Jazz Society Fundraiser

We are members of the Maui Jazz Society and Wayne is vice-president. The organization put on a fund raising event on Friday. It was staged to raise money to produce a PBS Ken Burns type documentary about the musical life and career of Gabe Baltazar. Gabe is considered one of the greatest jazz saxophone players ever and he hales from Hawaii. He is a long-time friend of Bill Burton, president of the MJS.

It was billed as an evening of great jazz - provided by a jazz quintet fronted by Gabe's nephew, David Choi - with great food, silent and live auctions, all held at a sumptuous estate on the slopes of Kahalewai with an awsome view of the ocean channel between Maui, Lana'i and Kaho'olawe. The party started early and the sunset was gorgeous from the heights.

Caren took the role of Vanna White as she passed the many live auction items amongst the bidders. She was terrific and probably increased the bidding as she urged the potential buyers on. She also did much of the calling to acquire items - mostly store and restaurant certificates - for the silent auction. About 150 people attended at $100 per pop, so, between the tickets sold and the proceeds from the auctions, it was a great success.

After the party - which went on for several hours with the hard-core partyers - we stayed the night at the lovely estate in the glorious setting after a very late-night visit to the hot tub and pool.

The next morning it was a bit of clean up before the cleaning staff came and more time in the pool and taking in the marvelous views from the lanai and yard.

Maui Ukulele Festival

Well, it was another busy weekend on Maui. After the Princess Ka'iulani Festival on Saturday, there was the annual Ukulele Festival on Sunday. It was a great festival with great performances of both traditional and modern music for the instrument that is a symbol of the islands.

Needless to say we went......we miss very few music, art, or drama events - except for Aerosmith last night.

The festival was a huge success with several hundred ukulele players - both large school groups and soloists - hula dancers, chanters and singers. A wonderful immersion in the special culture of these islands. One of our neighbors, Gerard, a very Bostonian Bostonian who loves all things Hawaiian, was part of Auntie Doll's South Maui Strummers, who opened the show.

It was well attended on the lawn at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center.Of course the opportunity to get some rays could not be missed so Caren took advantage of the occasion.



Then, to top it all off, Wayne was photographed by the roving photog of the Maui News and his picture appeared on the front page of Monday's paper,

Princess Ka'iulani Festival

Princess Ka'iulani was a tragic figure - one of many - in the history of Hawaii royalty. She was a beautiful young woman who was destined to become the queen of the islands after the reign of Queen Lili'uokalani, but who died while trying to restore the monarchy after the overthrow of the Queen in 1893. She is highly regarded as a great beauty as well as patriot by many in the islands.

Each year there is a festival on Maui in her honor, and one of the events in the celebration this year was a sweeping fashion show of the various eras beginning in the early 19th century and proceeding to the present.

Say fashion show and Caren is very interested. She had purchased a beautiful period dress from the racks at the Salvation Army store nearby, not really knowing what it was exactly. Turns out it was a replica of a dress worn by the Princess and produced by Princess Ka'iulani Fashions - the most prestigious line of women’s aloha apparel in the islands for years.

Well, needless to say, Caren determined that she would be welcome to model the beautiful dress in the fashion show along with the professional models at the Festival.

She was a highlight of the show and, because she wore the dress throughout the day, she attracted a lot of compliments and added greatly to the gaiety of the event.

Surprise Wine

Several years ago we purchased a collection on wines - some young, some old, and one or two very old - from a neighbors estate sale. In the group was a 1976 Caneros Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon. Some how we lost track of it in our "extensive wine rack" ha, ha.

We painted the wall where the wine rack stood and, in the process of moving it, we re-discovered the Caneros Canyon Cab. It had never been properly stored in a cool place - how do you find a cool place in Hawaii - although it had been on its side, at least for the time we owned it.

In the move Caren found evidence that the cork was leaking ever so slightly. With this, she determined that we should serve it soon.....if it was not vinegar or worse already.

Of course, there was a certain curiosity about what we had........what if we were about to drink a $1000 bottle of wine........but then, too, wouldn't it be great to drink a $1000 bottle of wine on our lanai, the best damn restaurant on Maui.

Caren, the Queen of Google, got on the net to pursue the question.......her answer from the winery was -

Aloha Caren,

I doubt that this wine would bring more than about $75 in today's depressed
auction market. But you might be pleasantly surprised when you pull the
cork for dinner tonight. '76 was a good year for Cabernet in northern
California. It was the first of the two drought years in that area and the
wines tended to be concentrated from the get-go. I would love to hear back
as to how the wine turned out.

Best regards,
Lonnie


Caren prepared two beautiful bacon-wrapped fillet mignon with a baked potato and white asparagus. Holding our breath we opened, decanted and, after a bit, poured the wine with great anticipation.

Welllll, put simply, it was great.. The suspense ended with a great meal and a to-die-for wine that may have cost us $4.00 when factored into the price of the collection......we felt we were winners on "Antiques Roadshow."

Guide dog and mistress on tour

Wayne had a very interesting tour this week. One of his guests was a blind woman from Toronto. She was a passenger on the Holland American cruise ship Island Princess when it moored in Lahaina.......a twice monthly event.

Temptation Tours is a regular provider of Maui tours for most of the cruise ships that come to Maui.

Ruth was traveling with her guide dog Velcro - named because she sticks so closely to her mistress.

Wayne picked up his group of six passengers, plus Velcro, at the Lahaina harbor for a tour of the island including the Ali'i Kula Lavender Garden and the winery - Tedesche Vineyards and Winery at Ulupalakua.

Of course there were great scents at the lavender garden and great tastes at the winery. But, Wayne made a very special effort to paint word pictures of the island - views, sites, weather, terrain, experiences, etc - as well as the usual history, geology and all that he normally includes in his tours.

At the end of the day all of his guests and Velcro had a great trip......Ruth said she "saw more of Maui than she ever expected to see." And that it was her "best tour anywhere, any time."

Velcro said "woof, woof," which Ruth assured me, meant that she, too, had a great time.

All in all it was a very rewarding day for Wayne, too. That's one of the things he loves about his job.