 Welcome to Talk Story with John Wahee and another interesting show. We have a very special guest for our show this afternoon. She is the first lady of the state of Hawaii, Don Amano Ike. And one of the things that first ladies have become is sort of the, I would say they become the guardians of Washington Place and every first lady just inherits that responsibility. And Don is no different, except what's exciting and what she's here to talk to us about is the fact that Washington Place is now celebrating 175 years of its existence. Welcome First Lady. It's a pleasure to have you. Thank you, Governor. It's just a pleasure to be here to talk about Washington Place. And yes, it is such a privilege to be the steward guardian of the property during our time here. It is just a beautiful place to be. Well, I should tell the audience that you're actually sitting upstairs in a room which is the First Lady's office now. But at one point in time, it was the living room for whoever was living in Washington Place. So the people can get a sense of what it's like to be at Washington Place. You know, I have to say, I just want to add that this is one of I think the most beautiful rooms in Washington Place. What you can't see is it is just wall-to-wall windows. So I have a beautiful view of the gardens here, the capital across the street and downtown Honolulu. So I believe the governors had this room as their living room and it's just a beautiful spot. Well, before we begin, I wanted to have an audience know just a little bit about you before we get into Washington Place. Let me see. Tell us where you were born, where you grew up. I want to tell them which high school you went to, but I'm going to let you do that. Sure. You know, I was born and raised in Eva Plantation. I grew up in a plantation community and it's really funny. I was talking to a friend about my father was a crane operator, so we lived in one of the smaller houses. And the manager, of course, had a beautiful white mansion. And as a child, I would ride my bicycle and pass by that mansion from time to time thinking, I wonder who lives in it. And I would love to live in a place like that. And never did I imagine that I would be here today, right in Washington Place. Isn't that exciting? I mean, I mean, you know, to be able, I just, did you ever have a chance when you were growing up to actually go by Washington Place or go in it or visit it or anything like that? No, I never as a young person, as a child, I never stepped foot into Washington Place. In fact, and I don't know if this is such a good thing. The first time I stepped into the governor's office was the inauguration day in 2014. So that was quite a special moment for me to be able to step into the governor of the state of Hawaii's office for the first time. Well, one of the exciting things about what's happening is the fact that now more and more there's school children can now visit Washington Place. I mean, I find that so exciting, you know, for young people in Hawaii. Absolutely. I believe, Lynn, your wife, his first lady began the first children's tour. When I checked in the files, she had a whole children's program written out when they came to visit Washington Place. So I did take some of her ideas and expanded that to how it might fit for our children now. But yes, we have school children being able to visit Washington Place to see the the rooms and the parlors that the queen lived in and to learn a little bit about the queen's history during the time that they're here. So today, young Don Amano could have gone to Washington Place. Yes. It's as exciting. Tell us, okay, we'll get down to the business of the day. We are in the midst of celebration, and it's the 175th anniversary of Washington Place. Tell us what's special about the house and, you know, how it came into being and all the rest of just what it's all about. Sure. Washington Place was built by Captain John and Mary Dominus, and they began construction in 1842. Captain and Mary Dominus came from Boston to Hawaii because he was a sea merchant, going back and forth to Asia, buying different art pieces furniture and so forth. So he decided to move to Hawaii, but in moving to Hawaii, he had to promise his wife a beautiful home. And so he, yes, and Washington Place at that time was the most beautiful home in the block. I still think it is one of the most beautiful homes in Hawaii. But he took a great deal of care and finding the right craftsmen, the right materials to build the home and to make it what it is today. Now their child was John Owen Dominus. Now, going back to Captain Dominus, he never saw the completion of the home because on one of his voyages to Asia, he was lost at sea. So Mary Dominus had to complete building the home. She started to get concerned about expenses, started to run out of money. So she took in borders into Washington Place. And one of them was US Commissioner Anthony Tenike. And he was the one that suggested to Mary Dominus that they named this place Washington Place in honor of President Washington. And King Kamehameha at that time called, agreed to it and said that this place would be named Washington Place in all time. And that was Kamehameha the third, right? Yes, that's correct. Kamehameha the third. Actually, he did it apparently by a royal proclamation. Yes. King. Go ahead. I'm sorry. I was just like such exciting. Me too. I find both, I find the history fascinating. The proclamation you can find at the Hawaii State Archives and much of their work is digitized now. So you might be even able to see it online. Well, how exciting. No, he, this house was built in