Origin of the ‘Laie Lady’?
Did a mysterious woman lead to the Laie Lady legend that was part of the PCC’s “Haunted Lagoon” event?
PCC 60th: Bill Cravens, Herb Kane, Tui’one Pulotu and the Tongan kalia
— Memories and photo by Mike Foley Not long after I came back to work (full-time) at the Polynesian Cultural Center in public relations in the early 1980s, after living in Honolulu for about five years and working in journalism and PR, I played a small role with the Tongan kalia canoe in the picture. […]
Christian Wilson’s mid-1800s ties to Tahiti
[When Christian Wilson’s father, Elder Paul Wilson, a former senior marketing missionary at the Polynesian Cultural Center in the mid-1990s, visited Laie in March 2023 and gave the interview above, among other things he mentioned that his great-great-grandparents, Charles and Rosa Clara Logie had ties to Tahiti. I asked Chris, a PCC alumnus, to share […]
Listen up for slack key guitar in our Hawaiian Village
[Reprinted from the Center’s Blog, 2016] The popularity of Hawaiian music and instruments such as the steel guitar and ukuleles has spread around the world; and so, rightfully, part of the PCC’s cultural presentation in the village focuses broadly on Hawaiian music; and in a smaller slice of that part, if you’re really lucky, you […]
The Polynesian Cultural Center pays homage to Bill Cravens
[Story and photo by Mike Foley, reprinted from the Center’s Blog in 2019] We pay tribute to the late William H. Cravens (1941-2019), who served as the on-site leader at the Polynesian Cultural Center from 1975 to 1983. Before leaving, Cravens briefly became our first Polynesian president. An early biography of William H. Cravens Cravens’ […]
Damaso Allan Makahinu Barcarse (1939-2016)
Church College of Hawaii alumnus Allan Barcarse, originally from Kauai, joined the Church when his friends introduced him to President David O. McKay. In 1959 he was called to the Northern Far East Mission, where he learned fluent Japanese, and when he returned to school and became one of the original PCC dancers in 1963. […]
Aloha nui, Jack and Kit Regas
[I was recently looking for information on several long-ago Polynesian Cultural Center people . . . when I came across the obituaries of these two very popular people from the earliest days]: Jack (Jackson Theodore) Regas, 1925–2018; from his obituary, written by his wife, Kit: Jack took such pride in his family and loved every […]
Keith Awai retires after 43 years at PCC
[Reprinted from a 2016 Polynesian Cultural Center Blog story] Friends and colleagues honored Keith Kalanikau Awai, the Cultural Center’s most senior Hawaiian expert, during a special retirement luncheon held in the Gateway Terrace on March 4, 2016, after 43 years of service at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Chants, hula, gift presentations — including a Maori […]
96-year-old senior missionary revisits the Center
[One of our most-senior, former senior missionaries paid a periodic visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center in March 2023 and took the time to share the following interview for the PCC’s 60th anniversary historical website]: Elder Paul M. Wilson, who is a healthy 96 years old, and his wife, the late Sister Lois Wilson, served […]
