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Last week, my mother and I spent a delightful morning with the first graders of Makawao School, as part of their community history project. Retired teachers Pat Brown (Kalama Intermediate) and Charlotte Boteilho (Baldwin High School), along with Makawao History Museum volunteer coordinator Kathy Nelson, joined us on the panel to answer the children's questions about their -- or rather, our -- beloved hometown.
The students were excited to see mom, Pat, and Charlotte in person, after having seen them in the MHM documentary "Our Makawao." From watching the film, they knew all three had attended Makawao School, and so they asked, "Were you all in the same class?" and "Did you play together?" But the burning question on their minds was "How old are you?"
Charlotte responded with, "How old do you think I am?" and in the resulting cacophony, I heard "19!" "150!" and nearly every number in between. They were amazed to learn that, at 98, mom is older than the cafeteria in which we were gathered. She was the only one of the panelists who had attended the original Makawao School, established in 1839, as well as the current campus, which was built in 1936.
When reminded by their teachers to stick to the topics of Makawao School and town, the students recalled parts of the documentary which caught their attention, mostly the World War II era, when the school was used as an Army hospital. My favorite question was "What did the soldiers eat at Casanova's?"
Naturally, that spurred a discussion of the history of the building which has housed Upcountry's favorite Italian restaurant for more than 30 years. We explained that, during the war, it was a USO Club, a place for servicemen to socialize and enjoy their time off, probably dining on sandwiches and snacks, rather than pasta. "Before it became Casanova," we told them, "it was Club Rodeo, a very popular restaurant which was famous for having the best Portuguese bean soup!" Mom's recollection went even further back, informing us that the building was originally Tam Chow Store, a little mom-and-pop grocery and crack seed shop. The owners' daughter was a friend and classmate of mom's, and when they walked home together after school, she'd reach into one of the big glass apothecary jars and pull out a couple of salty-sweet seeds to share.
The first graders are too young to remember Makawao Steak House, the predecessor of the newly opened Makawao Public House. Chances are, their parents, and maybe even their grandparents, don't recall the original establishment: Iwaishi Store. Pat and I do, and we shared memories of the soda fountain counter where we enjoyed fresh homemade saimin noodles and juicy burgers dripping with Velveeta cheese. Iwaishi's was my first stop on the after-school walk to Japanese language school at Makawao Hongwanji. I always had just enough money for a six-cent chocolate Coke or Green River, and a few penny candies like Mary Janes or cherry flavored candy lipsticks.
When asked "What's the best thing about Makawao?" we were unanimous in answering "the people - our community." Charlotte recalled how, in her childhood, families helped feed each other. "People grew different things in their gardens, and everyone shared what they had, so we all had a variety of fresh food. We didn't have supermarkets, we had each other."
Indeed, mom often reminisces about former councilmember Gladys Baisa's grandmother bringing freshly baked sweet bread to my grandparents, and my own grandmother making extra rolls of sushi in exchange. She also remembers how their Chinese landlady would scold her when mom, as a little girl, would bring the rent money for the previous month. "You tell your mama, gotta pay rent before, not after!"
Apparently, my grandmother felt it was illogical and unfair to pay for housing you hadn't yet used. So, every month, the landlady would berate my mother, and then she'd give her a sack of tangerines or oranges from her backyard trees.
Ah, Our Makawao. You can purchase a DVD copy of the documentary on the museum's website. You can also view, at no charge, the unedited, unscripted interviews with mom, Charlotte, Pat, and dozens more Makawao kupuna at makawaomuseum.org. Several of them, including Bill Tavares and Ernie Rezents are no longer with us. Hearing their recollections and seeing their smiles, it's as comforting as a bowl of Club Rodeo Portuguese bean soup.
* Kathy Collins is a radio personality (The Buzz 107.5 FM and KEWE 97.9 FM/1240 AM), storyteller, actress, emcee and freelance writer whose "Sharing Mana'o" column appears every other Wednesday. Her email address is kcmaui913@gmail.com.