Livio Kalani married the son, I guess, the son of the Mary Dominus. Yes. Captain Dominus. So when she married, she moved into Washington Place with John Owen, her husband as well as Mary Dominus, and she would spend 55 years living at Washington Place. She would be queen in that time and go to Elie Lonnie Palace and then come back home to Washington Place. So those were tumultuous years at that time. But this was always her home at that time. She did have other homes as well. Yeah, but I read some place that she didn't like Elie Lonnie Palace that much. She preferred being at Washington Place. Can you come across that anywhere that she had this fondness for Washington Place that I think you can feel even till today? I believe one of the things that she really loved at Washington Place was the gardens. She loved plants growing fruits, vegetables, trees and so forth. And so one day she spent, she decided to spend the day writing every single plant that she had in her garden, and it was 54 varieties of fruits and vegetables. It is a tremendously long list in her beautiful handwriting. You can see that list. We have a digitized version on our website at washingtonplace.gov and if you go into tours and gardens on the bottom of it, you'll see that digitized list. And, you know, she's amazing to be able to write every single plant and know, be able to identify it, I think was just amazing. I tell you, there's a Washington Place, in many ways in my opinion, personifies the queen in the sense that you seem to feel her presence everywhere in the house. I mean, what's it like working there like you are? You know, it's funny that you mentioned that because the first day, the first time I came to Washington Place, you know, we're moving, we're busy moving into the private residence behind the historic home. But then I took a break and decided to walk the grounds of the historic home and go into the historic home for the first time. You cannot help but feel such a difference between the two homes. The feeling that you get here is just, it's a sense of peace for all that has happened. For me, it is a sense of peace and a sense of reassuring that no matter how difficult things might get, it'll be okay. It's hard to explain but it's always, I find so much comfort just being in this home and I do spend most of my days here. I think if anyone lives here, they would spend most of their days right in this home. You can't help but feel the queen's presence, her inspiration, and for me it's her reassurance. Well, I tell you, there's a portrait of the queen in the dining room downstairs. And one of the things that I used to notice or everyone notices about the portrait is that when you look at it, the eyes follow me. You know, they sort of follow you. So she's always seems to be aware of your presence, you know. I don't know, have you had a chance to notice that or work with that at all? You know, I do have, we do have our official dinners and functions in the queen's dining room with the queen overseeing the festivities or the dinner. But at the same time, I also have some business meetings in that queen's dining room because I want her presence to be there. I want her wisdom to be shared. In fact, we have a new exhibit on the second floor of the queen. But when we first started talking about this exhibit and it was just an idea that we had with our foundation president, the state archivist, our curator. We started those conversations in the queen's dining room and what we wanted the exhibit to look like, what we wanted it to stand for. And it was going back and forth a lot, but with always the queen's presence there in the dining room. And we had many meetings in there. Well, I tell you for me when I had the privilege of living in Washington Place, actually, I used to sit in that dining room and just stare at the picture when I had to make some tough decisions, you know, because you just kind of felt that she had a way of understanding what was the right way to do something, you know, and you just got that feeling. And I'm so glad that you appreciate that as well, you know, that presence is there. We are going to take a short break right now. And we'll be back in a minute or two. But what I want to chat about is what have you got planned. I mean, what have one of the events that are being planned that have been held there, all to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Washington Place. And we will be right back after this short break. Aloha, my name is Mark Shlove. I am the host of think tech Hawaii's law across the sea program. My program comes on every other Monday one o'clock. And we talk about a lot of different subjects. All of them law related in some way, either life or practice, and I try to have a diversity of guests that can talk about different topics of interest. So please join us. Think tech Hawaii law across the sea program every other Monday, one o'clock in the afternoon. Aloha. Welcome back to talk story with John, why he and our special guests, First Lady Dawn, a model, he gave in as First Lady of Hawaii she also is the, I guess the chair person of the 175th anniversary celebration for Washington Place. We were just about ready to ask the First Lady, what, what, what are the events that have been held there so far and what does what does the commission have planned for the rest of the year. You know, we started off the 175th with an exciting opening ceremonies that was coordinated with the Hawaiian civic clubs and the Department of Education. One of the highlights of the opening ceremony was a hula kahiko hula by the DOE fourth graders fourth graders because