Hawaii Club members may not be able to bring the University to Hawaii, but this weekend they will offer students the next best thing to being on the islands.
Over the past weeks, club members have flown in boxes of food, spices, and decorations — about 600 pounds’ worth — directly from Hawaii. And it’s all in preparation for the group’s 26th annual luau, which will be held Saturday at McArthur Court. The theme is “Island Love.”
Today, members of the group will travel to Portland to pick up the last shipment, which contains native Hawaiian flowers and plants. Then they’ll head straight back to Mac Court to start decorating, said luau co-coordinator Candice Inouye.
Within the next 24 hours, they will transform the aging basketball court into a Hawaiian paradise — lining the arena with hundreds of antheriums, Birds of Paradise flowers, and other native plants and ferns.
But the decorations are just the finishing touch of authenticity, Hawaii Club member Travis Arita said. Right down to the ti leaves on the dancers’ hula skirts, he said, the luau is as close to the real thing as possible.
“It’s something you could experience when you go to Hawaii,” he said.
Although bringing enough food over directly from Hawaii would not have been possible, Inouye said, the event will feature traditional luau cuisine prepared by University Catering. All the recipes used are from a restaurant in Hawaii, she added.
In addition, she said, there will be Kona coffee, macadamia nuts and other snacks from Hawaii. Parents of Hawaii Club members donated all the food and materials they received from Hawaii, Inouye added.
The luau has been a group effort, she said. All 65 members of the Hawaii Club are involved in one way or another, some behind the scenes, others on stage. This year, the luau will feature several Polynesian dances, as well as traditional Hawaiian hula dances.
Inouye, who was also involved with last year’s luau, said she doesn’t know what it is, but for some reason, the dancers are performing better than ever this year.
“We look really, really good this year,” Inouye said.
Senior Ramsey Iwasaki, who has been a member of the Hawaii Club for the past four years, said a lot of time and effort goes into preparing for the luau.
“We’ve put a lot of practice hours into it,” he said. But, he added, “It’s a lot of fun.”
Tickets to the luau are available at the EMU Ticket Office. Admission is $13 for students, $16 for non-students. The doors at Mac Court open at 4:30 p.m.