much it reminded me of Laie when I was a kid and I realized that my little country town had changed right under my nose, I hadn’t even realized it.
So here in my attempt to express my feelings for Laie I hope I don’t come across to sentimental but as someone who really has the best for Laie and those who call it home in mind.
I remember as a young boy walking home from school thinking how lucky I was to have friends that knew me and what I believed. Catching waves at Hukilau and hiking the trails up to Laie Falls playing under the pacific sun I always felt blessed. Later when I went to BYU Hawaii, I was amazed that others wanted to leave and go to Utah. I loved seeing the sun come up as I walked up towards the campus. I was always happy to see faces of those I had always known. The magic is the balance between everything, the cultures, the church, the university and the fact they all come together in paradise make for a place that is often called ideal. How many place on earth can you honestly say are so ideal? So my plea is to protect this place, and not be in such a hurry to change the dynamics. I realize that change must come but let us measure in line upon line. Once we make the change it will not be so easy to turn it back.
My grandfather would tell me of how Laie was when he was young, and how beautiful it was. My good friend Gordon Broad, would tell me of the Beauty hole and of other great times that he had in Laie when he was young. I am not naive to think that I can halt the changing tides, but I do believe that there are some things that should not be tampered with …

Looking for a way back home

2008-04-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

Ever since the day I left Hawaii, I have been planning a way to get back home. How is that possible without me making a million dollars over here on the mainland? So what is the answer to this problem. My boy Aaron Campbell along with Moa Mahe are working on a housing project on 455 acres on the West side of Malaekahana. That’s close to where my Dad was born and raised. Aaron said in an article in the Kaleo, “What disturbed me is that all of my classmates and friends left. I lived in Provo [Utah] for 11 years, and all of my friends want to return. We're not developers in the traditional sense. This project is really hard now, because of the economy. We've got some huge hurdles, but it's not impossible." They have created an affordable housing coalition with over 400 people already signed on. If this isn’t a statement that things are bad I don’t know what is.
In the church we are told to stay home and build our home communities, What can be done to create not only homes but opportunity in Laie? In this digital age there may be more ways to create an income than BYU and the PCC. But still there needs to be more viable places to find employment than traveling to town everyday. I did that for a year and a half just before I moved and it got old very fast.
Even getting a job at BYU dose not mean you will have a home to call your own. There are about 12 faculty families that are not living in faculty housing. And now that the Moana Street project has been stopped there are no other real options.
Even though I don’t really want to see things change too much in Laie, I can’t argue that living in the same house with your mother and father and your sisters and her family is the way to go. I know of a lot of friends that are doing just that.
I think of all the talented people who are not in Laie anymore, what a loss to the community, what could these minds have brought to the building up of our home area?
I get envious of people over here who see their friends at the ball park or out shopping, doing business with each other creating and developing their community as I think of their pride of Saint George and compare it to my pride of Laie I often tear up wondering, what if I never left, could I have made it? Sure I could have just like so many others did. But what about all those that didn’t those who thought they couldn’t, so many names and faces that don’t walk those familiar streets any more. I went to a Kahuku game here in Utah last year and was blown away at the faces I saw… There were more old timer here then back home in fact a lot of the people living in Laie today haven’t been there longer then 10 years.
Still I long to give my children what I had when I was their age and what my dad had and his father…and his father. Then sun on their skin the smell of salt in their nose, sand between their toe and the feeling of Aloha in the people.
I am still searching for my way back home, maybe I will make my millions, maybe that is what is will take.

