Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Club

In ways similar to our ancestors, we “Island” people have continued this odyssey here to Las Vegas. If you stop and look around you, you will find many people from Hawai’i and other areas of the Pacific wherever you go. It’s not hard to recognize each other. We’re the ones who smile more. We all have our own reasons for being here; but now many of us call Vegas home, or the Ninth Island.

The number of “islanders” moving to Las Vegas continues to grow. It is said we make up 10% of the Las Vegas population right now. That means we’re 100,000 strong in this community. I applaud those of you who have lived here for many years and have paved the way for those of us who followed.

Here in Las Vegas we have our own ohana. We have our own community within the Las Vegas community. It is important for us to remember who we are and more importantly, to preserve who we are. This is especially so for our children. They need to learn who they are and what makes them unique.

Many things about our Island culture are different from the norm here in Vegas, if there is a norm. One thing is for sure though, we are unique in a special way. When we get together there is such a feeling of mana (spirit), and aloha (love). For those of you who are new to our ohana, we say, E komo mai. To those of you who have not yet made the “aloha connection”, please do so.