Mr. Poe Goes to Washington (Place)
Dec 22nd, 2008 by Capsun
With Lt. Gov. & Mrs. Aiona at Washington Place
On Friday, I joined with hundreds of my fellow citizens and some tourists as we visited Washington Place for the Christmas Tree Decorating and Tour. Mahalo to our hosts Lt. Governor Duke Aiona and Mrs. Vivian Aiona who spent the better part of an evening meeting, greeting, and welcoming visitors to the home. The event was free and open to the public. Two highlights for me were getting to help decorate one of the trees upstairs and listening to the live harpist playing seasonal selections downstairs.
Washington Place was Queen Liliuokalani’s home and had been used as the home of Hawaii’s governors until the end of Governor Ben Cayetano’s second term. Under First Lady Vicky Cayetano, the original home was converted into a historic house museum. Then, a new residence was constructed behind the original home. That is where Governor Lingle resides and future governors will reside.
According to Lt. Governor Aiona, Christmas is the one time of the year that the home’s second level is opened to the public. I have been to Washington Place on several occasions, but I was usually confined to the covered patio that serves as a hosting area for receptions. So then, it was quite a treat to be able to tour all the rooms of historic Washington Place, including the upstairs, which used to be where Her Majesty and the First Families resided.
Here are some political observations of the night, so stop reading here if you wanted just the feel-good stuff:
- I disagree with Governor Lingle (for starters, she was pro-McCain in the presidential campaign) and Lt. Governor Aiona (for starters, his strong pro-Con Con stance) on many policy issues, but in the spirit of Christmas, I’m glad we could share a holiday moment and focus on spreading the holiday spirit, regardless of political ideology.
- I wonder, why was the event hosted by Lt. Governor Aiona and not Governor Lingle? Did she think we were President-Elect Barack Obama and so she avoided the event and meeting out of habit? Or is it because Lt. Governor Aiona is raising his public profile to aid in his anticipated run for Governor in 2010?
- I was most impressed with Rep. Ken Ito (D-Kaneohe) and his wife Joyce. Despite being a state legislator and being on a first-name basis with Lt. Governor Aiona, he and his guests opted to wait in line with everyone else. And it wasn’t a short wait: we waited about an hour to get in and Rep. Ito and his entourage were about 30 minutes behind us! It’s good to see a VIP who is so first-class that he wants to be treated like any other citizen. AQ McElrath would probably have nodded in approval.
From talking to the staff, it sounds like they will do this event next year. So, if you missed it this time, you can always try for it next year.
Mahalo!
We do nothing at Christmas time but trudge from one concert to another. My love is a trumpet player and is in three different bands. I may never see any other Christmas festivity ever again …..
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