MEDIA RELEASE

Historic Kailua Village’s monthly Kokua Kailua Village Stroll is scheduled 1-6 p.m. Sunday, May 15 along Alii Drive.

“If you’ve yet to experience an oceanfront stroll during Kokua Kailua, then I suggest you designate May 15 as your day to welcome spring and join your friends and family at this one-of-a-kind open air marketplace,” said Eric von Platen Luder, president of Kailua Village Business Improvement District.

Thousands of residents and visitors are discovering Kokua Kailua is an ideal way to enjoy all Historic Kailua Village has to offer. The opportunity to stroll Alii Drive as a pedestrian-only thoroughfare is an added bonus.

The lineup of activities during Kokua Kailua includes restaurant certificate drawings, live music and of course lots of shopping and dining. A free Hawaiian music concert on the lawn at Hulihee Palace begins at 4 p.m..

The next Kokua Kailua Village Stroll date is scheduled for Sunday, June 12, 2011.

PALACE CONCERT REMEMBERS KING WHO FOUNDED QUEEN’S MEDICAL CENTER

The Daughters of Hawaii and the Calabash Cousins present a free outdoor concert 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15 at Hulihee Palace to remember the late King Kamehameha IV. Enjoy the voices of the Merrie Monarchs and performing arts by Kumu Hula Etua Lopes and his Halau Na Pua Ui O Hawaii.

The concert is part of the palace’s series of free monthly concerts that honor Hawaii’s past monarchs and historical figures; donations are appreciated. Kindly bring a beach mat or chair as seating won’t be provided.

King Kamehameha IV (Alexander Liholiho) was 21 when he inherited the throne in 1855. He agonized over the dwindling native population that was reduced from 300,000 in 1778 to 70,000 in 1855.

“Hawaiians had no resistance to the diseases of foreigners and over 6,000 caught smallpox brought to the islands in 1853,” said Fanny Au Hoy, Hulihee Palace docent coordinator. “The king and his Queen Emma pushed for the building of a hospital so Hawaiians could get adequate medical care.”

Liholiho married Emma Naea Rooke in 1856. She was the granddaughter of John Young, Kamehameha’s British advisor and great-granddaughter of Kamehameha’s brother, Keliimaikai.

As was the custom for children in Hawaii to be given to relatives for upbringing, Emma was the hanai (adopted) daughter of Dr. T. C. Rooke, an English physician practicing in Honolulu, and Emma’s Aunt Grace. Brought up by a physician, Emma shared her husband’s values on health.

“Besides providing personal funds, the royal couple earnestly solicited donations from others,” Au Hoy said. “In 1860, Kamehameha IV laid the cornerstone for the Queen’s Hospital, which he named to honor his wife.”

Today, it is the prestigious Queen’s Medical Center in downtown Honolulu.

Liholiho and his young family visited Hulihee Palace several times, favoring the seaside royal residence for off-island vacations from Honolulu’s busy pace. They also spent time on Kauai near Hanalei and the area was named Princeville after the couple’s son, Prince Albert.

The king died when he was 29, a short time after Prince Albert became fatally ill.

“Queen Emma became a candidate to the throne in 1874 but lost a heavily contested election to Prince David Kalakaua,” Au Hoy said.

Queen Emma died at the age of 49 in 1885.