~ERRI E M NARCH FESTIVAL APRIL 10 - 17, 1977 HILO, HAWAII . ,~.- Official Program & Guide It is my pleasure indeed to bid you welcome and send you the greetings of the people of the County 0 Hawaii on the occasi on of this 14th Annual Monarch Festiva l at Hi lo. We are especially happy to see that your field of p articipation includes groups from around the State of Hawaii as well as from other parts of o u r Nation. You are to be congratulated for the long hours and for the dedicated effort you-as dancers, m usi c ians, teachers, fam illes, and sponsors toget h er- have put in to o rganizing t h e p reparing yours Ives fo r th is special B ig Is land festiva l to share w ith residents and vis itors al ike. We are p leased also that o ur County of Hawaii fa cilitie s, as w ell as the beau tiful settings of o ur hotel s, will provide the backdrop for you I' contests and celebrat ions, and w e send YOLI our congratula tions and very best w is h es for a successful, safe and happy festival of th e pageantry, songs, dancing and MAYOR'S cultural activities so beautifully and so strongly rem iniscent of the spirit of old Hawaii. PROCLAMATION Kalakaua was a t raveler. In 1879, he becan1e t he first k ing to visi the Un ited States. In 1881, he was the fi rst k ing 0 f a wes ern, Christ ian nation to visit Japar . He Wa th fir t king to make a trip around the world. In 187 5, one of the grea t even t s of the earl y ears of Kalakaua's reign w as the signing o f a reciprocity agreement with the United Sta tes. T h is t rea ty provided that unr fined MERRIE sugar, rice and virtually al l other Hawaiian prOduct s should be adm it ted to the United States free of CU storn s duties. In return, a large number of American products w e re adm itted MONARCH free into the Island. The most spectacular effec t o f the t re aty w as the increase in suga r production. In 1987, Hawa ii exported 25 million pounds; in 1890, the export ex ceed ed 250 million pounds. David Kalakaua, born November 16, 1836, was elected During Kalakaua's reign, railroads carne into opera tion on king of the Hawaiian Islands by the Legislative Assembly on Hawaii, Maui and Oahu. Honolulu streets wen~ lighted b V FebrUary 12, 1874. He died in San Francisco on January 29, electricity in 1888. T elephone lines were erected on MJui and 1891. Hi s election followed the death of King Will ia m Lunalilo in Honolulu in 1878. A parcel post system in cooperation with on February 3. Kalakaua was Hawaii's last king. t he United States was inaugurated in 1889 and in that y ear, Hilo's Merry Monarch Festival is named for Kalakaua who the first section of an inter-island submarine cable w as laid waS H awai i's Merry Monar·ch. Kalakaua loved luxury and between Molokai and Maui. grilrldeur. He vlJ as an excellent musician, composer of songs lolani Palance in Honolulu w as completed and occupied in and a creator of hulas. 1882. K alak au a restored the Royal Hawaiia n Band and collabo­ Kalakaua was given the title of Merry Monarch o f the rated w ith Captain Henri Berger, t he iJandmaster, in com · Pacific, but his re ign also produced peac e and prosp er ity in the posi ng "Hawaii Po no' i. " He re vived more than 300 ancient I sla nds as w as never k now n before. hulas . He is credited with inventing the shredded ti-Ieaf skins To the memory of King D avid K alak aua, the Merry for t h e d ancers. Monarch Fe stival is d edicated .. QUEEN KAPIOLANI Julia Kapiolani was born in H ila on December 31, 1833 In 1877, K ing Kalakaua gave avvay the crown land located a(ld spent her childhood in Kana . between Waikik i and D iamond Head to b e a public park to be Kapiolani was the granddaughter of K ing K aumual i'i of named after his Queen, Kapiolani Park . Kauai. Ancestors seemed to be a bit scarce in he r day and she Another honor bestowed upon h is Queen by the King wa s and Kalakaua shared between them only one grea t grand ­ the creat ion of the Order of K apiolani, o ne of three high father. Mean ing of he r