With a new board of directors, Lahaina Canoe Club have started 2012 by making a conscious shift towards helping others in our community. The community that that we are so lucky to be a part of.
There are many projects in the pipeline for coming days, weeks, months and years but where better to begin than right here on our doorstep in West Maui.
LCC's members gather together before heading into the valley.
March 17 represents St Patrick’s Day in many parts of the world but this year, for LCC, it was a day to roll up the sleeves, get dirty and Malama Honokowai.
Malama means to care for, to preserve, to tend and to protect. And this is exactly what the Maui Cultural Lands organization does in Honokowai Valley.
Driving into Honokowai Valley.
Established in 2002, MCL is a land trust organization, committed to stabilizing, preserving and restoring areas of cultural importance here in Hawaii. In their words: “Our vision is to restore Honokowai Valley to a state of balance, so that it can serve as a place to learn, to find peace and to honor those who have come before us. In the face of urban sprawl and population growth on Maui, now more then ever, we must concentrate on these efforts.”
Honokowai Valley, just a 20 minute drive away from Canoe Beach, is one such area and MCL is restoring and reforesting the area which was once home to an estimated 600 Hawaiian families.
Amazing rockfaces.
Volunteers are needed to help this incredible project and are welcomed every Saturday for maintenance work. Visit the MCL website here for more information.
Here’s a few pictures from our day, one which we will be sure to repeat in the very near future. Huge thanks go to the wonderful and kind Puanani Lindsey, whose late husband Ed Lindsey, began the project in 2002. Puanani was our guide and leader for the day and she made the day truly memorable.
Puanani Lindsey.
Jaclyn and some of LCC's keiki helping to plant.
Malama in action.
LCC President Michael Rains.
Lahaina Canoe Club members with Maui Cultural Lands on March 17, 2012.
