HONOLULU ACADEMY 0 F

October, 1958

Dear Member:

The fall season of the Academy of Arts began with an unexpected and dramatic flourish. We thought you might enjoy hearing about the birth of a benefit.

Scene: 10 a.m. coffee break on a hot July morning. The staff is obviously ready /or vacation after two summer /estivals and the /,argest enrollment of summer school stu• dents in history. Everyone is silent, which is unusual.

Then Membership says, wearily: "Do you think anyone will catch me if I slip into Old Plantation some dark night? I'm tired of this century."

Director: "I'd like to see the place myself. I think a lot of people would . . . (pause) ... why don't we try to have a tour and invite the public?"

Education, perking up: "For the benefit of our department!"

Librarian: "During Aloha Week, when all the tourists are here!"

Secretary: "And furnish it the way it was 50 years ago!"

Lethargy and fatigue vanish. Ideas explode like popcorn. Some right, some wrong. Some hilarious. A few absolutely brilliant.

Director: "It's good. As a matter of fact, it's wonderful! Let's try it."

The scene shifts to Honolulu Hale where the Academy presents its Big Idea. And­fi.nally, suddenly-there it is: a license to operate a public tour of the historic site. With a few conditions: provided we repair the house, restore the utilities, clear the jungle, mow the meadow, bridge the swamps, and clean the lagoon where hundreds of coconuts bob on the murky water! Plus a myriad other "musts." And-we must do it immediately if we still want to do it.

Spirits sag. The staff is on vacation. Volunteers scattered. The Academy is quiet as Paris in August. But the school bell, boon to mothers and benefits, finally rings. Pre­cisely three hours later we form what is now known as "The Lagoon and Tall Grass Society." The order of business: "Yes, we can open Old Plantation in two weeks!"

Tales will grow taller about what actually happened. But history records that at ten o'clock on September 20 the drawing room where Hawaiian monarchs witnessed the marriage of Miss Mary Ward to ·Mr. Hustace in 1886 was furnished and flower­bedecked; old songs poured forth from the chorus on the veranda; and gates-locked for decades-swung open.

It was a great day. In 14 weekend hours 11,000 persons toured the landmark. Our net profit was $7,044.61. Just as the gates closed on Sunday, after two cloudless days, it began to rain. There is an old Polynesian legend that says that rain falling in the sunshine is a sign of a blessing from the gods. A blessing, indeed, for the Academy's educational department!

So, to all the gallant persons who made it possible, many thanks. Especially to: Mrs. Rob~rt 0. Thompson for restoring the grounds ... George Moody who furnished the house with Victorian antiques and bibelots ... to Caroline Peterson and friends who filled old calabashes with flowers and hung maile everywhere ... Mrs. Zadoc W. Brown and her committee for ironing out the waivers and admissions problems ... Mrs. Paul Yardley for securing the honor cadets of Kamehameha School for Boys as guides, and the proud members of the Kaahumanu Society as hostesses ... The Garden Club of Honolulu for botanical guides . . . Hawaiian Pineapple Co. for the refreshment stand and donating $500 from the sale of 5,000 cups of juice ... Mrs. Walter Prock and Bob Krauss for publicity ... Royal Hawaiian Girls' Glee Club for the old songs and hymns ... Community Theatre for scenes of "boating on the lagoon" ... Mc Wayne Marine Supply for the large boat ... Malcolm MacN aughtons and Howard Hub bards for swift delivery of the little boat to skim the lagoon ... Hawaiian Telephone for new and antique phones ... Bishop Museum for old slides ... Library of Hawaii and Gwenfread Allen for research ... Board of Water Supply for mending old mains ...

ARTS

HONOLULU, HAWAII

OCTOBER, 1958

VOL. I, No. 3

Honolulu Academy of Arts

crews from Oahu Prison for clearing jungles and the lagoon .•. Herbert C. Shipman for maile ..• the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, legal staff and grounds department of the City for their cooperation .•• and especially to all the husbands of volunteers who put up with sketchy meals during the Big Push-aloha nui !

RETURN ENGAGEMENT. Old Plantation will be open again during Aloha Week. On October 22, 23, and 24 groups of school children will tour the grounds. Children 15¢, teachers 25¢. Educational Department will supply the details. Open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, October 25 and 26, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: adults, $1.00; children under 12, 25¢; infants free.

CHANGES IN CALENDAR Add: On Sunday, November 16, at 4 p.m. there will be a return concert for violin and piano presented by the internationally distinguished artists, Louis and Annette Kaufman, who will be hack in Honolulu to add lustre to the Symphony season in addition to their appearances here. Delete: The Fashion Festival, scheduled for November 17, has been postponed.

