Ukulele Festival Hawaii, July 15, 2018

Uncle Rod Higuchi

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
2,352
Reaction score
25
Location
Seattle, WA
Aloha! ...from Seattle :)

I just reserved my place at a table at the Ukulele Festival Hawaii
Gala Fundraiser, Friday night 5:30 at the Ala Moana Hotel, Hibiscus
Ballroom ($95 a seat) and will be joined by a couple from
Seattle, fellow members of STRUM (Seattle's Totally Relaxed Ukulele
Musicians).

If any of you are planning on attending the Gala as well, please feel
free to request a seat at 'our' table, under "Uncle Rod Higuchi". No,
we haven't reserved a table, but if you request it, they (the powers that be)
may take kindly to the request and assign us all to one, or adjacent, tables :)

Durning the UkeFest on Sunday July 15th, I'll be near the HMS vendor
tent, possibly in a 'kanikapila tent' behind the Vendor tent. anyway,
we should plan on meeting there to 'meet n greet' each other.

You may also be able to earn a Gold Participant's Medallion by
performing... and I'll be there to explain how. NOTE: you will need to
purchase a Festival T-shirt of the correct color. PS no worries about
the performance, we (200 or 300 of us) generally stand on the steps
in front of the stage and serve as 'eye candy' for the real performers
on stage! it's lots of fun, and as I said, you get to earn a Gold
Participant's Medallion!! WooHoo! [and go home with a nice Festival
T-shirt]

Please plan on joining us on either Friday July 13th or Sunday July 15th
in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii for the 48th Annual Ukulele Festival
Hawaii!

til then, keep uke'in',
 
PS I'll be in HNL from Fri, July 6th to Sunday, Aug 5th.

if you are in town (HNL) and want to meet up or simply contact me, please
TEXT 206-234-6972.

keep uke'in',
 
BUMP - OK,if you guys need more of an incentive to drop by the HMS tent during the upcoming
Ukulele Festival Hawaii - Kapiolani Park Sunday July 15th, ... how's this?

I will give those who accost (read - humbly and courteously greet) me, their own little Rubber Ducky!
[it squeaks!]

I generally carry a few around with me and I hand them out to parents (with their permission, of
course) to give to their little ones [toddlers who hopefully will NOT immediately place them in their
mouths] :)

the back story is that I had been given grief whenever I requested "Rubber Ducky" at our weekly
song circle... soooo, I made it my theme song and began ordering Rubber Duckies to give away.
I even 'castrated' one (removed the squeaker) and impaled it on one of the tuning posts on my
ukulele :)

anyway, if you're at the Ukulele Festival July 15th, please see me to get your complimentary
Uncle Rod Rubber Ducky!

keep uke'in',
 
see you there Rod....:) I know Gary and Rick will be there for sure to...MMStan and Greg also...the same old same old...
 
Yep - I will be there, maybe with a brand new uke. Rod, email me to discuss other arrangements when you are in HNL. I will be there from Friday, July 13th, until Sunday, July 22nd.
 
I'll be there and I found out what I think are the songs for 5 pm group play--can you concur, Rod? I have "Diana" and "Can't Buy Me Love" on the list given to LUE (Luongo Ukulele Ensemble) members last week... I have to wear my LUE performance shirt so I can't wear the t-shirt. But I have my $95 ticket to the Friday night gala so I *am* supporting the great work of the Sakumas.

I'm so looking forward to meeting many of you, so hawaii 50, it's not "same old, same old" to me :) I'll head to the tent area mentioned and see who's there. I'll be the one with an ukulele; you can't miss me ;) (well, it is an MBU--not sure which one I'll bring--so I guess that makes me a bit easier to distinguish).

And, if you get the chance, please come watch me play with the LUE ensemble--I've been practicing for months for this one and I'd *love* to look out and see smiling faces. I even have to sing harmony (and I've never done that before as I'm a soprano and usually get by with just melody...but I'm learning! I just hope I learn in time...)

LUE will be playing on the main stage at 10:30 am Sunday for our 10 minutes of fame. Then we'll be at the lunch tent at noon. We also will be playing around during the week prior, including the Hale Koa, Princess Kaiulani, a keiki hula halau east side and even the Waikiki Rotary Club. Yep, we know how to have fun!

I've been blogging the "getting ready for this festival" activities and will be taking plenty of photos while there and writing it up. Introduce yourself!
 
