Nestled off Waimea’s main intersection of Lindsay Road and Mamalahoa Highway sits a small, historic one-story building that originally served as the Territory of Hawaii Tax Office. As it stands today, this prominent landmark continues to build upon a near
Nestled off Waimea’s main intersection of Lindsay Road and Mamalahoa Highway sits a small, historic one-story building that originally served as the Territory of Hawaii Tax Office. As it stands today, this prominent landmark continues to build upon a near century worth of memories and storied tales.
Built in 1921, the tiny, yellow cottage now serves as the main headquarters for the Waimea Preservation Association, a community based non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the character and history of Waimea, as well as encouraging community awareness of its rich cultural heritage.
Local historian and vice president of WPA, Pete Hendricks, who moved to Waimea with his wife in 1969, said Sunday’s third annual Honoring Father’s Day fun 5K run/walk was just one of the many creative fundraising ideas WPA came up with to preserve Waimea’s legacy and honoring fathers of all ages.
“A group of us decided that Father’s Day would be a wonderful time for us to come together as a community,” he said. “We wanted to celebrate, what began three years ago, a complete restoration of the Waimea Preservation Association cottage which we rent from the County Parks & Recreation.”
Hendricks explained that it took WPA nearly four years to completely refurbish the cozy cottage that once housed a sheriff’s office and temporarily the North Hawaii Hospice office from 1979-80.
But with a lot of love, donations, and volunteer work from the community, WPA was able to successfully restore the historical landmark with hopes the public will utilize it as a resource center to learn more about their heritage and how to further protect the history of their hometown.
Sunday’s event helped to do just that.
“We wanted a course that was very comfortable with strollers and dog friendly assets and also to highlight some of our historic places,” Hendricks said.
Starting and finishing from the nostalgic WPA cottage, the 3.1-mile course enabled participants to take a step back in time and enjoy views of the Old Slaughterhouse behind Kahilu Hall, which according to Hendricks, was in business up until the 1970’s.
Next came the Pukalani Stables — a century old cornerstone of the famous Parker Ranch that once housed nationally revered stallions and was stewarded by some of Hawaii’s most respected Paniolo. Pukalani Stables now features a beautiful museum with cowboy gear and is the home of the Paniolo Preservation Society.
Further along the course and toward Mamalahoa Highway was the Puu Hihale cattle enclosure, a stone walled corral with 8-foot walls dating back to the 1800’s that Parker Ranch used for working cattle. And finishing off the historic tour was Hawaii’s famous Paniolo Park.
An additional highlight on what turned out to be a picturesque day in Waimea, were breathtaking panoramic views of three of Big Island’s most majestic mountains – Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai.
Taking it all in along with rich history of the 5K event was Waimea’s Nick Muragin, a father of six children, who celebrated his day with a Father’s Day victory in a fabulous time of 19 minutes and 29 seconds.
“It’s very special to win this event, not only as a father but as a representative of my community,” Muragin said. “We’d like to see more events here as we have a lot of runners who live here in Waimea. The course was beautiful and it was a great event especially meeting new people and making new friends.”
Next to cross the finish line was Michael Spetich in 21:54, followed by Steve Moskal in 23:38.
The women’s race witnessed 16-year old Ada Benson battle for first place with the Henderson three wheeling trio of Cole, T2 and myself. Benson, a Hawaii Preparatory Academy cross-country standout, used a fast finishing kick to win in a great time of 24:12.
The Henderson trio finished in second at 24:45, with Kellie Yap rounding out the women’s top three in 31:08.
“I thought it was challenging because of the hills, but I also thought that it was really fun. And it was windy so it kept me cool,” Benson said.
Benson, who will be entering her junior year this fall, plans to keep in shape over her summer break by doing hills, fartleks and two long runs per week.
“I’m also going to a camp this summer to stay in shape for cross-country, but I think it’s important to go into the season well trained because you get a head start on everyone else who hasn’t been training over the summer,” Benson said. “I want to win a cross-country event this year, as I got second at a lot of my races last year. I’m really hoping to really push through and win at least one event.”
With all of the proceeds sponsoring selected projects by the WPA, some of the beneficiaries over the last few years have been the Spencer House restoration, the oldest building in Waimea, located in Waimea shopping center, an oral history program through Waimea Middle School, and the refurbishing of two complete soccer fields at the south end of Parker Ranch shopping center that will be ready for play come August.
“We hope that we can have this event every year and hope to have more people come and enjoy to bring back a sense of community,” Hendricks said. “Some people consider this just an intersection in Waimea, but there’s a lot to offer in Waimea and we’d like to take the initiative to preserve our future.”
Coming Up
Sunday: Team Mango Races presents the King’s Trail Summer Solstice Evening Run at OTEC Beach Park. Start time for the 6-mile extreme trail run, 4-mile beach stroll, and 1-mile sprint is 5 PM. For entry fees and more information contact Carl Koomoa at 324-7252 or visit teammangoraces.com.