THE ART MART. The Trustees have authorized the sale of a number of objects from the collections to finance the purchase of a world-famed work of art of which all Hawaii may be enormously proud. Present plans are to dispose of these objects in New York or London. However, members will have an opportunity to see them ( and to buy them) on October 30 from 9 a.m. to 9 :30 p.m. before they are shipped away. Prices will range from approximately $100 into the thousands. Each object to he sold is both authentic and.-fine of its kind butims-been T:'.'plaeed, either through~s -or"PUTchases, by other work of greater importance to the collections. People often ask us if we sell works of art which have been donated. The answer: never, unless the work was given to he sold.

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS LIFE: Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Frazier.

CONTRIBUTING: Mr. A.G. Budge.

HONORARY: Vice Consul and Mrs. Tatsuo Asayama, Consul General and Mrs. Juan C. Dionisio, Vice Consul Hyung Soo Kim, Vice Consul and Mrs. Felipe S. lamdagan, Consul and Mrs. Tseng Yee Li, Consul and Mrs. Naokazu Okuda, Vice Consul and Mrs. Torao Oshio, Vice Consul and Mrs. Jose Q. Tabora, Consul General and Mrs. Wei Ping Tsai.

ANNUAL: Mrs. Granville Abbott, Ill, Mr. Ted L. Arighi, Mrs. John A. Aull, Jr., Mr. William E. Aull, Mrs. Lillian Austin, Mrs. Stuart M. Ball, Mrs. James L. Banning, Miss Lillian K. Barlow, Mrs. Velma Borland, Mr. E. G. Kris Brenno, Mrs. Vincent Brocklin, Dr. C. S. Brown, Miss Mary Beth Burns, Mrs. C. C. Cadagan, Mrs. Thomas Y. K. Chang, Mrs. Calvin C. S. Chun, Mr. Q. M. Dang, Mrs. Joseph Dickson, Mrs. Donald E. Di Lullo, Mrs. Francis X. Driscoll, Mr. and Mrs. William F. Ehrman, Mr. Robert A. Franklin, Mrs. Jon Freitas, Mrs. William J. Froome, Mrs. Ruth K. Fukuda, Mr. Hugh Gordon, Mr. Franz Anton Greissler, Mrs. Earl A. Griffith, Mrs. James S. Hara, Mrs. Stuart K. Hart, Mrs. James K. Hayashi, Mrs. George H. Hollingsworth, Commander James H. Huff, Mrs. Andrew C. Ivy, Mr. Allan J. Jackson, Mrs. Kenneth L. Jeffery, Jr., Junior league of Honolulu, Dr. and Mrs. Ivar J. Larsen, Mrs. Robert M. lee, Miss Lenore lercara, Mrs. Tom F. McGourin, Mr. Nemesio D. Marcos, Mrs. Edward J. Moloney, Mrs. lchiro Nadamoto, Mrs. John S. Neil, Mrs. George Paik, Mr. Byron F. Petersen, Mrs. Albert I. Pioso, Mrs. Ellison M. Pritchett, Mrs. Rose S. Reeves, Mrs. James Seelig, Mrs. Alfred G. Shaheen, Mrs. Lloyd A. Shepard, Mrs. Raymond S. Sleeper, Mrs. Alfred K. Smythe, Mrs. George D. Stratton, Mrs. Howard W. Soule, Mrs. Frank L. Swadley, Mrs. Harry J. Taylor, Colonel George H. Timke, Jr., Mrs. Vernon S. F. Tyau, Mrs. Jack C. Tobin, Mrs. James H. Walker, Mrs. Thomas Yoshioka. ·

EDUCATIONAL: Dr. Sherrod Van Anderson, Mrs. Helen G. Arthaud, Mrs. Dorothy S. Brown, Mr. Richard Burgess, Mrs. Bernice L. Chang, Dr. Thomas M. C. Chang, Mr. Richard H. Clark, Mrs. Raymond E. Clevenger, Mrs. A. James Cook, Mr. Anthony W. Ebert, Mrs. John Alvin Erickson, Mrs. Satoshi Fujinaga, Mrs. Dorothy Du M. Gill, Mrs. Allen S. L. Heau, Dr. John S. Howie, Mrs. Allan H. Howland, Miss Brone Aleksandra Jameikis, Miss Frances K. Kaya, Mrs. Donald Edward Lowther, Mrs. Brooer Lucas, Mr. Rolph T. Nakanishi, Mrs. Virginia O'Hagan, Mrs. Mikihiko Oguri, Mrs • .. Calvin K. H. Pang, Miss Ann Leilani Pennington, Sister Anne Pierre, C.S.G., Mrs. Norman T. Tsukazaki, Mrs. Robert Wenkam, Mrs. Griffith Woodruff.

~~f-Membership Secretary

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