LRF Provides History Tours to Maui Seniors

Kaunoa Senior Center participants and Kalapana Kollars at the Moku‘ula restoration site. Photo by Louisa Shelton

Four the fourth time, Lahaina Restoration Foundation provided its free History In Our Front Yard tour to 20 Maui residents as part of its partnership with Kaunoa Senior Services.

LRF’s customized tour for Maui’s seniors, presented by the Community Education Committee, shares Lahaina’s rich history and culture.

LRF Community Education Committee Co-Chairs Karee Carlucci and Louisa Shelton coordinated the tour with Kaunoa Senior Services Program Assistant Leslie Hiraga. They were supported by LRF committee members Aileen Trout and Richard “Noosh” Nishihara, board member Connie Sutherland, and staff members Jesse Neizman, Clifford Corniel, Brandi Dela Cruz and Stuart Sharp.

“Kaunoa Senior Services is pleased to offer this tour of historic Lahaina because our participants thoroughly enjoy the educational experience they receive,” remarked Hiraga.

This year’s four-hour tour began at the Moku‘ula restoration site with a presentation by Kalapana Kollars from Friends of Moku‘ula/Maui Nei Native Expeditions.

Other sites visited included Waiola Church/Waine‘e Cemetery, Lahaina Hongwanji Mission, Hale Pa‘ahao (Old Prison), Kamehameha III Elementary School, Banyan Tree Park, Old Lahaina Courthouse, Baldwin Home Museum and Wo Hing Museum & Cookhouse.

The tour ended with a Chinese meal at the Fu Lin Restaurant.

Kaunoa Senior Services provided shuttle transportation, refreshments and lunch.

Tour materials and museum visits were provided by LRF.

Tour participants expressed their appreciation for the quantity and depth of information made available during the tour.

“Many of us have visited these sites before, but a guided tour with someone so knowledgeable brought history to life,” one participant noted.

“It is like being an ‘advanced’ tourist!” another participant noted. “Now I can be a better tour guide for people who visit us.”

For 54 years, the LRF has been preserving Lahaina’s historic buildings and sites, bringing them to life with free programs such as the monthly Hawaiian music concerts at Baldwin Home Museum and Chinese cultural festivals at Wo Hing Museum.

For more information, call the LRF office at (808) 661-3262 or go to LahainaRestoration.org.