‘Emigration Celebration’ to Be Aired on TV

The Hawai‘i Floriculture and Nursery Association (HFNA) is presenting a one hour video entitled Emigration Celebration on Hawaiʻi Island’s public access TV on Spectrum Cable and online.

The video captures a multi-faceted project held on Oct. 26–29, 2018 designed to educate the community on the benefits of using Hawaiʻi grown flowers and foliage for decorating needs and gifts. The overall theme tied into the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of Japanese Emigration into Hawaiʻi
(June, 1868).

The four-day project and video were sponsored in part by the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture to support its “Buy Local, It Matters” campaign and import replacement programs. Support also came from the County of Hawai‘i Department of Research and Development. Friends of Lili‘uokalani Gardens in Hilo partnered with HFNA to bring the project to fruition.

Canadian based world renowned AIFD floral designer Hitomi Gilliam hosted a class on mechanics (the structures used in floral design) and a floral design demonstration using Hawaiʻi grown flowers and foliage on Friday, Oct. 26, 2018 . This was a half day class held at Nani Mau Gardens in Hilo, after which Gilliam was available for one-on-one consultations. This class was popularly requested through post-event evaluation surveys after our 2017 floral design workshop.

After lunch, HFNA held the second annual floral design competition that was open to everyone, including amateurs as well as novice and professional floral designers. The competition continued on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018. Upon completion, the teams installed their creations into pre-arranged sites within Lili’uokalani Gardens in Hilo.

Invitations went out statewide to floral designers, florists and garden clubs as well as a general invitation to the community through advertising in the local newspaper and via social media for wider community outreach. Product packages were provided for each team in order to assure an even starting point for everyone. Specialty floral items were made available to all teams after they had begun their designs.

Friends of Lili‘uokalani Gardens provided docents for an open garden tour of the floral displays on Sunday, Oct. 28. In conjunction with the Garden tour, Gilliam and her team installed a major floral art sculpture at the Hawai‘i County Building, 25 Aupuni St. in Hilo.

The art piece was presented to Hawai‘i County on Monday, Oct. 29 , along with the Awards Ceremony for the Floral Design Competition. The final event was a nursery bus tour to floral and foliage nurseries. The visitors were be able to learn more about locally grown floriculture products and see for themselves the splendid variety and colors available for their decorating and gift giving needs.

The one hour video, “Emigration Celebration”, will be shown on Hawai‘i Island’s public access TV on Spectrum Cable and online.

Channel 53
May 1 – 2:00 pm
May 7 – 2:00 pm
May 10 – 12:30 pm
May 13 – 2:00 pm
May 15 – 2:00 pm

Channel 54
May 4 – 9:00 pm
May 7 – 9:00 pm
May 8 – 9:00 pm
May 9 – 9:30 am
May 12 – 3:30 pm
May 14 – 2:00 pm
May 16 – 10:30 am
May 17 – 2:00 pm