Don Ho Memorial ceremony

[tikiyaki]

So...is anyone going tomorrow ?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600AP_HI_Don_Ho_Memorial.html

[tutusue]

Yes...I have a room at the Sheraton Waikiki this week-end (a door prize I won last year!). I requested that the room be on the Diamond Head side. I wonder how many news agencies will usurp my request?!

[tikiyaki]

Yes...I have a room at the Sheraton Waikiki this week-end (a door prize I won last year!). I requested that the room be on the Diamond Head side. I wonder how many news agencies will usurp my request?!

Sue....Take Pics !!!

[Leo Lakio]

Tikiyaki --- KHNL.com will stream their live coverage of the event starting at 4:30 pm Hawai`i Time (7:30 pm PDT) tonight.

Preliminary schedule for the celebration and tribute to Don Ho on Saturday, May 5th:

4:30 p.m.: Private family service, site not announced.
5:30-6 p.m.: Scattering of ashes offshore, with between 30 and 50 canoes participating Queen's Surf Beach.
6-6:45 p.m.: Royal Hawaiian Band performs
6:45-7 p.m.: Recordings of Don Ho's music
7 p.m.: Sonny Ching's Halau Na Mamo 'O Pu'uanahulu (hula kahiko)
7:05 p.m.: State Sen. Clayton Hee, speaking in Hawaiian
7:10 p.m.: Welcome by co-emcees Cha Thompson and John DeFries
7:15 p.m.: Society of Seven Las Vegas
7:20 p.m.: Imaikalani Young Band
7:25 p.m.: Nina Keali'iwahamana
7:30 p.m.: Iva Kinimaka
7:35 p.m.: Ed Brown
7:40 p.m.: The Brothers Cazimero
7:45 p.m.: Former Gov. George R. Ariyoshi
7:50 p.m.: Don Ho's keiki
8:20 p.m.: Jimmy Borges
8:25 p.m.: Marlene Sai
8:30 p.m.: Mayor Mufi Hannemann
8:35 p.m.: Sam Kapu Jr.
8:40 p.m.: Melveen Leed
8:45 p.m.: Willie K
8:50 p.m.: Gov. Linda Lingle or Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona
8:55 p.m.: Remembrance video by Edgy Lee
9 p.m.: Ho'ohana
9:05 p.m.: Hoku Ho ("I'll Remember You")
9:10 p.m.: Keith Haugen leads a cappella singing of "Hawai'i Pono'i"

[tikiyaki]

Super Mahalos Leo....

For some reason, I've been thinking about this all day, and wishing I was there for it.

[TuNnL]

I wasn’t able to find the stream link on the khnl.com website. :( Maybe it was there, I don’t know, but honoluluadvertiser.com also had a live stream, so I went with that. Their stream had terrible audio quality. I’m assuming it’s because they also don’t exactly have industry-standard A/V equipment. :rolleyes:

[buzz1941]

The Memorial service was pretty plain, but the entertainment portion is a whopper!

I was at the service but had to scoot back to the paper to write. BTW, one of the Air Force honor guard guys fainted, alas.

[Pomai]

Walking down Kalakaua Ave. around 4pm, it was pretty normal. No traffic. Just police monitoring intersections. Watched the scattering of the ashes from Duke's, which had a closer vantage point than over at Queen's Beach.

Crowds on the beach were strong, but not as much as what was expected.

Here...

http://www.96seven44.com/images/donho_1.jpg

http://www.96seven44.com/images/donho_2.jpg
Those canoes have family and friends of Uncle Don and his ashes onboard. Launching about 5:30pm. Conch shells blowing.

http://www.96seven44.com/images/donho_3.jpg
An armada of boats and canoes, and the HFD fire boat shooting water before and during the scattering of the ashes.

It was a somber moment. Most folks were quiet and just gazed. A few gals standing next to me danced Hula, which brought me to tears. You could feel the mana.. the aloha was all there. You could feel Uncle Don's spirit in the air.

Just before the scattering of his ashes, the silence was broken by a F-15 ANG fly-by, dipping the wing, then shooting vertical. Loved that part!

The celebration of Uncle Don's life at Sunset on the Beach was possibly the most moving event I've ever attended, next to my own dad's service. Melveen Leed's "Take Me Back To Paradise" was just amazing. Uncle Willy K brought down the house. Hoku was a trooper during her performance. I thought she was gonna' break, but she was comfortable and happy. The whole family looked happy. And that's the way Uncle Don wants them to be.

All the folks at the event were somber and collective. No problems.

It was a wonderful Aloha 'Oe to our uncle Don. I'm fortunate to have been there.

*More pics later.

[tikiyaki]

mahalo Pomai....look forward to more pics.

[Pomai]

look forward to more pics.and you shall receive.

http://www.96seven44.com/images/donho_4.jpg
The largest crowd gathering in my field of view was fronting the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (pink), just to the right of Duke's. This is also where the family launched canoes with his ashes.

Here's the gals dancing Hula for Uncle Don...
http://www.96seven44.com/images/donho_5.jpg
Live music provided by Ka'ala Boys. Notice all the flower pedals on shore, which that girl is picking up. There were PLENTY of lei in the water this evening.

