South Maui canoe clubs honor Lahaina with honorary paddle

Mana’olana Pink Paddlers, Maui Canoe Club, Kihei Canoe Club, Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society, Wailea Canoe Club and several Lahaina residents and Westside paddlers joined together on Sunday morning to paddle out and drop flowers and release white doves to honor Lahaina fire victims.

More than 30 club outrigger canoes plus stand-up paddle boards and small canoes gathered on Maui Canoe Club Beach as the sun rose.

Kahu Kimokeo Kapahulehua presided over the ceremony with Hawaiian blessings and chants.

Many who didn’t paddle out spread flowers on the shore.

“Our island’s fires have been devastating and we are all looking for ways to help and heal,” said Mary Dungans, president of Mana’olana Pink Paddlers. “Many of our older paddlers could not join in the large West and South side paddles last week, so we wanted to show our aloha and honor Lahaina from our beach. It was a magical morning with so much love.”

In addition to the South Shore Club’s Paddle Ceremony, Mana’olana Pink Paddlers is collaborating with the Salvation Army to offer Hawaiian Memorial at Sea ceremonies for the families of those who perished in the Maui wildfires at no cost to them.

Maui Canoe Club is offering free recreational paddling to Lahaina families and first responders as an outlet to release stress and anxiety weekday mornings from Sugar Beach.