Ukulele Making

Sept 7th/ 8th , 2012

Aloha !

Well the day has come ! Karen and I are going off to Hilo to make our ukulele ! Sami  offered the use of her car for Friday and we were fortunate to have the use of Mark's car for Saturday .  The ukulele making class was over 2 days, Fri , Sept, 7th and Sat, Sept, 8th .

We went to pick up Sami's car keys. She had left it on the kitchen counter  at Peace House . When we got to Peace House, we found the keys but her car was not parked outside. Hmmmm, perhaps she parked it at the Lanai . So, Karen and I trekked up to the Lanai , passing by Guest Services parking lot to make sure it wasn't there either. When we got to the Lanai , no car. " Did you ask her where she parked her car ? "  I said to Karen. " No. "

" Lets ask Mark . "  We went to the kitchen   Mark laughed. " Here , use my car to look for Sami's " he said,   handing us his car keys. So we drove around and we finally found Sami's car , parked at the lower level near the Rainbow Room.  " She never parks here , " Karen said. " I didn't even know there was a parking area here. "  I didn't either. I was glad we found her car.

" Oh, its Friday afternoon . There shouldn't be too much traffic going into Hilo. " Karen tells me. Not the case. As it was, we were a few minutes late.

Each one of us was given a small blue box. It was Tiffany blue. A very special gift inside indeed .

" Don't open it . Put you name on the box. Your ukulele is inside. I repeat, don't open the box. Wait until everyone gets their box and we will open it together ! " Ken Makuakane told everyone. Ken was the one instructing us to make the ukelele. He is a well known Hawaiian singer, songwriter and producer.

As I opened my Tiffiany blue box at the instructed time  , I saw pieces of ukulele along with a small zip lock bag full of very tiny parts.

" Don't open the small zip lock bag ! "  Ken said. That was very good instruction. I can see some people losing the small parts needed , before we even got started.

And then it began . We used wood glue, screw drivers ,  wooden chopsticks , elastic bands , a pencil and a ruler and two grades of sand paper. . I sat beside Cora , ( not sure if that was her name )  the Minister of the church I went to . The chopsticks and elastics were used as a clamping mechanism once the wood glue was applied for each part of the ukelele. It was a most interesting and creative use of  takeout wooden chopsticks.

Over the course of 2 days, we glued , clamped , screwed , sanded , stained , strung , strummed  and tuned our very own ukulele !

Everyone was in a happy mood. There were more than 50 of us there, making our own ukulele  . It was wonderful to see all the different ages there . The youngest was 2 years old and his Mom was making his ukelele for him !

On Friday, it was from 4:00 to 8:00 and on Saturday , it was from 9:00 to 12;00 ish.

The ukulele making class was held in the gymnasium of  Haili Church in Hilo. The Church was founded in 1824. It is a lovely yellow Church.

For dinner, we were fed bright red hot dogs. I was hungry but that hot dog did not sit well with me. It was bright red. Seriously.  I was however, thankful that the Church provided some food as I had not brought anything to eat.

On Saturday morning , Karen was running around trying to get her stuff done before we left and we were 15 minutes late . I knew that would happen. Thank goodness they started only a few minutes before we arrived.
Cora and Nancy had given me a piece of paper to write down an evaluation of the class. I wrote them a 2 pager.

They both cried and hugged me after they read my evaluation. They thought what I wrote was so beautiful.

On my 2 page hand written free form evaluation , I wrote of how I stumbled upon their Church . I wrote of how I felt God's strong presence and Love there, in their Church. Of course, God is everywhere, but I felt his presence ever so strong there. I was descriptive of my heart . I wrote of how it was always my dream to come to Hawaii to learn about Hawaiian culture. Here, in Hawaii , I was given and blessed with abundant opportunities with which I grately and humbly embraced . God is giving me a ukelele to give thanks in music and in song. A mahogany ukulele that I will make with my own hands . How beautiful is that ?  I spoke of the song " I want to Praise you Lord ."  I spoke of many things and wrote many things in my 2 page evaluation . The evaluation was my letter of deep gratitude , of meeting all of their church congregation and there love and warmth towards me , and giving me the opportunity to make my own ukulele , fulfilling a Life dream..........

They both cried reading my letter of homage to their church. They both said that my letter was so beautifully written . What I wrote flowed so effortlessly as it came from my heart.  Two full pages, hand written.

As we were leaving the workshop on saturday with my beautiful ukulele , I went to hug Cora and Nancy goodbye.  They were both sitting on benches . I went behind them and hugged them and they both gave me long hugs and kisses.

Cora was the last one I hugged . It was as if I have known her all my Life. As I hugged her, her tears were streaming down her face , and my tears followed . We held each other for a long time. I felt so incredibly loved. This was only the second time that I have met her.............

And this is how it has been for me in Hawaii. I am so accepted and loved by all that I meet. The Hawaiians treat me as one of their own.

It is like going home , a place that you love so very much , after a very long absence........

I feel so incredibly richly  blessed...........

With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly