By Staff Reports
(O‘AHU) – Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Mayor’s Memorial Day Poster Contest!
This year the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation received 217 entries, with 25 keiki receiving accolades in their respective grade levels, including:
| Kindergarten – 4th grade | 5th – 8th grade | 9th – 12th grade |
| 1st – Kehaulani Anderson2nd – Jayde Anderson3rd – Aurora Ng-Fahey | 1st – Kendra Cabico2nd – Nicole Alcayde3rd – Peyton How | 1st – Maria Gilyn DeLeon2nd – Aileen Kang3rd – Kaelie Karikomi |
| Honorable Mentions | Honorable Mentions | Honorable Mentions |
| Vivien BraddockStorm Kaaihue-AuKymani Mercado-PayneShyloh MuraokaJade Souza | Jayli AdrianoAva BalogJanelle DazaCameryn HallgrenMakana KainaGeraldine OroscoChloe Yu | Valerie-Rose GabaonJenahvi JulianEmma NemetzHanna Nishida |
This excellent artwork will be featured on Memorial Day publications, posted within Kapolei Hale, and is currently posted on DPR’s dedicated Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony website bit.ly/MayorsMemorialDay
The top three winners from each of the age categories will receive a prize package with art supplies during an award ceremony with Mayor Rick Blangiardi and the Honolulu City Council on Friday, April 5, 2024 beginning 9 a.m. at Kapolei Hale.
Mahalo to all of the keiki artists, their ‘ohana, art teachers, and participating schools for taking part in this annual tradition. Special thanks to ‘Ewa Makai Middle, Reverend Benjamin Parker Elementary, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Hawai‘i Mission Academy, and Pearl City High schools for their significant support and contributions to this contest.
More details concerning the 73rd Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony, and how the public can view this time-honored event, will be announced later. In anticipation of the ceremony, DPR is beginning our statewide initiative to sew and gather 38,000 lei to adorn each grave at Pūowaina for the ceremony in a uniquely Hawaiian display of gratitude. The majority of the lei-sewing events on O‘ahu will begin the morning of Friday, May 24. The location and specific times for those opportunities are also posted on DPR’s dedicated Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony websitebit.ly/MayorsMemorialDay
Following WWII, Pūowaina was designated the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific with the first Memorial Day Ceremony held within the crater in 1949. That humble ceremony inspired the City to make the solemn commitment of placing a fresh lei on every grave within Pūowaina for a Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony. Unfortunately, since that time the number of graves has increased to the nearly 38,000 service members whose final resting place resides within the memorial cemetery; making the creation and placement of the lei a kākou, community effort.
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.