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Wednesday, August 16, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
The Nugget Newspaper Crossword
By Jacqueline E. Mathews, Tribune News Service
— Last Week’s Puzzle Solved —
PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER MCNAMEE
Shannon Rackowski dances at the SPRD luau on Thursday.
LUAU: Event is a
summer tradition
through SPRD
Continued from page 3
when he met Jack De Mello,
a well-known writer, pro-
ducer, and orchestra leader.
De Mello made Hawaiian
music work for talents like
The Brothers Cazimero,
Nina Kealiiwahamana, and
Michael Dane.
“Jack wanted them to
shape Hawaiian music in their
own way,” Rackowski said.
When Dane relocated
to the Pacific Northwest,
he fell in love with Oregon
and became the headliner
for Salishan Resorts on the
Oregon coast for 15 years,
then in 1997 he became the
headliner for Gracie’s Sea
Hag in Depoe Bay and has
been performing there for 20
years.
“I met Michael over 25
years ago at the Salishan
and we have been perform-
ing together ever since,”
Rackowski said.
Dane’s wife, Connie,
and her dog, Momi, sat near
the stage to watch husband
Michael perform.
“The first thing Michael
will do is chant a Hawaiian
blessing for everyone here,”
Rackowski announced to
guests.
Dane was holding a
200-year-old bamboo flute,
“This ancient Hawaiian
musical instrument, ohe
hano ihu (pronounced oh-
hay hah-no ee-hoo) is played
through the nose and not with
the mouth. It’s played with
the nose because Hawaiians
believe the nose is pure
breath,” Dane explained.
Musician Kurt Silva, lead
singer from Dry Canyon
Stampede, plays everything
from country to Motown,
but he has a special place in
his heart for Hawaiian melo-
dies. Silva performed with
hula dancers Tanya Hackett,
Shannon Rackowski and the
Halau (Hula) Uhane dance
group.
“This is really wonderful
that I’m getting a dancer for
every song I’m performing
this year!” Silva said.
Rackowski dedicated a
song, “White Sandy Beach
of Hawaii,” to her brother,
Samson, who passed away
two years ago.
There wasn’t a dry eye in
the house as guests watched
Rackowski hula while
Dane played the melodic
song written by the late
Hawaiian vocalist Israel
Kamakawiwo’ole.
“This was the song that
I danced to when I took his
body back home to Hawaii.
He had come here to be
with me for the last 17 years
of his life before passing,”
Rackowski said.
Rosemary Miller, dance
instructor for Halau (Hula)
Uhane dance group, a non-
profit organization from
Redmond, had her Hawaiian
dance group, ages ranging
from 18 months up to adult,
ready for some Polynesian
dancing.
“We have two new songs
to dance to this year,” Miller
said. “The Canoe Dance,
with the song from the movie
‘Moana,’ and a traditional
dance, Holoholo Ka’a, a driv-
ing dance when the automo-
bile first came to Hawaii.”
The luau festivities
captured the spirit of the
Hawaiian culture in that every
luau is authentic when there
is a gathering of people who
want to enjoy food, fun, and
one another.
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