Our History
Click on the image to the right to view a Flash slide presentation of 30 photos from the Grand Opening on Sept. 5, 2004. Download is 330K. 
It consist of 30 photos incliuding the Blessing Ceremony, Uncle Wayne, live entertainment, pony rides, Jumping Castles, rock wall climbing, and thousands of community hands surrounding the playground. You will need the latest version of Macromedia Flash 7 Player to view the photos. You can download it here.
Kalakupua Playground Opening is Celebrated
10/5/04 By Melissa Tanji, Maui News Staff Writer
HAIKU – Families from all over the island on Sunday came to enjoy the work and rewards of the community-built Kalakupua Playground in Haiku.
Those who pushed the playground from the drawing board to reality held a grand opening celebration at the 4th Marine Division Park, which included a fun day of games, pony rides, party bouncers, entertainment and food.
Volunteer Buck Joiner had one word to describe the playground: “Spectacular.” “After endless work, endless hours of planning and construction, we have an eternity of play,” he said while watching the crowd. “And today, I’m five and a half,” he joked, adding the playground was designed mainly for children 6 years old and younger.
Volunteers worked through rain, mud and heat to finish what some called a “dream” project. Organizers said the project cost $200,000. Originally, the 20,000-square-foot playground was scheduled to be a six-day “barn-raising” project in May, but a lack of volunteers delayed completion of the project as well as additional work to erect a fence around the playground. The playground had a soft opening on July 1. Nevertheless, park visitors and the volunteers were pleased with the end result.
“Wow, it’s awesome,” said Kirstin Giroux of Waiehu, who brought her family to the park for the first time. “We need a place like this on Maui.” The playground was instantly a magnet for Giroux’s two children, 4-year-old Jacob, and 2-year-old, Joy, who walked herself quickly toward the playground leaving her mother and father, James, behind.
The Sakakihara family of Wailuku made their first trek to the park and were also pleased. “This is better than I expected,” said Linda Monden and her husband, Scott Sakakihara. The two brought their 2¢-year-old daughter, Sarah, to the park. The family donated money to the playground’s efforts, which led to Sarah getting her name included on one of the pickets surrounding the playground. But Monden said his family will probably not come back to the park because it’s too far away from their home, but they are looking forward to donating more money to a similar community-based park effort going on in Central Maui.“Anything for the kids is great,” Monden said.
The playground in Central Maui, “Pa Pa’ani,” which means the playground, will be located near the horseshoe pits at Keopuolani Park, organizers said.That playground is scheduled to begin construction in May 2005. It will feature items that Central Maui schoolchildren choose, organizers said.The Central playground will incorporate designs by Leathers & Associates, which has worked on many community playgrounds, including Boundless Playgrounds. Such play areas provide activities for children with disabilities, said Venus Rosete-Hill, one of four leading the effort. Others leading the effort are Masaru “Pundy” Yokouchi, Lisa Rodrigues and David Bergau.
Mayor Alan Arakawa and other county and state politicians also attended Sunday’s event in Haiku.“
There are enough things to do here to keep a child busy,” said Arakawa, after he took a swing on the bars and rode a swing at the playground. “If you look at it, you can see how much people got involved with this,” he said.
Sadee Albiar, a 10-year-old from Pukalani agreed: “It’s really fun. There are so many things to do in here.” “All we need is a baby sitter,” said Albiar’s mother, who did not want to be identified. Children such as Albiar, enjoyed themselves on the tower castle, mazes and slides.
On Sunday morning, the playground had a blessing and an aerial photograph was taken from a helicopter. Those attending the event held hands and formed a circle around the playground as the helicopter hovered above. Playground volunteers were also happy the project was a success.
“It’s great. It’s awesome,” said Kathy McDonald of Haiku. “We’ve been at it for two years.” McDonald, who said she’s part of the “true blue” committee that kicked off the project several years ago, said the effort “brought the neighborhood together.” The McDonalds live nearby at Haiku Mauka, and Kathy McDonald remembers going back and forth from the park to her home when the project was ongoing. Even though McDonald was in charge of the child care tent, where the volunteers’ children were taken care of, she remembers seeing others slaving away and using wheelbarrows and working in the rain.
McDonald was joined by her husband, Todd, who, she said, “was over here banging away all week long,” at the building effort. On Sunday, Todd McDonald, a firefighter, added some novelty to the event by playing the role of Smokey Bear. Even though Kathy McDonald said her volunteer efforts took away from her family, including, 6-year-old Micah and 3-year-old Cody, she was happy with the outcome.
General co-coordinators of the project, River Sussman and Karen Cooper, were still busy on Sunday with the festivities, but had time to pause and smile at their work.
“I love seeing what a lot of people can do when they come together,” Sussman said. Even when the going got tough and the “six-day” goal of completing the project failed, volunteers never faltered. “It was just one foot in front of the other,” Sussman said. Even though a majority of the project is done, Sussman said some landscaping remains to be completed as well as regular maintenance. Donations are needed for both. Volunteers also are being sought for projects.
