26 Sunday, April 16, 2017 Hawaii Tribune-Herald 2017 Merrie Monarch Festival Ho‘o Maika‘i to All Merrie Monarch Participants! “Trust Your Generation of Power to a Family that’s been around for Generations!” Electrical Contracting & Photovoltaic Systems 2ESIDENTIALs#OMMERCIALs)NDUSTRIAL Aloha & Good Luck to all Merrie Monarch Festival Participants! TanForuoyme Fthaemily K&J Tire Center, Inc. 266 Kekuanaoa Street • Hilo • Tel: 961-2604 www.kjtirecenter.com Jennifer & Stefan Tanouye “On Kamehameha Day, you have horse units in Kona and in North Kohala, but in Hilo, we’re the only one with horses.” Those who favor marching bands and floats needn’t fret, however. There are more than enough of both in this year’s procession to satisfy paradegoers of all stripes. In addition to the county band, the Pacific Fleet Navy Band will march, as will all three of Hilo’s high school bands — Hilo High, Waiakea High and St. Joseph School — plus Kamehameha Schools Kapalama from Honolulu. “I can’t remember the last time Kamehameha Schools Kapalama has come. There’s about 100 in the band,” Kaleohano said. Showcasing the diversity of cultures in Hawaii and the Pacific is Japan’s Hiroshi Okada Hawaiian Music School, which promotes and stars in the annual ‘Ukulele Picnic in Hawaii, which was on Oahu this year, but in previous years has been at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows on the South Kohala Coast. “They’ll have a float, people on the float and people on foot — 50 people playing the ukulele,” Kaleohano said. “I’m really excited about that with all the ukuleles.” A perennial favorite is the Hui Okinawa Kobudo Taiko, whose drums can be heard by spectators blocks before the float is visible. Also bringing colorful cultural drumming and dance to the party are the Hawaii All-Nations Pow Wow and Te Maohi, a Tahitian dance company from Hilo. The Parangal Dance Company of San Francisco, which will perform traditional native Filipino music and dance during the Wednesday night free Ho‘ike, also will participate. Since it’s Merrie Monarch, there also are the hula halau, including Emery Aceret’s Halau Na Pua O Uluhaimalama of Hilo, defending its title for the top float. “They’ve won several years in a row. The families of the dancers he has are hooked on it,” Kaleohano said. And for animal lovers, the horses are just the beginning. A Pahoa man who calls himself “Just Tom” and rides through the Puna village with silky chickens perched on his bicycle, is making his appearance for the second time. “He toodles around the side of the parade and that’s fine because the kids like to pet the chickens,” Kaleohano said. Rain or shine, the parade will start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on Piopio Street, then turn left onto Pauahi Street, right on Kilauea Avenue, continue onto Keawe Street, make right turns onto Waianuenue and Kamehameha avenues, then a final right onto Bishop Street to conclude by the King Kamehameha statute. Parade From page 25 IVY ASHE/Tribune-Herald Pa‘u Queen Nancy Cabral at the 2016 Merrie Monarch Parade.
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