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The Salvation Army participates in Plantation Days Festival.
by Daniel de Castro –
Representing The Salvation Army, the Island Brass Band—from the Kauluwela Mission Corps—performed in the annual Koloa (Kaua’i, Hawaii) Plantation Days Festival Parade on July 24, 2010. Major Edward Hill, Hawaiian and Pacific Islands divisional commander, led the 10-piece brass ensemble.
The annual procession—themed “Sweet Memories”—celebrates the camp-style way of life that characterized Koloa in the early 1900s and commemorates the contributions of its plantation workers who came from locations including the Philippines, Japan, China, Korea, Puerto Rico and Portugal.
Junior and senior soldiers of the Hanapepe and Lihu’e corps marched before and after the float that carried the band. More than 4,500 people watched and participated.
For more than a century, The Salvation Army has been serving the needs of this multi-ethnic community on the island of Kaua’i. Soup kitchens in Lihu’e and Hanapepe continue to serve hot meals to families who are struggling to cope with the hurting economy.
Lt. Sarah Smuda, corps officer for both the Hanapepe Corps and Koloa Outpost, coordinated the Army’s participation in the event assisted by Envoys Larry and Joy Groenleer, in-charge of the Lihu’e Corps.