Hui-O-Hawaii

From OSU Wiki

Luau

The Hui-O-Hawaii club anually hosts a luau located in Gill coliseum. Being an officer for a couple of years, I know from experience that a lot of work goes into putting a luau together. Hundreds of people attend each year, including family members of students from Hawaii.

When I was a current Hui-O-Hawaii club officer, tickets were sold in two different forms. If you were interested in going to and watching the entire hula show and having the meal, you could purchase a ticket especially for that. If the meal did not interest you, a special ticket at a cheapter price allowing you to skip the meal and only attend the hula show and the band was offered. Ticket selling was normally done on campus and sometimes off campus by other Hui-O-Hawaii club members and officers.

As you can imagine, paying for a luau of this size is expensive. Along with ticket sales, fundraisers are usually put together during the year by the fundraising chair to help pay for this great event. Examples of previous fundraiers include a Krispy Kreme fundraiser, and the selling of donated items from Hawaii.

A dinner consisting of foods such as poi, lomi lomi salmon, haupia and kalua pig are just a few things usually served. The food is prepared by students and other helpful volunteers. The last year that I helped with luau, I remember my plate consisted of food such as kalua pig, lomi salmon, poi, white rice, haupia, and chicken long rice. I will give a very brief explaination of the different types of food that I am talking about incase any reading this is interest in attending a luau but is unsure about the food. Kalua pig is usually cooked underground in a pit covered with rocks for many many hours. The meat is then shredded and tastes great! Lomi lomi salmon is mainly made up of onions, green onions, tomatoes and salmon. Poi is actually taro root mashed up into a smooth and almost liquid consistency. Haupia is a coconout jello like dessert. It is a bit sweet, and is one of my favorite things to eat! I took part in helping to prepare for a few of these items, and I can only describe it as a lot of "patience and hard work!"

One of the excitments of the luau that takes the greatest amount of coordination and work is the show. The show consists of the many various types of hula dancing such as tahitian and the very famous Haka performed by the men. Many months of practicing really pays off when the show finally comes together. One really worth mentioning would be that all of the hula dancers are usually taught by other students. I personally did not have much previous experience with hula dancing, but came to find out that existing knowlege of hula dancing is not really needed. The student teachers will work with you step by step if needed, making it easy for ANYONE to participate.

A live band is usually one of the students favorite parts of the luau. The band is introduced and performs shortly after the hula show and clean up and usually perfroms a variety of Hawaiian music. Bands that have previously performed are Ho'onua, and Kohomua. I was very surprised to see one of my classmates from highschool when he came up to perform as a member of Kohomua. Students and any others (out of those who attendted the luau) who care to stay listen and dance for hours until it is all over.

Putting a this annual luau together takes effort and very hard work from everyone. Long nights spent practicing hula dances, preparing the food, setting up and decorating really prove to pay off in the end. The final product is really something everyone should see and experience once, and those who already have, will never forget.