that's Hawaiian studies as part of their curriculum. We had three elementary schools here dancing. So we had about 100 students dancing to Lillio a and then on top of that there were 38 other schools across the state dancing to that kahiko simultaneously to to celebrate the queen and honor the queen because she's how many students were involved. I mean, it was over 2300 students, plus any teachers, and I have to say thank you to the cocooners at each of the schools for teaching the students and being part of this teachers make such a huge difference in all of this. That is so incredible. That's over 2000 students right across the state. And what do you do I mean you zoom them all in and so everybody what was happening everybody started at the same time. We had, we had amazing technology in that every school was featured on the screen so it was a lot of simultaneous zooming across all the schools, we had to do a lot of tech checks as you do on for your show but we did it several times. So we were able to capture many all this I believe it's all the schools on the screen. I didn't get to see it yet because I was behind the TV monitors but I heard that it was a chance to see all these schools participating so it's exciting. Lynn and I had a chance to see that because we where we were sitting we're sitting close by to a monitor. And I have to tell you, it was terribly exciting. It was, you know, it was a high point for me because I don't think it's ever been done before I mean, I don't think it's very historic. I mean, I think it's pretty historic, you know, that you would have that many students choreographed together doing the same hula right across the state I mean it's what a tribute that is. And you know, as an educator, as an educator it meant a lot to me because not only did they have to learn the Kishiko hula and the significance of it but it also gave them an opportunity to learn about the queen, Queen Lillio Kalani and Washington Place. So they really had a whole educational package that came with this that really enhances their understanding of Hawaii's a little part of Hawaii's history. I think that event ought to be, I mean, it's so symbolic because in order to have two over 2000 students simultaneously participating in something like that, this hula, I mean think of the training that have to go and think of the people that would have to have to know about the queen in order to teach these students and then teach them the hula and also coordinated. I mean that's an amazing testament to the Department of Education and the development of the, you know, teaching about Hawaii's history. And that all came under their Hawaiian Studies program. So I have to, you know, it's a lot of appreciation to all what they've done and tied into the history everything that we've done for our commemoration events ties to the history and significance of the home so we had children because we knew we've read so much about how much the Queen loved children throughout her life and how important they were. The next day, a Saturday, just this past Saturday, we commemorated again with a concert with the Royal Hawaiian Band. And there's a lot of history again with Washington Place and Royal Hawaiian Band because they played for Mary Dominus for her 50th anniversary celebration of her coming to Hawaii back in the 1800s. And for Queen Lumeo Kalani, they performed, of course, for many of her birthday celebrations held here at Washington Place. And Clark Wright does a wonderful job playing the Queen's music. It's quite chicken skin to be able to be part of that and to hear the music right on the grounds of Washington Place. I'm so excited. I can just get, you know, lost in this but I do want you to tell us a little bit more about what you may have planned in the future and how the public can find out about it and maybe even get a chance to visit the home. You know, we hope that people will visit because one of my goals is to open up the home to the community. I hate for people to just pass by and wonder what's inside of the house. I want them to sign up for a tour and come into the house to see what's in the house and what's in the home. On the second floor, we've just put up a new exhibit on Queen Lumeo Kalani and her life and what it's like, her life focusing on what the life, her life might have been like in the home or what has it been like in the home. So you have everyday things like a poi bill from, I believe it's Hawaii poi company. It's addressed to Mrs. Queen Lumeo Kalani and they note how much poi she ordered, which ends up being over 100 pounds of poi for that month. I gotta get that. So it's a bill for 100 pounds of poi addressed to Mrs. Queen Lumeo Kalani. Yes, and it's right there. Locals in Hawaii are not any different than they were today. Guess how much that bill was for? How much was it for? $5. You can't even buy a bag of poi for $5 now. But it also shows a part of the queen that she provided for and fed her staff and people who stayed with her in that home and that's part of the kindness that she had in taking care of the people around her. In addition to some of those interesting kinds of bills the home had, we do have, thanks to the friends of Ilani Palace, have the replica gown that the Queen wore to Queen Victoria's 50th Jubilee. It's called the ribbon lace down and it's on display for people to see. Of course it's a replica, but you still have that sense of the grandeur and the beauty of the kinds of... Was this the gown that she was wearing in the portrait as well? Yes, yes. So you can go downstairs and tour the dining room and admire the portrait and then go