Hui O Hula

Hui O Hula dancer Susan Saraf recently attended this year’s Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in Hilo, Hawaii and found the event to be inspirational.

The spirit of aloha is something hula attempts to convey, and, at the festival, the spirit of aloha is everywhere.

Susan passed by a local woman in Hilo and remarked on the amazing fragrance of the woman’s lei, composed of flowers of the kenikeni tree. The woman thanked her, and with true aloha, took off her lei, and put it over Susan’s head. Later, a gallery owner admired the lei’s fragrance and she gifted him the lei. A circle of aloha, which goes on and on.

Hula classes are held on Tuesdays in Clubhouse 6 at 1 p.m.; and Thursdays at Veteran’s Plaza at 1 p.m., or inside Clubhouse 3 if weather is unfavorable. For more information, call Kaye Huff, 562-431-2242.

—Lori Chamberlain