Aloha Tonya
try to come down to The Ukulele Site in Haleiwa if you can if I am around maybe we can visit Andrew at the HMS warehouse in Wahiawa if you want too..i might meet Gary and Rick at the store on Saturday....there are many things going on during the week...let me know...:)

if we don't meet up come by The Ukulele Site tent and look for Len...:)
 
Last edited:
Sounds like the HMS tent at the Ukulele Festival, Sunday, July 15th, Kapiolani Park
is the place to meet and greet fellow UUers this Summer!

looking forward to being with all of you then, Lord Willing, to sing, play, and just talk! :)

Again, thanks to Andrew and Hawaii Music Supply for letting us use them as the UU
Oasis for all things ukulele!

keep uke'in', and see you there!
 
Last edited:
Wow!
What a wonderful and memorable meetup at the Ukulele Site Hospitality tent yesterday at the 48th Annual Ukulele
Festival Hawaii!
Greenie, Pueo, Gyosh, Geetee, Ukalady, Hawaii50, Andrewkuker, Chuck Moore, and a host of others dropped by to meet-n-greet
Throughout the event. We shared songs and stories, met again or for the first time...

A very large (read ‘Big’) Mahalo to Andrew for arranging for the Hospitality tent to give us a safe, cool, and dry place
To rest, store our stuff, and talk story throughout the day! He even had a table for us to use, besides many chairs!
Mahalo, Brah!

If you’re planning a trip to attend the Ukulele Festival Hawaii, please schedule in a visit to the Ukulele Site vendor tent
And visit us in the adjacent Hospitality tent directly behind it ��
Looking forward to meeting you there!

Meanwhile, keep uke’in’,
 
Last edited:
And Brad Bordessa was there, too. Uncle Rod, Pueo, and greenie44 are in this little group of strummers.

 
You guys sounded good!! Was thinking of stopping by the park that morning but it was soooo crowded.

Do you know was singing Diana? Sounded like beat Lele was providing backup for the group.

Was wondering what the hand signals were by the lady in the blue shirt. Was pretty muggy that day; hope folks from off-island were ok.
 
Last edited:
ampeep,

next time please go to the Ukulele Site vendor tent and join us at the
Hospitality tent immediately behind it to meet and greet, get out of the
sun/rain, have a seat, etc :)
Andrew has been setting up an additional tent for us to use. Thanks,
Andrew! HMS/The Ukulele Site rocks!! :)

hope to see you next July!

keep uke'in',
 
One follow up from the wonderful time Uncle Rod described. The following Friday I was at Hanauma Bay with a friend and got on the shuttle to go back to the top. A guy on the shuttle said "Did you play during the Uke Fest?" I said I had, but was one of a couple hundred, but he said he remembered seeing me there. Weird. Of course, I started to talk story with him about ukes.

- greenie44
 
Uncle Rod, thanks for the invitation - just might look you folks up next time. I had avoided the ukulele festivals in the past cuz I dunno how to play the instrument. My connection is that I play bass & guitar for a few uke groups.

Do you know the folks that teach ukulele classes at Keiro NW?

greenie44, I recognized a lady from one of our groups in the video above - didn't think it was possible!
 
i'm sure Keiro has a visiting ukulele group, but I don't know the contact person.
Keiro might know. I think 'Mas' might be the leader of the group. They are
retirees so I don't get a chance to be there with them when they perform. Mas some-
times comes to STRUM. I haven't seen him lately, though.

Air Quality is BAD in Seattle. Might clear tomorrow, Thurs the 16th, but as STRUM
meets weekly at the Locks on Wed, I have chosen not to attend due to my asthma
condition. I was warned by STRUM's leaders about the air quality. How nice of them!
(or perhaps they don't want me there...???)

meanwhile, everyone, keep uke'in',
 
The reason I asked about Keiro is because I know AC & Dick, two of the instructors.

Bad air quality in seattle?? Different from when i went to UW in the mid-70's.

Looked up STRUM - the lady in the photo looks familiar; think we played with her at the Palolo Chinese Home & jammed @ Waikiki Yacht Club. She told me her group was from Shoreline - is this the same group that meets at ballard?
 
Yes, that would be Chontel Klobas. She and her husband, Eric, started STRUM - going on 7 years now!
I was fortunate to be involved from the beginning as the 'song leader' and helped to put together Vol 1 of the
STRUM Songbook (so most of the songs are in my, lower register, vocal range :) )

Chontel works with Kimo Hussey and the Ukulele Guild of Hawaii and may be returning to HNL in November
for the UGH meeting there.

She and Eric live in Shoreline, hence the geographical reference even though we're called Seattle's Totally
Relaxed Ukulele Musicians (STRUM) :)

keep uke'in',

PS are you Frances? If so, I met and played with you at AC's on Opening Day (Boating Season) this year!
 
Top Bottom