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Why Hamakua Alive? The Story of Hamakua Alive Agricultural Festival |
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Did you ever know a man that was willing to share his life knowledge with you… if you were only willing to listen? I did, his name was Tom Kadooka and this is the story of how we met in 1997 and how that meeting changed the future. One night my family sat around the dinner table pondering what we would grow on our new land in Paauilo Mauka. My mother in-law said “how about vanilla” the very second I heard the word vanilla I wanted to know all I could about this mysterious orchid and its highly prized bean. Actually I became quite obsessed with cultivating vanilla on our land in Hamakua. The next morning our vanilla adventure began in earnest… I made a huge to do list and began the process. I called everyone at the UH College of Tropical Agriculture, all the ag research stations, I read everything at the library and Googled vanilla farming for days. I was obsessed with finding the vanilla master in Hawaii and hardly slept. Many months went by with no luck finding the vanilla master… until one day, I received a return call from a message I left long ago. “Yes, I know a man in Kainaliu who spent 25 years researching vanilla here in Hawaii. You should call him here’s his number.” I can still remember how excited I felt to have found the vanilla master right here on our island. I made the call to Tom Kadooka, he answered with a simple “hello”. His voice was so kind and gentle…In my excitement I started rambling about how I wanted to learn everything about growing vanilla. I went on and on with so many questions, not even waiting for an answers, and when I was done the phone just went blank… finally he said, “I have a document on growing vanilla, it’s not free, I spent many years putting it together. Try and call again later” and he hung up. I was dumbfounded, disillusioned and I remember just sitting there trying to figure out what I did wrong. It took a week for me to call again. This time his wife Evelyn answered the phone. She said, “yes, of course you can have the document on growing vanilla, what’s your address I’ll put it in the mail”. I couldn’t believe I did it… the document was on its way and my search was over. Little did I know that the real journey had just begun. The moment it arrived I opened it and began reading. Suddenly I realized what I held in my hands. This was the life work of a single man, the vanilla master. I was truly humbled by the experience and confused that I did little or nothing to earn it. You can say “ I asked and prayed for it” but the truth is this was a man’s life work lovingly prepared into one living document. I would soon understand that knowledge given in this manner comes with great responsibility. It was a humbling experience that taught me many lessons, gratitude being one of those lessons. The first thing I did was hand write a letter of thanks to the Kadooka’s and enclosed a $25. gift certificate to Longs Drugs. A couple days later I received a phone call from Tom Kadooka expressing his thanks and welcoming me to stop by his farm the next time I was in Kona. This simple act of honoring Tom Kadooka’s family, for doing something they did not need to do, opened the door between our families. I cherish every memory we shared together. Learning from Tom really felt like I was in a Karate Kid movie. I asked my sensei for instructions, “wax on, wax off” was all the information I would get. But, I kept coming back to learn. You see, at the age of 35, I discovered a passion for learning about vanilla. Learning from Tom was really interesting for me and the respect for the master teacher relationship grew stronger and stronger as the information was shared. Tom gave me more than knowledge of growing an orchid. He taught me the importance of sharing what God gives us with others. Tom passed away in the fall of 2004, he was 83 years old. I was fortunate to attend his funeral service on Oahu on my way to the east coast. I remember walking into Borthwick Mortuary, it was packed with friends and family. Everyone was sharing their aloha for Tom and I listened to wonderful stories about the life of this simple man named Tom Kadooka. I realized I was now counted as one of his friends. I knew him, I knew his humor, his style of teaching and it wasn’t until that night that I knew him as my friend. I was the last person in the procession line to give my regards to his family. I didn’t realize he had so many children. As I hugged Evelyn I heard one of them say “that’s Jim the vanilla guy” as I shook hands with the remainder of his family one member of his family grabbed me and hugged me long and hard and then whispered this message in my ear “thank you for believing in my father in the winter of his life, thank you” I will never forget that moment. I share this story with you because the gifts from Tom Kadooka are the reason why my wife Tracy & and I started Hamakua Alive. We wanted to celebrate the renaissance of Agriculture, the family and support the efforts of other agricultural families in the Hamakua community. We formed the Tom Kadooka Foundation to honor the man, his family and his life’s work. The foundation has become a vehicle to give back to the agricultural community. In 2007 we organized and held the very first Hamakua Alive Agricultural Festival. The T.K. Foundation was awarded a CPEP grant by the County of Hawaii that helped pay for advertising, signs, tents, table, chairs and other expenses that the event incurred. Since then we have survived by the generous support of one private donor. The event has always been free and we will keep it that way as long as we can. Putting on the festival is lots of work but the rewards are many and well worth the effort… In 2008 we held the 2nd Hamakua Alive Agricultural Festival. With the help of Wally Andrade and many others who volunteered the event grew and flourished. It was a huge success, everyone had such a good time that they all wanted to come back next year. It was amazing day and 5000 people attended that event. 2009 the event featured Hamakua purveyors and local island chefs who prepare sample dishes of the finest Hamakua produce and products. All proceeds go to the purveyor. This year Councilman Dominic Yagong will be master of ceremonies and Cyril Pahinui will play beautiful Hawaiian Music at center stage. A local baking contest, farmers market and lots of other booths that showcase the efforts and activities of the Hamakua agricultural community. I look forward to seeing you all at the 4th Annual Hamakua Alive on Saturday Oct. 23rd from 9am to 2pm. Enjoy the day, eat well, talk story, make new friends and help us celebrate Hamakua’s agricultural diversity. When you purchase a Hamakua Alive t-shirt those proceeds support the Tom Kadooka Foundation …sharing knowledge that cultivates the future. Mahalo, Jim Reddekopp Founder, Hamakua Alive |
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Hamakua Alive! |
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From Plantation to Diversification |
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Saturday October 29, 2011 |