upstairs and see what the gown looks like in detail. Tell us about the piano. Now we do have the Queen's Piano right in the Queen's Parlor. It's one of the first parlors you see as you enter the home. It's made up, it's very interesting, it was presented to her by some businessmen in Honolulu. The wood that the piano was made with is koa that was gathered in Hawaii, then sent to New York, the piano was built in New York, and then sent back to Hawaii and presented to her while she was Queen at Ilani Palace. And we think she played on the Queen, on the piano, I'm sorry. We know that she wrote three compositions at Washington Place. One is Onipapa, that is the song of perseverance and strength. And on the other end of the spectrum, she wrote here at Washington Place, a song called Kavili Vili Vai, which is the water sprinkler song. She was sitting... Yes, she was out sitting on her veranda, watching her neighbors sprinkler go back and forth. So she decided to write a song about that. That is so funny. That's so human. She has such a breadth of creativity and observation, and so it kind of shows you that the Queen was such... She was Queen, but she was also a person that people could relate to. You could just see her smiling while somebody would have played that song thinking it was, you know, so, I don't know, so high-brow, and she's smiling because it was about a water sprinkler. I think they're going back and forth. And the third song was, she finished it here. It's Aloha Oye. She started the song in Manawili on her tour around O'ahu. And then, but she completed the song at Washington Place. So are there any more events that you have planned for the rest of the year? We have two more open houses on April 23rd and May 14th. And if you go onto our website, you can sign up for tours. You know, we are taking reservations for those tours, and we'll see how the tours go. We may open up more. On May 29th, we have a KHON TV special on Washington Place that will be aired. I don't have the time yet, so look for announcements on that. And we hope you'll join us in viewing that show. Many people... Again, I think just to let people know that's May 29th, KHON will be doing a television special about Washington Place. And Governor, I believe you are interviewed, and I look forward to your interview on that program. Yeah, I might be a little shy. It's so exciting because, you know, as you know, our family had the good fortune of actually living in Washington Place. And I can tell you that for us, it was very, very special. And I really hope that people take advantage of what you're offering and go and see the house. And get to understand why it's in the heart of so many people here in Hawaii, you know. Well, yeah, I think they really are taking advantage of it. You know, I really want to invite them, and it's an opportunity to learn about the stories of Washington Place. We have docents providing tours, and they do a wonderful job of just sharing stories. And each docent has a different story to share. You might hear, you know, you'll hear the history of the home, the history of the queen, but you might hear about her pets or the kind of food that she served. What kind of food did she serve? You know, I'm a local food gourmet, and I eat all the things that probably, you know, the Hawaiian diet really... You know, I do have on display a menu. It wasn't served at Washington Place, it was her first official dinner at Iolani Palace. So we have the menu for that first official dinner. What was it? I have some quite interesting things on it. Anchovies on toast, mayonnaise, celery, and chicken as one item. You know, she served a lot of food. You know, she served a lot of food. You know, she served a lot of food. You know, she served a lot of food. Venison was on it. Very, very special, very, very high-brow dinner. Yes, that was an official dinner. But, you know, she had things like she has served a lot of poi here. So we know that that was served here. But, you know, I will have a list the next time you come here or the next time visitors come here. Yes. But at $5 for 100 pounds of poi that she could have, you know, you could have afforded. Yes, that's amazing. And what inflation does over 175 years? Well, I tell you what, we're close to running out of time. Is there anything else you want to do and, you know, get people to come and visit the Queen's home? I would like people to sign up to come and visit. And if they're not able to visit, we have a website, washingtonplace.gov, which I put together with professional web companies. So it looks pretty nice, I think. And it does have the history of the home as well as a timeline. So the timeline includes all the territorial governors, state governors who lived in the home and how the home changed over time. I really encourage people to take a look at that. And on that website, we also have virtual tours that they can enjoy. But really come over to the home. Well, thank you very much, First Lady for agreeing to be with us this afternoon. And we want to again re-emphasize your invitation to people out there to take advantage of this opportunity to see this very special home that belonged to Hawaii's last Queen. I also want to encourage people who are watching us this afternoon to stay tuned for the next show. We have Chandra Park, who will be doing her first show this afternoon talking about financial literacy in Hawaii. So we go from our Queen to financial literacy. But anyway, thank you. Thank you, First Lady, and it's been a real pleasure to have you. Thank you so much. Take care. Thank you. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.