About Hui o Laka
VISION
Hui o Laka illuminates, celebrates, and nurtures the essence of Koke’e, engaging all in a spirit of appreciation and service.
MISSION
In order to nurture a mutually beneficial connection between people and Koke’e, a globally significant and locally cherished place with rich natural and cultural diversity, Hui o Laka provides and supports a wide variety of publicly accessible interpretive and stewardship programs, heightening a sense of place by looking to the past, enriching the present, and conserving and restoring for the future.
HISTORY OF HUI O LAKA
The Roots of our forest ‘ohana
In 1952, Joseph M. Souza, Jr. “Koke’e Joe” to many, engaged two Kaua’i women, Ruth Knudsen Hanner and Isabel Fayé to help organize “Hui o Laka” for the purpose of creating a visitor center for Koke’e. Koke’e was a Territorial park with no visitor amenities.
Souza engineered the relocation and rebuilding of two World War II buildings two miles up the road , bringing them to the north edge of Kanaloahuluhulu Meadow. He turned them into what are now The Koke’e Lodge and Koke’e Natural History Museum. In the meantime, Hanner and Fayé rallied community support and designed and created the first exhibits.
Costs for this boot-strap community effort were supported by over 300 Kauai residents and visitors who became members of Hui o Laka for a donation of $2. That early handwritten membership list, preserved by Hui o Laka, is a treasure trove of old time Kauai residents – it even includes Eric Shinseki, a famous Kauaian who went on to become the U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff. Charter Lifetime Members donated more to the cause.
On November 28, 1953, proud founders Joe Souza, Ruth Hanner, and Isabel Fayé joined friends and well-wishers in opening the doors of the building that has served over five decades as the visitor and activity center for the park. Rustic touches like ohi’a posts and railings, as well as handcarved redwood signs framed in pine, softened the utilitarian structures.
The building Souza turned into the Koke’e Lodge is operated as a for-profit concession, currently Kikiaola Land Company. The Koke’e Museum is operated by Hui o Laka.
The philosophy behind it all
What inspired Hui o Laka’s founders to go to so much effort to initiate a natural history museum in an isolated and then, not much used, mountain park on Kauai? All three loved and were deeply committed to the Koke’e region. Both Ruth Hanner and Isabel Fayé’s family figured in the 20th century history of these upland watersheds, indeed of the whole island. And Souza was determined that Kauai’s parks would be among the best in America and the world.
It was after a trip to Calfornia that Souza, long the ranger for Koke’e, came home fired up to bring what he had learned to his beloved Koke’e. In 1951, he had visited numerous state and national parks in Calfornia, looking behind the scenes at all aspects of park operations and visitor services. Inquiries, replys, and thank yous from that exploratory trip are still archived in the library of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
Over five decades since the founding, Hui o Laka continues to serve visitors to these mountain parklands, both every day at Kokee Natural History Museum, as well as through festivals, guided hikes, and an active volunteer stewardship program, Kokua Koke’e.
LEGAL BASIS
Hui o Laka, a non-profit 501©3 tax-exempt corporation, is guided and governed by a community-based Board of Trustees. The Executive Director, hired by and directly accountable to the Board, is responsible for operations and staff. Hui o Laka Membership annually elects that portion of the Board whose terms expire. Members must attend the meeting to vote. Business of the organization is governed by By-laws which can be amended by members at the annual meeting.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
A Board of 13 members is elected by Hui o Laka members at the annual meeting, held in the fall in Koke’e State Park. Board members serve for staggered terms of 3 years so in any one year, 4 to 5 board positions are voted upon. While members elect Trustees, the trustees decide upon leadership, traditonally selecting president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary.
BD LINK
Currently serving
Officers:
Althea Kaohi, President
Reginald P. Gage, II Vice President
Frank Hay, Treasurer
Kay Koike, Secretary
Trustees:
Roselle F.K. Bailey
Pam Chock
Alan Fayé
Frank O. Hay
David Kuhn
Robin Mazor
Patricia W. Sheehan
Billi Smith Topp
Frederick Bruce Wichman
Jonathan Wichman
Ex-officio:
Takeshi Fujita, Trustee Emeritus
B.K. Pang-Ching, Trustee Emeritus
Marsha Erickson, Executive Director
Marsha Erickson
Executive Director
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Hui o Laka’s Executive Director since 1987, Marsha Erickson has 35 years of non-profit administrative experience in Hawaii. Many of the programs she created during her 13-year tenure (1973-1986) at Volcano Art Center persist to this day; for instance the Ho’oulu Ka Hula series and the Volcano Wilderness Marathon & Rim run, both continous attractions since 1983.
Erickson’s interest in Hawaiian conservation began in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where she worked as Park Technician for Don Reeser, now a legend in Hawaii resources management. Seven years of study with Halau o Kekuhi, led by Nalani Kanaka’ole and Pualani Kanahele, marked her forever with a Hawaiian world view.
She developed expertise working with historic structures, beginning with the 1877 Volcano House in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in 1976 when it was restored. Like many in Hawaii, she was mentored by Barnes Riznik, a national preservation leader. At Koke’e, she has pioneered renovations to the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was placed on the State and National Historic Registers in 1996.
At Koke’e, she has created two annual festivals, forest craft workshops, guided Wonderwalks, and a park stewardship program, Kokua Kokee.
In 2003, Erickson was honored with the Hookele Award for excellence in non profit leadership by Hawaii Community Foundation and the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation. She has served on many boards, and is currently an active member of Kauai Planning and Action Alliance’s Park Action Team. In 2008, she was presented with the SGI-USA Humanitarian Award.