Review Oahu Stories and Songs

www.UkuleleMeleOnMaui.com

Oahu Stories and Songs was the title of an Ukulele Mele On Maui class on Wednesday, January 30 from 10 a.m. – 12 noon at Kaunoa Senior Center for adults 55 and better.

“We went to places I’ve never seen before,” commented a returning participant after the program. “The first time I saw Hawaii was as a sailor on a Navy ship entering Pearl Harbor, and when I saw the mountains I knew I wanted to live here someday,” commented another participant.

Fourteen people signed up for the first of my new Oahu Island Stories and Songs class on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at Kaunoa Senior Center for adults 55 and better on Maui. The class was the first of my new Island Stories and Songs Series this year scheduled for the 5th Wednesdays of the month. I chose Oahu to kickoff the series because that it is the island where I grew up. It was fun to add personal stories to places I have been to over the years. My idea worked – the audience clapped and expressed their appreciation for my new class.

Part 1: A virtual tour of 22 places of cultural, historical, or scenic interest that are easily accessible for adults as we travel clockwise from Honolulu and go around the island:

Iolani Palace, Kamehameha’s Statue, Lili’uokalani’s Statue, Washington Place, Kamaka Ukulele Store, Foster Gardens, Mt. Tantalus, Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Pearl Harbor for the Arizona Memorial and U.S.S. Missouri, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Plantation Village, Dole Plantation, Waimea Valley, North Shore – Haleiwa, Polynesian Cultural Center, Byodo-In Temple, Nuuanu Pali Lookout, Queen Emma Summer Palace, Hanauma Bay State Park, Waikiki and Kapiolani Park including the Shell and Honolulu Zoo, and Honolulu City Lights (Christmas display in December).

Part 2: Audience sing and play along to my song arrangements with unique ‘ukulele strums to five songs about Oahu (including the traditional song to end all public events):

  1. On The Beach At Waikiki – Hum Ding-Ah Strum.
  2. O Beautiful Ilima – I Wanna Rest Strum.
  3. Hukilau Song – Hum Ding-Ah Strums.
  4. Honolulu I’m Coming Back Again – I Wanna Rest Strum.
  5. Hawaii Aloha – Morse Code Strum.

Stay tuned for the next Island Stories and Songs Series – Big Island of Hawai’i on Wednesday, May 26.

Aloha, Mele Fong aka Ukulele Mele

by

Mele Fong is a professional singer, song arranger, and master of multiple strumming styles for the 'ukulele. She is an experienced educator with over 50+ years experience playing the 'ukulele and entertaining worldwide. Mele performs with her husband in the duo "The Hawaiian Serenaders" and leads student groups. In 1996, the duo represented the State of Hawai'i in concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Mele and her husband Richard Tom were both born and raised on Oahu and now reside in Maui.