Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, May 25, 2017

Strong arm and helping hand of the late Bull Kailiawa who embodied the aloha spirit of the Ka`u Coffee Industry and won international recognition for his Moa`ula farm. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

THOMAS "BULL" KAILIAWA III, one of the Hawaiian pioneers in the Ka`u Coffee industry, has died at the age of 53. Kailiawa helped make Ka`u Coffee famous through his magnetic aloha projected to all who met him, particularly at international Specialty Coffee Association of America events from Houston to Anaheim, Boston, Portland and Seattle. He will be honored at this Saturday's Ka`u Coffee Fest Ho`olaulea at Pahala Community Center. The event is 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with music, coffee tasting, education, food and farm tours.
     Kailiawa welcomed many student groups and visitors to his Moa`ula Farm at Cloud Rest. When nearby farmers were sick and unable to take care of their farms, he stepped up to give them care.
     With Olson Trust, Kailiawa planted the first Ka`u Coffee on Hwy 11 on Pahala Plantation Cottages property to give a face to the growing Ka`u Coffee industry along the gateway road to Hawa`i Volcanoes National Park.

Bull Kailiawa at his Moa`ula imu. Photo by Julia Neal

     Kailiawa also traveled to Lana`i to support a cultural exchange with Pahala through Debbie Ryder's Halau Hula Leonalani - his wife Jamie is a member. A good friend of Kapapala Ranch, Kailiawa often supported the regular cattle roundups with his cooking. He was also known for raising pigs, making imus at his farm and growing gourds for hula implements.
     The Wall of Fame description of Kailiawa at Ka`u Coffee Mill tells the story of a sugar worker who transitioned to growing Ka`u Coffee.
     "Laid off from the shutdown of the last sugar plantation on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, Thomas “Bull” Kailiawa dreamed of having his own farm, with his Hawaiian pua‘a (pigs), gourds, taro, banana, breadfuit, sugar cane, and the world’s best coffee.

Bull Kailiawa planted the first Ka`u Coffee along Hwy 11 at Pahala on Pahala Plantation Cottages land, in cooperation with Olson Trust. Photo by Julia Neal

     "He would do it Hawaiian-American style. He knocked around a bit as a road builder and running security at the island’s ports, but soon took over his aunties’ Two Sister’s coffee farm, just above Pāhala, in the beautiful mountains outside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
    "Bull and his family, including wife Jamie, apply some old Hawaiian techniques, raising coffee ‘ohana or family style. As a result, his island-style coffee has been judged Number One in the U.S. and Top Ten in the world at the 2011 international Coffees of the Year competition at the Specialty Coffee Association of America convention – the largest confab of its kind on the planet.

Winner of top coffee in the USA at the Houston Specialty Coffee Association of America convention, with Pete Lacata, who won  the U.S. Barista Championship with Rusty's Hawaiian Ka`u Coffee Photo by Julia Neal

    "Bull also came in seventh in the world and top in the U.S. in 2009 when he beat many big estate coffees from Colombia, Brazil and Vietnam.
     "At heart, it’s a David vs. Goliath story about saving the land, making your dream come true, living a calm and productive life – on land he hopes will stay in agriculture forever. Toward that end Bull is planting a new coffee farm along Hwy 11 near Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park so people can see Ka‘ū Coffee in all its glory. He is also experimenting with new organic techniques, using shade-grown techniques and creating fertilizer with husks from macadamia growers and from processing locally caught fish."
      Jamie Kailiawa, who lives at the home in Moa`ula, said that she and their daughter Roslyn Ho`opi`i Kailiawa, of Hilo, plan to continue the Bull Kailiawa coffee brand and hope to keep their farm in Moa`ula. Bull is also survived by his Auntie Lilly Anna Cariaga, of Pahala.
       Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative President Gloria Camba described Bull Kailiawa as "a happy guy, very helpful. He didn't hesitate to help anyone and shared his knowledge about Ka`u Coffee with all who asked. He was the embodiment of the Native Hawaiian aloha spirit."
     Edmund C. Olson, founder of Ka`u Coffee Mill, for whom Kailiawa worked for years, said: "Traveling with Bull Kailiawa to many Specialty Coffee Association of America conventions, from Seattle to Boston, was always a pleasure. Bull was always the star at our Ka`u Coffee Mill booth. Bull was a big man with a big heart who passed away, way too soon. It is a loss to me and the entire Ka`u Coffee industry, and, of course, his wife and daughter, whom I intend to help in continuing with his famous farm."

Promoting Ka`u Coffee in Boston, Bull Kailiawa is backed by Ed Olson, Sammi Stanbro, John Cross,  Kalikoweo Keolanui-Daniele, Lou Daniele and Julia, William and Lee Neal.

   Brenda Iokepa Moses, land manager for the company Ka`u Mahi, which owns the land where the Kailiawa coffee grows, said, "Bull was instrumental in bringing world wide recognition to Ka`u coffee with his award winning coffee. We who knew him well could always count on him to offer a helping hand, a big smile and a humble disposition. He will be greatly missed and our prayers go out to his loving wife and daughter who were his strength until the end."
      Bull Kailiawa's life will be celebrated at Dodo Mortuary in Hilo on Saturday, June 17, with viewing from 9 a.m., service at 11 a.m. followed by a luncheon for all. Cremation will follow with a service at Punalu`u Beach to be announced.

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THE RULING AGAINST PRES. DONALD TRUMP'S MUSLIM BAN today drew comment from Sen. Mazie Hirono, who serves on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The ruling came from the Fourth Circuit Court and Hirono stated:
     “The ruling today by the Fourth Circuit follows earlier decisions like that of Judge Watson in Hawai`i in striking a blow against President Trump’s unconstitutional Muslim Ban. The court’s 10-3 opinion is a stirring reminder that we are a county of laws and values. The court was right to focus on evidence that the Trump Administration’s defense of the ban was ‘provided in bad faith as a pretext’ for intolerance. Evidence like the President’s own promises on the campaign trail. As Chief Judge Gregory wrote, the order ‘speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination.’
     “The purpose of the Muslim ban has been made clear as day by the people who planned it, wrote it and issued it-- to target a minority group for discrimination based on their religion. No amount of furious spinning now can deny President Trump’s own words. Court after court have now rightly applied our Constitution to stop this ban from doing harm to our fundamental American values.”
      The Trump administration vowed to take the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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A POLICE CHASE ENTERED PAHALA today with a search for two men on the run, accused of stealing a car elsewhere. Apparently, the car was recovered but one man took off on foot and another on motorcycle. Police searched near Pahala Hongwanji and on the old sugar mill site. The school campus was temporarily closed with students, faculty and visitors in place as a precaution. A police helicopter hovered over search sites and police unsuccessfully searched for the man on foot. He was still at large this evening.

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ENTERTAINMENT, COFFEE TASTING AND COFFEE EDUCATION will fill the grounds and the building at Pahala Community Center all day Saturday, with the ninth annual Ka`u Coffee Festival, beginning at 9 a.m.

Rising Sun coffee from Will and Grace Tabios will be offered for sale and for tasting at Saturday's Ka`u Coffee Fest Ho`olaulea. Photo by Julia Neal