name, Kapiolani, is Heavens Captive. honor awards of the K ingdol11 . A t t he age of 21, the yOu ng pri ncess w ent to Hanoi ulu About 1890, with the King's help, the Queen esta bl ish ed and en tered court circles and, over the years, forged a K apiolani M ate rn ity Hospital. rep utation for congenial ity and graciousness and demonstrated In 1887, Kapiolani traveled to Eng land , accompanied by a si ncere interest in her people. Princes s Lydia Liliuokalani. There, they part icipated in the Her ·first marria ge was to Namakiha, uncle to Queen celeb ra tion of Queen Victoria's Fiftieth Jubilee. Emma, and she and her hasba n d were given the care of the Following K alakaua's death in 1891, Quee n Kapiolanl yoU ng Prince o f Hawai 'i. I ived to see the overthrow of the monarchy <mel preparations But in 1857, Kap iolani w ent with Namakiha to the Gilbert for an nexatio n to the U.S. Isla nds see king improvement in his health. But they returned She d ied 011 June 24, 1899 at Puale ilani near Wa ikiki, tl,e follow ing year to Honolulu where Namak iha 500n died. lea ving her es tate to her nephews, Prince David Kawananakoa She iJ ec ame the wife of Kalakaua abou t five years later and Pr ince Kuhio Ka lan ian ao le, the latter la ter serving for :w w he n he w as head of th e Kingdom's postal se rvice, duri ng y ears representing Haw ai 'i in the U .S. Congress. wh ieh lime K aw aihae became th e second post office e5· tabl ishecl in the Kingdom. It was on February 13, 1874 tha t Kalakaua and K apio lan i ascended the throne. THE CORONATION brillance . and, strange to say, the morning star w s seen in .... the heavens shining contemporeneous with the sun." The Hawaii ans regard this as a happy omen. On February 12, 1883, David Kalakaua, king of the Hawa ii an Islands, placed upon his own head, the crown of the Hawaiian Kingdom. And upon the head of his queen, Kapiolani, he placed another. The coro nation took place t noon on the grounds at lolani Palace in Honolu lu . A n amphitheater to acc rnmodate 4,000 was constructed 0 n the pala e gr un s, but by 9 :00 a.m. , the amphitheater was fi lled to overflow ing and 4,000 more were sa id t o be si ning on the gr ou nd . The lanai of surrounding bui ldings also were sa id to be fill ed to capa ity. All great countries of t he world were represe n ted by offici als sent to Ho no lulu f or the gr eat a cas io n. Seated n the lanai o f lo lani Pa lace w ere r ep rese ntatives o f t he Un ited S t ates , Great Britain, France, Por t uga l, Italy, Germany, Swed e n, The Ne therlands, Denmark, Japan, Mexico and Belgium. In the days lead ing up to the coronation, the Advertiser re partee! da ily on thp. pi ans and paid particu la r no te to a The year was 1883. For three days, February 9, 10 aGd request of the kind; 11, the Islands were drenched by torrential ra ins. A newspaper "All classes have b ee n invited and Hi s Mai e ty does not of the day, the Advertiser, reported, however, that "On the want any one to feel that they wi ll not be welcomed if no t morning of the 12th ... the sun shone forth with unwonted expensively dressed." RULERS OF THE MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL 1977 MO'I PUNOHOA MO' I WAHINE MILILANI The group oted to accept the idea and Set: about to plan HOW THE FESTIVAL it as an annual event the firs t wee after East r. I n January 1969, the Hawaii Island Chamber of Co m­ WAS CONCEIVED merce decided to drop the fe st ival for lack of a chairman . • ,.Ir ;' Dorothy Thom pson o f the Department o f Park - and Recrea­ to- ,0/ tion volunteered to find a chairman. No o ne w as willing to chair the fes tival ; therefore beca use o f her lOve for Hawa ii's Heri tage , sh e accepted the respo nsi bility of chairperson. In 1974, the Hawaii Isl and Chamber of CommerCe d ecided not to sponsor t he Festival. With the support of the Hawaii V isi tors Bureau and the County of Hawaii, Dottie Thompson has made many sacrifices, put in endless hours and worried 0 \1 r the festival .