Related by Greg Maples, PCC VP of Culinary Services, July 2022
We all know that the Polynesian Cultural Center is a place of miracles. Greg Maples shared two miracles that happened in the Hale Aloha.
Every day before Hale Aloha opens for guest seating, an employee goes around and lights the tiki torches. There is a process for torch lighting that saves time and is efficient.
Last week “we were stressed because we were overbooked and late lighting the torches. We had started letting guests in for seating, and I was standing by the hostess station when I noticed Tim, our employee, just starting to light the torches.
As usual, he started lighting the three torches across the lagoon close to the imu. He had lighted one and started across the bridge.
I’m thinking, ‘What’s this kid doing. I said, “Hey Tim, you need to go back and light the other two torches before crossing the bridge.”
Tim answered, “Oh Greg, I know. I just need to light this one now.”
I’m thinking, “What a waste of time.” But I didn’t say anything else.
Tim walked across the bridge and came past the hostess station, where there was a torch pipe with two tikis right next to the hostess station.
As Tim went to light the torches, it snapped off and fell into his arms that very moment.
Had he not skipped those two torches by the imu and come to light the ones by the hostess station, the pipe would have fallen right on a mother and daughter who were standing next to the hostess station.
The gas pipes are solid iron with two gigantic tikis at the top. Tim turned and looked at me because gas was spewing out of the top.
I told him to turn off the gas and put the pipe away.
We both learned a lesson that day. Had he not listened to the spirit, the pipe would have fallen right on top of a guest.
I was worried about following the process, but Tim followed the spirit. I am so proud of him.
The next miracle of that day happened because Hale Aloha was overbooked. There are 367 seats, but Reservations had booked 340 tickets. That is a problem because at any given night, there are between 25 and 50 lap children.“Everyone was panicked because we weren’t sure what we were going to do if everyone who had tickets showed up. At the end of the night, we had exactly 367 seats full.
There was not one person without a seat. This was our loaves and fishes moment.”
