A very Merrie Monarch Festival in 1984
Cy Bridges and the women of the Polynesian Cultural Center’s hula hālau, Hui Ho’oulu Aloha, backstage at the 1984 Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo.
Three cashiers staff PCC’s first box office in 1963
B.J. Fuller was one of the original Polynesian Cultural Center cashiers. She also sang at many PCC functions over the next several decades.
Wylie Swapp creates Cultural Center’s name
Church College of Hawaii faculty member Wylie Swapp was involved with early phases of the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Engineering key Maori, Samoan structures
A Church engineer took this picture of traditional Samoan houses in 1962 to help create building plans for the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Pōuli Magalei Sr.: From town runner to tram driver
[Reprinted from pcc50.com, May 29, 2013; interview and photo by Mike Foley] Pouli Magalei sr. started in 1964, when he came from American Samoa. He worked for two years as a tour guide, usher, and town runner. He left for a while, and came back to work in Security from 1971-72. He returned again about […]
Susana Magalei-Wong: “I wouldn’t trade those times”
Susana Magalei-Wong grew up in Laie and worked at the Center as a girl, but moved to Honolulu in 1975 and recently retired from Hawaiian Airlines.
Shirley Dela Rosa: Fond memories of PCC
Shirley Dela Rosa grew up in Laie and worked at the Center as a teenager, but later moved to American Samoa where she still lives today.
Aunty Kela: So much history since we first started
Aunty Kela Miller was born in Laie, learned hula from her ‘ohana, danced at the Hukilau, then became an original Hawaiian Villager and dancer at the PCC.
‘Aunty Val’: A PCC ‘living treasure’
Aunty Valetta Nepia Jeremiah from New Zealand devoted 50 years of her life to the Polynesian Cultural Center, and was revered as a “living treasure.”
