PROJECT LOKELANI ROSES FOR MAUI

​[April 25, 2024]  ​When Jill Haworth, spouse of the Rev. Mark Haworth of ​Hālau Wa'a Episcopal Honouliuli, received a call from their friend and fellow Punahou alumnus, Lisa Smith Salkever, she had no idea that that conversation would mark the beginning of a most remarkable journey. It was the day after the devastating Maui wildfires had blown up over the internet, and Lisa asked what her congregation in Northern California could do to help. Wanting to do something more than just give money, the two brainstormed ideas.

Jill and Lisa with one of the Lokelani creations wrapped on a branch.

A few years prior, Jill had participated in the Honolulu Museum of Art's ʻōhiʻa forest yarn installation, where folks were invited to contribute knitted, crocheted, and fabric leaves. That experience triggered the idea of possibly creating a similar display, but using Maui's official flower, the pink Lokelani rose.

"I first contacted our prayer shawl circles in Episcopal churches on O'ahu," said Jill, who was encouraged to post on Facebook through a local knitting group, asking for pink flowers made from organic fibers. 

"This Maui Lokelani Project 'arose' out of our prayer shawl knitting circles doing what we know what to do," shared Jill, "...knit and crochet pink Lokelani roses in prayer and support of Maui and its people… prayers in stitches!"

Lisa's Church of Our Saviour, an Episcopal Church in Mill Valley, California, had immediately jumped in to help Hālau Wa‘a organize and come up with patterns to share with other church knitting circles. It wasn't long before Epiphany, St. Clement's, St. Mary's, and St. Peter's Episcopal Churches on O'ahu, joined in.  Wesley Methodist Church in Kahala caught wind of the project, and even our Bishop's Executive Assistant, Nani Carroll, went to work. Together they donated knitted and crocheted pink roses, vines, patchwork squares and leaves toward this effort. 

---

"This was a labor of love and grief which [Jill] carried out herself!" said Lisa in an email. "Her work enabled those of us who were shocked and grieving for the people and the lands of Maui, to show our aloha and to pray all the while during the months that we spent using our hands to create lokelani and yarn representations of maile. [It was a way] to honor the places and the people who have been suffering and those who perished.  ​So many hands, over a number of months, created the yarn lei."

"Then we held a healing service for Maui at our church," continued Lisa.  "Many more people came, heard poetry and prayers for Maui, and then all came to the altar where the lei of roses were resting and blessed them, weaving their prayers of aloha into the lei."

---

"I will never forget the day that Lahaina burned - a silly statement, as we all feel that.  And, like so many - to be so very far away from home, as well as far away from where this tragedy took place on Maui, caused another kind of pain.  We in Saint Anne's Circle at The Church of Our Savior in Mill Valley, California, a group of parishioners and community members who create with yarn blankets and shawls to comfort people who are in need, set immediately to praying, with our hands and knitting needles.  What a comfort it was to us and we prayed that maybe our efforts might bring awareness and caring to this situation here on the mainland." ~ Lisa Smith Salkever, Mill Valley, CA

Over the next several months, the collection grew, but they had to find a time and place for it to be displayed and shared with the public.  That's when the Rev. Moki Hino from Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Wailuku, offered up the church's wrought iron fence, front yard, and trees to display the creations of love and care. Not only did he welcome the installation, but he and his spouse, Dixie Kaetsu, helped organize a prayer service to dedicate and bless the Lokelani roses for Maui.

​​On Monday of Holy Week, March 25, 2024, the holiest time of the year for the church, Hālau Wa‘a Episcopal Honouliuli’s prayer shawl ministry flew over to Maui for a "yarn storming* installation" for Project Lokelani Roses For Maui.  

"The day of adorning the Church of the Good Shepherd in Wailuku, and the aloha that was shared that day is another unforgettable moment," shared Lisa who had flown in from California, bringing the Lokelani roses and lei crafted through her church. She would later recount the entire experience to her parish in Mill Valley.

Joining the installation crew were Lisa’s cousin who lives in Kihei, Josclyn Lipke-Shipman, Lissa Shimomura from Hālau Wa‘a Episcopal Honouliuli, Jessica Stack (Jill and Mark's daughter) from St. Clement’s Honolulu, the Rev. Heather Mueller, Tripp Lynch from St. John’s Kula, and Ms. McCreary, from Haleakala Waldorf School.

​​Pictured above at the dedication and blessing, are Fr. Mark Haworth and Lisa Smith Salkever providing beautiful music for the service.  Jill shared that her childhood friend, Lisa, is an accomplished classical and slack key guitarist who used to sing together with Mark during chapels at Punahou School.

​In attendance, along with the folks of Good Shepherd, were Bishop Bob Fitzpatrick and Bea, Fr. Christopher Golding from Seabury Hall with his children Phoebe and James, and Brian Moto from St. John’s in Kula.  The service ended with a beautiful “chicken skin” rendition of "O ‘oe ‘io."

The Lokelani Rose Project will be on display at Good Shepherd until the week before Pentecost, and while the recovery from the fires will take many years, folks like Jill and Lisa will make sure that Maui is not forgotten. 

"The idea will be to save the rose vines to hopefully be installed in Lahaina at a later date," says Jill.  "The other pieces will be washed.  We understand that A Cup of Cold Water (Maui's Care-van ministry) is always looking for sheets and blankets, and we’re hoping to see if we can get used sheets from area hotels to embellish them with pieces from the installation.  That’s the hope…"

​"The aloha continues, as does the grieving for Lahaina and Kula over here in Mill Valley," says Lisa, "but we know that much good will rise from those ashes, and we hope to continue to support the community as this journey towards a healthier land and culture continues on into the coming decades."

---

​*YARN STORMING/YARN BOMBING:  A type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn rather than paint or chalk.  Motivation for street artists to yarn storm is to reclaim public places. 

Pictured in the top photo from left: Lissa Shimomura, Jill Haworth, Jessica Stack, the Rev. Heather Mueller, Lisa Smith Salkever, Josclyn Lipke-Shipman, and Ms. McCreary

Reporting:  Sybil Nishioka
Photos: Contributed by Jill Haworth, Lisa Smith-Salkever