"They're here," shouted little Malia. She was very excited. Nearly her whole halau was gathered together getting ready for tomorrow's West Coast Invitational Hula Festival. They'd been preparing for this event for months and Fed Ex had just delivered the final touch, fresh flowers from Hawaii. Better still, it was her job to help sew the leis.
Malia watched as Auntie Lily quickly opened the first box and lifted a double handful of yellow plumerias to her face. As she inhaled deeply she broke into a big smile and tears glistened in her eyes all at once. "That so reminds me of home," she sighed.
They were soon sitting around a table with a big pile of flowers in the middle. Everybody was poking them with long needles and lining them up on a string.
"Pull those flowers up tight, now…. no gaps! Every flower goes on carefully and with aloha…" Auntie Lily was very fussy about the quality of her leis and she was full of good advice.
But the part Malia liked best was the stories.
As they sewed the plumerias it just seemed to bring out the good old island days in the ladies. She enjoyed the one about the boyfriend who broke his arm falling out of a plumeria tree. He was trying to pick her the freshest plumeria on the tree.
"Imagine living in a place where you can just put one of these behind your ear every day!"
Too soon they were done with their leis. The costumes were almost ready and lavish. They had practiced their dances for ages.
Everybody was proud, confident and graceful. "And we get to wear fresh plumeria leis," thought Malia as she laid the last one in the cooler.
"I don't know if we'll win tomorrow, but I know we'll be beautiful."
Molokai Plumerias has the great pleasure of growing these gorgeous flowers and the awesome responsibility of getting them to our clients in a high quality condition.
We're a little like that boyfriend in Malia's story - with our extra special efforts to actually deliver the best plumerias possible on a daily basis.
We're a lot like Auntie Lily, high standards and " every flower with aloha."
And we know every mainland client is a great deal like Malia - full of expectations and excitement over your upcoming event.
We won't let you down. May our flowers bring you great joy.
Friday, Jan 24, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. HST
Neal S. Blaisdell Center
Honolulu, HI
Tuesday, Jan 28, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. HST
Zoom
Online Event
Saturday, Feb 1, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. HST
Central Union Church of Honolulu
Honolulu, HI