Auntie Carole and Auntie Geri spread the Aloha Spirit during July Fourth festivities at the Redondo Beach Pier.

by Tom Fitt

“Aloha consists of this new attitude of heart, above negativism, above legalism. It is the unconditional desire to promote the true good of other people in a friendly spirit, out of a sense of kinship. Aloha seeks to do good, with no conditions attached,” Kahu Abraham Akaka said in March 1959. The title “Kahu” is equivalent to “respected one.” Akaka was instrumental in bringing the state of Hawai’i into the Union in 1959. The sum of his extraordinary life was expressed by his wife, Mama Kahu: “Beloved husband, father, Tutu Pa, preacher, poet, prophet, composer, and statesman, a faithful servant of God and a loving Kahu to all.”

A folk etymology claims that “aloha” derives from a compound of the Hawaiian words alo, meaning “presence,” “front,” “face,” or “share”; and ha, meaning “breath of life” or “essence of life.”

After about a minute in the Honolulu airport, a visitor understands that “aloha” is not simply a word of greeting or goodbye. Aloha is a way of life to native Hawaiians and kamaaina. Such spirit will be offered at the Redondo Beach Pier during July 4 celebrations when Mehana (“warmth”) performs, accompanied by local hula halau (dance companies).

Mehana is a duo of musicians, both of whom now live in the South Bay, each with strong ties to the islands. Known simply as Auntie Geri (ukelele) and Auntie Carole (bass), the two have played regularly at Bob’s Okazuya restaurant in Gardena for the past four years and can also be heard at Back Home in Lahaina restaurant in Carson, as well as their various concerts. As a note to you haole (Caucasian non-natives), “auntie” and “uncle” are terms of respect when Hawaiians speak to or about mature members of the society of whom they love and honor. Those of the younger generations are referred to as “cousins.”

Auntie Geri is 100 percent Hawaiian, born and raised in La’ie, Oahu (site of the famous Polynesian Cultural Center). She now lives in Carson and has resided in the area since 1963. Known forever as “Songbird,” Geri is from the musical Kuhia ‘ohana (family) and has worked on the islands and throughout Southern California for decades with many of the most famous traditional Hawaiian musicians. Auntie Carole is a Southern California native who learned to love the island culture and music from her mother, who played piano with big bands in the 1940s. Carole also dances hula, has produced several live shows in the area and performs with major Hawaiian entertainers. Aunties Geri and Carole played the Aloha Falsetto Festival at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center last summer.

“I still go back (to Hawai’i) at least twice a year,” said Geri. On July 30, she is returning to her hometown of La’ie to perform in the Summer Bash “so that I can give back to my community and visit my family. While we’re there we will try to promote my CD (‘Na Mele o Ku’u ‘Ohana’).”

The team of Geri and Carole came about quite by accident. Geri was playing at Bob’s in Gardena when a friend of Carole’s asked if Carole could sit in. “I said, ‘What does she play?’ He said bass. She played with me and I thought, I’ve got to get this haole girl. I was singing and I modulated to a higher key and she was right there with me. She never missed a beat. So, I looked back at her and wondered, is this a Hawaiian girl or a haole? After a couple Thursdays at the restaurant, I asked her if she wanted to play every week. She said yes. I explained, they don’t pay us anything, they just feed us, and she said that was fine… We’ve been playing ever since.”

To Geri’s wonderment, Carole knew many Polynesian songs that she herself did not know. “Now, when she corrects me on my Hawaiian (language), I listen because she knows a lot,” said Geri.

There will be hula on July Fourth. “The first time we performed there, we had two hula girls who came with us,” said Geri. “We were asked this time if we could bring back the hula girls.”

Auntie Geri is successfully fighting some health problems, but nothing is getting in the way of her performance schedule. “To me, there’s a reason why I was given this gift. Whenever I sing, there’s always someone who comes to me and says, ‘I was down for a while, but when you sing it just lifts my whole spirit.’ That’s what I love,” she said. “As far as money, it comes and it goes. I just want to touch someone and make someone happy. That’s more of a thrill than anything in the world.”

Festivities at the pier begin at 5 p.m., July 4. Practice your shaka and be ready to wave. ER

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