By Staff Reports
(O‘AHU) – Calling all keiki artists across the Hawaiian Islands! The Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation is proud to announce the opening of the 2024 Mayor’s Memorial Day Poster Contest. This annual contest challenges all school-age keiki to craft their best visual representation of our “Sew a Lei for Memorial Day” effort, to place a fresh lei on the approximately 38,000 graves within the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Pūowaina (Punchbowl) for the annual Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony.
The keiki artists are invited to create a unique depiction of lei-making activities or ceremonial actions of the Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony at Pūowaina, such as the lei-sewing, military salutes, or other patriotic symbols. We encourage all students to participate in this contest, and we hope all educators see this as an educational and creative opportunity to highlight our talented keiki artists, while also showing appreciation for those who perished in the line of duty.
Winning artists and their posters will be celebrated through various media, and will take part in a Mayoral and City Council recognition ceremony where certificates and prizes are awarded!
Winning entries will be chosen on their appeal, originality, and effectiveness in conveying the message of lei-making or Memorial Day service activities, with the following guidelines for the artwork:
- Using 8.5” X 11” white / colored paper or poster board, landscape or portrait orientation, with no frames or matting.
- Drawing with pen, ink, markers, crayons, pastels, and/or paints. No computer generated or enhanced and no cutouts.
- Limit of one entry per student, with the keiki artist’s following information on the back, upper right corner of the entry:
- Student’s name, grade, school and/or island
- Teacher’s name, phone number, and email
You may mail or deliver entries to:
Department of Parks and Recreation
Attn: Samantha Sun
1000 Ulu‘ōhi‘a Street, Suite 309
Kapolei, Hawai‘i 96707
Mailed entries must be received by February 26, 2024.
For additional information, please contact Samantha Sun at (808) 768-3032 or email ssun1@honolulu.gov
The 73nd Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Monday, May 27, 2024 beginning at 8:30 a.m. within the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Pūowaina (Punchbowl). Additional details about how to observe the ceremony will be announced at a later time. For the most updated information concerning this time-honored ceremony, please visit the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation’s dedicated Mayor’s Memorial Day website: bit.ly/MayorsMemorialDay
If you need an auxiliary aid/service, other accommodations due to a disability, or an interpreter for a language other than English in reference to this announcement, please contact the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation at (808) 768-3003 on weekdays from 7:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. or email parks@honolulu.gov at least three business days before the scheduled event. Without sufficient advanced notice, it may not be possible to fulfill requests.