10 years ago …
The stately koa reliquary carrying a foot bone from newly canonized St. Damien de Veuster continued its statewide tour with visits to several Maui parishes, including St. Anthony Church, where the Belgian priest was called to serve the Hansen’s disease settlement at Kalawao on the isolated peninsula of Kalaupapa.
Earlier in the day, the reliquary was displayed at St. Theresa Church in Kihei and Christ the King Church in Kahului. Parishioners at the Kahului church held a midday Mass and celebration in honor of Damien that included music, hula, offerings and a recounting of the priest’s remarkable life and good works.
Joan Ai, a member of the Hui Ho‘omana ‘o Christ the King choir, said she was especially moved by the occasion since her husband’s grandfather Joseph Ai was sent to Kalaupapa at age 32 and is buried there.
“It feels like our prayers have been answered that he’s home, that St. Damien is finally home among the Hawaiian people,” she said.
30 years ago …
Two Maui Council members indicated they would be reluctant to vote for a resolution to support state plans to extend the Kahului Airport runway.
There was mixed testimony from nearly 200 people attending a Council hearing on the resolution, which was introduced by Council members Goro Hokama and Linda Crockett Lingle.
Representatives of the tourism industry support the resolution. The runway extension would accommodate flights to and from Maui by larger aircraft. Other residents cited concerns over the need to deal with other problems including inadequate highways and lack of housing associated with growth.
Council members Alice Lee and Rick Medina said it may be premature to support a runway extension from the current 7,000 feet to 10,500 feet.
80 years ago …
The Three Year Swimming Club of Puunene, Maui, winners of the national AAU championship swimming meet held at Detroit recently, went $846.94 into the red financially during the last season, it was announced by Mike Ginoza, manager of the club.
The Valley Island club spent $2,422.71, taking in $1,575.77. The biggest expenditures were involved in transporting swimmers to and from Honolulu and in sending Fujiko Katsutani to Des Moines, Iowa, for the women’s national championship. Katsutani won the 220-yard breaststroke championship in the big midwestern meet.
100 years ago …
Physical exercise will probably be more of a feature in the schools of Maui from now on than it ever has been before. The new school administration is strong for healthful exercise for all pupils and is encouraging sports.
At the Maui High School at Hamakuapoko, Principal P.A. MacCaughey has plans that will ensure every boy in the school is getting a certain amount of regular exercises. An athletic club has been formed, and the school hopes to put teams in several branches of sport to the front before long. Interest in basketball is perhaps leading at present.
