Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 6, 1 June 1988 — Rundown Social Hall is Target [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Rundown Social Hall is Target

Kalua'aha Schedules First Buildinq Restoration

By Kenny Haina, Editor Ka Wai Ola O OHA Kalua'aha Church members may have regular services at their Puko'o location this summer if their rundown social hall ean be repaired in the next eouple of months. Ka Wai Ola O OHA visited Kalua'aha Apr. 22 and there were piles of termite-treated lumber and hollow tile blocks stacked in front of the still standing dilapidated social hall. These were the first materials to be delivered to the Moloka'i site Apr. 21. Work was expected to start this month. The congregation had been waiting since last summer for the permit to go ahead with the project. It is now in their hands and work ean now proceed. On the site during Ka Wai Ola O OHA's visit were church members William Kaupu and his wife, Napua, and Randall Puailihau. They were busy securing their precious cargo with heavy plastic covering to protect it from the elements. "Our carpenter will be free in two weeks and he'll start work then. We'll all be here to help him in whatever way we ean," said Mrs. Kaupu. FIer husband is a brother of the Rev. David Kaupu, kahu at Kamehameha Schools. It was supposed to be a work day Apr. 22 but the rest of the members were involved with several community projects during the day. As a result, only the three showed up and after securing the materials, they left for the kahakai. The entire Kaupu ohana still living on Moloka'i are actively involved in the church's restoration project. Henrietta Kaupu Mokiao, one of the Kaupu sisters, and Lorraine Kalima Luuloa have been spearheading the restoration project. The Kaupus have roots just as deep as the church's history. The patriarch of the elan, Edward Kaupu Sr., was lay pastor at Kalua'aha for more than 30 years. The small congregation wants to restore the social hall so that they ean start having regular church services. There have been no services at the church for over 20 years but the congregation

has been meeting at several locations, including at some of the members' homes. During the church's 154th anniversary last Aug. 9, it was announced by Mrs. Mokiao that the eongregation's first target in the overall restoration project was to get the social hall repaired "so that we ean have a plaee for our services." The church itself is a mammoth project whieh the congregation is facing head-on. Meanwhile, weeds, shrubs and trees whieh onee almost entirely enveloped the church, social hall and parsonage have been somewhat contained through periodic eleanup days. Fund raising has taken up mueh of the congregation's time in addition to maintaining the grounds. Two big projects were held in recent months. A bazaar was followed by an auction. A ho'ike involving all the Kalawina churches on

Moloka'i was another fund raiser held May 1 at Kalamaula. Donations big and small are most welcomed by the congregation. They may be sent to Kalua'aha Church Restoration Fund in care of William Kaupu's mailing address at P.O. Box 1226, Kaunakaka'i, Moloka'i 96748. With prayers, hope and hard work, the congregation is sure to onee more see the reality of a temporary house of worship in the reconstruction of their social hall, perhaps even as early as June 19 for the church's 155th anniversary. It was on June 19, 1833, that the church was officially established. Kalua'aha has always been considered the church of the commoners. It is the mother church on Moloka'i and proudly its members look to the day when it will again stand as a monument to Hawaii's glorious history and its Hawaiian roots.

Randall Puailihau, Napua Kaupu and William Kaupu are shown from left to right covering their precious materials to restore the social hall pictured in the background as a combination activity center and temporary plaee of worship until enough funds are raised to do a complete restoration of Kalua'aha Church.