Island Fever

2008-04-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

I just got finished reading that HRI has pulled out of the affordable housing project... I also have heard that the Moana street project is not going to happen. I was happy to hear about Moana Street but honestly the idea of not building any new homes in Laie worries me. I am living in Saint George Utah, and their are many others here too. The main subject of conversations when we meet is how to get back home. I don't know about others out there but from the day I left home I have been trying to figure out how to get back there. The subject of cost of living always arises and the fact that there are no home for sale and even if there were "how could I afford a home in Hawaii”?
Yesterday the thought came to me about the luxury of life compared to quality of life. I was thinking of the depth of friendships I have back home in Laie and the community not just in Laie but the feeling of ohana in Hawaii. I was comparing that to what my kids have here. Funny but their best friends are the kids of my friends from Laie. My boys’ hag out with Matt Wade’s boys and with their cousins, Curtis Reeds boys... It is funny that even here I have gravitated to the friends from the islands. I work with Cam Ottley and Curtis Reed and for Ted Johnson who I first met at BYU Hawaii.
People always ask me how I could live on an island and if I got island fever, I thought about this for awhile and realized that even here in the mainland I have created a little island for myself, I think we all do. I go to work, shop at the same stores, go to the same restaurants, go to the same church… you get my point I get more island fever here in the mainland then I ever had in Hawaii.

Video games

2007-11-05T08:15:00.001-08:00

Back in the day, before all the internet, before all the digital xbox, ipod, wifi technology there was only one king and that was Atari and to be more precise Space Invaders. I remember the first people on Moana Street to have an Atari were the Wards. I remember hanging out at their house watching this game, playing and trying to figure out the patterns. It seemed like I’d never get past level 2. Chris Ward had the timing down. He waited until the very last second and boom killed the creature as it started to eat away at the houses. It’s weird to think that that game took up so many of my afternoons and Saturday mornings. Later there came Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Ms Pac man, but nothing was quite the same as that first taste of what was to come. The BYU game room was a favorite hang out, even though I was never any good at those games. I knew that I could waste away an hour before choir in the game room. Some kids were skilled at the video game others, like me, only played for the enjoyment of wasting away time and our quarters. For a while there was a game room next to Village Food Mart, it was darker and seemed a little more seedy, I think I only went there twice. It soon shut down, as the home video games got better and better. I never really followed the fad, probably because I was not very good at the games. My brother Matt was so much better and when we’d take turns my turn would last only a few minutes while his would last forever. My parents couldn’t afford an Atari back in the day; it cost $99 wow that’s what some of the game go for now. Maybe it’s a generation thing I was right there at the beginning but we stilled loved the outdoors, the sunshine the surf. We climbed trees, made swords and pretended to be warriors. We liked getting dirty and exploring, sure we would watch our two hours worth of brain rotting cartoons on Saturday but after that we would head over to Mike Smiths and play some go water. We have come so far we are so advanced compared to those early days, but I haven’t enjoyed playing a video game the way I did back then sitting in the Wards front room.

Memories of the Orange Bus

2007-10-17T16:45:00.002-07:00

While reading Sister Curran’s reply the other day I was reminded about something I had blocked out of my memory for a long, long time. The infamous Volkswagen Bus! I remember my dad bring it home I didn’t know what to think, it was orange… He had preordered his bus months earlier and had asked for a candy apple red. Of course they messed it all up so he had the choice of the orange bus or waiting three months until they could ship him one from the mainland. So being a local boy and not wanting to create a big stink, my dad took the orange bus, not realizing that it would define us for the next ten years.
Soon after we brought our new bus home these marvels of German engineering began to pop up everywhere on Moana Street. It seemed they had created the perfect Mormon transportation vehicles. You could take out the middle rowel and fit in what ever or whom ever you needed to and as much as you wanted to. In the days before car seats and seat belt laws it was great for trekking to the beach with 20 kids jammed inside, or to town to shop for groceries or trick or treating with the sliding door open, sitting there dangling your feet over the edge.

I remember someone got their hand slammed in the Curran’s sliding door on Quinn’s birth day, I think it was Calvin Jolley but I need verification on that.
As people began to hop on the VW Bus bandwagon, there were some who resisted the trend. Still it was no use the VW Bus was Moana streets chosen mode of transportation.