Media camera crew film from a lifeguard tower...
http://www.96seven44.com/images/donho_6.jpg
In the distance you can see the crowds and tents over at Queen's Sunset on the Beach. I wish Bud and Tiki Jr. were here to see this. On second thought, forget it. Tiki Jr. would probably drive me nuts singing Tiny Bubbles all night. lol

[Lei K]

Excellent pictures! Mahalo Pomai. Looking forward to all you have to post.

[Miulang]

Highlights of both the service and concert are found on the Honolulu Advertiser website here, including Hoku singing "I'll Remember You" on part 2.

Part 1 (http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070506/VIDEO03/70506004)
Part 2 (http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070506/VIDEO03/70506004)

Miulang

[tutusue]

Sue....Take Pics !!!
Just back from my 48 hour vacation! :D I took mostly video. Since Pomai's already done a great job with his photos I'll just show the private service from my 16th floor lanai. Hoku and Kaimana (or was it Kea?) are on stage singing.

It was held on the small lawn between the Royal Hawaiian and Sheraton Waikiki hotels. There's a large koa bowl in the middle of the stage that held individual containers of Don's ashes for each of the kids and Haumea. Patty and Elizabeth (both mothers of several of Don's children) were also there and in the same canoe as Haumea. I don't know if they also carried containers.

One of the canoes carrying 2 of the daughters sank while paddling back to shore. I have that on video! Thank goodness that didn't happen while paddling out. Of interest to me was that one of the hotel's canoes sank a few hours earlier. I mentioned to my friends that I hoped that particular canoe wouldn't be used for the services. I have no idea whether it was used or if it was the same canoe but it was the same color.

And, yes, the fly by, while deafening, was total chickenskin! Unfortunately the flower drop from the chopper wasn't visible.

There was so little activity in that lawn/pool area during the day that we thought it was set up for a wedding! I was a bit surprised by the size of the armada that was present for the scattering. I expected it to be 2 to 3 times bigger than it was. It looked quite sparce from up high. Maybe it was controlled and I just couldn't see that. Regardless, it was beautiful.

By the time the celebration at Queen's Beach began, my friends and I had had enough wine and snacks to not want to tackle the walk to that end of Waikiki! What was so interesting to us is that we could hear the music from that far away. So, we watched it on a muted tv and listened live from the lanai! It was too weird to listen to it on tv while hearing a one second delay in the live performance!

All in all, a beautiful send off.

[Pomai]

I'll just show the private service from my 16th floor lanai. Hoku and Kaimana (or was it Kea?) are on stage singing.Nice shot. Eh Tutu, how come you nevah invite all us HT folks ovah fo' one hotel party? lol

From CNN.com this morning...
Sunset memorial for singer Don Ho draws thousands (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/06/don.ho.memorial.ap/index.html)

[buzz1941]

Here's the Star-Bulletin slide show of the event. We have the best pictures, certainly:

http://starbulletin.com/2007/05/06/news/donho/index2.html

[Pomai]

Here's the Star-Bulletin slide show of the event. We have the best pictures, certainly:

http://starbulletin.com/2007/05/06/news/donho/index2.htmlAwesome.

I want 8x10 prints of those shots. Much props to Jamm, Dennis, Richard and Hugh for that. Classic, classic, classic. Excellent.

You know, this makes me think that we need a DON HO's next to DUKE's on the beach. The most fitting would be on the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where he was sent off from.

This also makes me think I need to buy a DSLR, along with a wide angle lens :D

[buzz1941]

Did anyone watch on the hotel webcams? They can be remotely manipulated:

http://www.seehawaiilive.com/rh-cam.cfm

[Miulang]

My favorite photo is the one of Haumea looking lovingly at the ocean as she gently laid Don's ashes into the water, with one of his daughters in the water next to the outrigger, holding onto her hand. Absolutely touching.

Miulang

[Kalihiboy]

It was a most wonderful special and KGMB did an awesome job as mentioned in another thread, did anyone check to see if CNN also broadcast some of the footage (one of the newspapers said they might air it), I did not check to see this, the tornadoes in the midwest may have changed the context of the programming.

KalihiBoy

[tutusue]

Nice shot. Eh Tutu, how come you nevah invite all us HT folks ovah fo' one hotel party? lol[...]
In all honesty, I thought about it but I didn't know what size room I'd have and which side of the hotel! I ended up with a very small room on the Diamond Head side which was absolutely perfect...for 6 people!!! My gift certificate was for 2 nights and a value of $1200.! That was NO $600/night room...rack rate or not!

Thanks for your photos, Pomai. The Royal Hawaiian blocked the view of the beach from my 16th floor vantage point so we couldn't see the crowd at all. We could see the canoes awaiting their very important mission.
Here's the Star-Bulletin slide show of the event. We have the best pictures, certainly:[...]
Wow! Those are great, Burl.

[hawaiiguy]

kudos to the Star-Bulletin for this slide show!!!

chicken-skin!