LIFE AT THE CENTER
“Working with fire” at the PCC
Mike (Mikaele) Foley shares several stories of how his retail team once almost burned down a PCC gift shop in the 1990s, and another when his stage crew almost blew up the Hale Aloha in the late 1960s. What? Click on the picture to keep reading.
Laie Inn Demo
Soon after the Center opened in 1963, the Church built a modest 49-room hotel practically in the parking lot. Along with a restaurant and service station, it served thousands of guests and local residents until it was demolished in 2010 (to make way for a 220-room replacement that opened in 2015)
Happy Return
A forgotten $5 bill, kept for decades, carried more than monetary value. When it was quietly returned to the Polynesian Cultural Center, it revealed a promise, a love story, and a meaning far deeper than anyone expected.
Donʻt Poke the Bear
A late night, a crowded courtyard, and an unexpected poke stopped everything. What a 92-year-old grandmother whispered next—followed by a raised cane and contagious laughter—left a lesson that stayed long after the night ended.
That’s My Friend
A shy little girl. A tangled headband. One quiet moment that changed everything. What happened next—without a shared language—left everyone smiling, and revealed a simple truth about kindness you won’t expect.
Jiiiiiiiiimmy
In the early 1960s as a missionary in Sāmata, Savai‘i, I once joined a high chief for breakfast, served *sua pusi*—moray eel cooked in coconut milk. A guest refused to eat, noting that not even flies would land on it. Later that day, a truckload of villagers was rushed to the hospital with food poisoning from that same eel. My companion and I, protected by the Lord’s promise, felt no sickness at all. I’ve never eaten eel again.