by Leilehua Yuen
It’s Christmas time in Hilo
And though we don’t have snow
We have the Christmas Spirit
It’s Aloha, don’t you know
Jolly old Saint Nicholas
Leans his ear this way
And listens to the keiki
As they brightly say
It’s Christmas time in Hilo
We haven’t got a sleigh
Instead we grab our boogie boards
And head for Hilo Bay
Instead of wooly mittens
And earmuffs on our heads
We put zinc oxide on our noses
So they don’t turn Rudolph-red
It’s Christmas time in Hilo
Here comes the Hilo rain
Sweetly scented with the ferns
Lehua, and maile
Instead of a white Christmas
A hundred shades of green
Decorate the Hilo yards
And painted Christmas scenes
It’s Christmas time in Hilo
A finer place to be
I really can’t imagine
Just try it and you’ll see
For we have the Christmas Spirit
All the whole year through
In Hawaiian, it’s “Aloha,”
And it means, “We love you”
For we have the Christmas Spirit
All the whole year through
In Hawaiian, it’s “Aloha,”
And it means, “We love you”
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Back some time in the early 1990s, Merle Lai contacted me to participate in the lighting of the Christmas tree at Kalākaua Park. What a fun day that was! A huge Norfolk pine in the middle of the park, and we had a lovely Christmas program in the beautiful courtyard of the post office.
Merle had asked me if there were any Christmas songs specifically for Hilo, and when I did not find any (this was before Google!), we decided I should write one. The little mele above was the result, and it was first performed at the Christmas tree lighting that year.
In this version, I am joined by the Maile Sisters, a set of kiʻi hula I designed at the instigation of Aunty Nona Beamer. Also performing are Manu Josiah and Charles Brotman.
~Leilehua