As with most things in Hawaii the salt air began to erode our orange bus and the holes began to grow, our large sunroof soon became the perfect water feature. When it rained, and we all know how it can rain, we would huddle up in the far corner hoping that dad didn’t stop to quickly. If he did the water that had gather on the roof would come gushing in soaking everyone in the back. It was almost a ritual, your literal baptism for riding in our car. Eventually the rust got to our muffler, and there was a certain sound it made as it traveled down the street, My mom said she could hear my dad coming home from all the way from BYU, she’d say “your dads on his way”, and sure enough. Thinking back it was pretty much a death trap on wheels, but we loved our orange bus. I was sad the day we sold it. When I returned home from England, I saw it around Laie not so orange but still running and still rusting away.¬

Halloween

2007-10-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

As we get closer to All Hallows Eve, I can’t help but remember when candy was the only objective. The question was who could get the most and who could get the best kind. I remember taking a pillowcase around from door to door. By now I would have had my costume figured out and tried it on in front of the mirror at least three of four times. I had to be ready; there was only a small window of opportunity to achieve my goal.
Moana Street was the best place on the whole island, maybe the whole world to get your candy. Rumors of Rat Poison and razor blades always were in the news and it made the safety of trick or treating on a street you knew everyone that much more reassuring. Parents from the other side of the island would bring their kids to come and knock on our doors.
I remember some of the houses that were high lights on my candy crusade. Sister Curran never let you down, her witch costume always gave me the creeps, Brother Jackson loved to spook you out and you could always count on a new twist each year.
I remember one year that we switched day’s form Sunday to Saturday, where else in the world can you change a holiday day. I can honestly say I felt sorry for the kids who came all the way from Town on Sunday and got nothing to show for it.
Seeing all my friends as we traveled around the block was part of the fun, wondering if they were getting more candy then me.
After we got home pouring out my candy on the floor admiring the loot and picking out one or two that were the pick of the bunch.
We counted candy traded candy ate candy for weeks after the big day, eventually getting down to the caramel maples and the raisins, who gives out raisins anyway?

Moana Street

2007-10-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

Now some may call me sentimental for writing this blogg, but I can remember when my family moved across town. I was 8 and it seemed to me my world had fallen apart. I remember going over to our house and sitting on the front porch and crying…for a about a week. Such a tragedy, but I feel for that 8 year old Moana Street was his world. I would come and play every day for years as most of my friends lived there. As I grew I never was able to cut the ties that ran so deep. Still today my dearest friends come from that time and that street. When I came back from England when I was 18 I sat at the top of the street for hours looking down it remembering all those childhood memories. Each time I come back to Laie I take a moment to walk down the street smiling as I pass place that memories are still so vivid. Only those who grew up there can fully understand what I am talking about. I guess that’s why I figured this blogg would be a great place to share stories and thoughts about those times. I often wonder if the magic of the street carried over through the years for the other kids, if Zorro lived on, if the Turkey bowl and go water still were favorite pass times and if the drain still held the secrets of late night conversations? I remember a few years ago Quinn Curran and I were reminiscing and the subject of his banyan tree came up… How the heck did nobody get seriously injured, Eric Fason fell right down on a root…ouch. Anyway for those of you who understand I hope you join in and share the memories of the place I will forever consider home. Moana Street.

Hanabadda Dayz

2007-10-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

As the need for housing is more and more in demand in Laie it seems that the old must make way for the new. I can’t say that with out tears coming to my eyes as BYU has decided to demolish the 28 faculty homes on Moana Street and in place of those original homes 52 shiny new homes will be built.
I can’t help but recall sitting on the drain outside of the Jackson’s house talking story until the stars came out. Familiar names and faces fill my mind as write this blog. Georgie, Dalton, Smith, Chase, Ward, Walker…. I could go on all day. The sadness of this whole thing is that it just shows that even in Laie you can’t keep things from changing. Is this progress? As the faces changed over the years Moana Street remained something I could always return to and feel a sense of renewal, I look back to my Hanna badda dayz…. I remember playing go water on Mike Smiths front lawn, Climbing in the Currans Banyan Tree… Kissing Ann Chase on the drain outside her house running from the rain as in came pouring down the street. All these memories won’t ever go, but the feeling of that old street will change. Progress, I guess we can’t halt it but take me back to hanna badda dayz.