We had more luaus in 2022 than we have ever done! We were very happy to welcome Vivian on board as our General Manager. Vivian was about to graduate with an MBA from BYU’s distinguished Marriott School of Business. All of the high tech companies were after him, but he felt like the challenge of running our complex catering/entertainment business “with a smile on his face” would be a lot more fun! He and his wife had their own catering restaurant before moving to the mainland to get an education. When we asked him how he is handling the pressure, he laughed at us and said, “I can work 20 hours a day when needed—no problem!” Immigrants have a work ethic like no other, and we are grateful to have him on board! We are getting a lot of positive feedback from our clients as well. Thank you, Vivian!
Because of Covid we had almost no luaus until mid-April….when SoCal’s desire to party suddenly exploded! Then we had the challenge of training a very large staff of new workers, since we had lost nearly everyone during 2020’s pandemic. It was a pretty sharp learning curve, but our new workers did their best and we successfully pulled off 197 luaus in the next 8 months. We ended the year having put together more luaus than we have ever done. We are exhausted and ready for the slow season!
All of our workers were stunned to see so many Tesla’s all in one place! I wonder if Irvine, CA has the highest number of Tesla’s per capita of any SoCal city? #Tesla
Because of Covid, nearly all of our December luaus cancelled, so we were free to perform for our church's Covid-safe Drive-by Christmas Party. Our grand-daughter, accompanied by the Chief, warmed the hearts of over 200 people who drove up to our house to see the show. We decorated our front yard with a Mele Kalikimaka theme, and encouraged folks to take an Almond Joy bar (with some hand sanitizer) on a curbside table.
Maril’s mom, Susiana, started Islanders Luau back in 1971, and at the age of 79 she is still doing things over the top! She took us to her elegant country club for our birthday dinner this week. She surprised us by decorating our table with Hawaiian statues, surrounded by bird of paradise from her yard, guava, and lush greenery to create beautiful centerpieces. She also brought her ukulele and serenaded us with a couple of island songs and a rousing Happy Birthday To You! Her creativity, talent, hard work, and desire to impress never cease to amaze us!
Our biggest luau of the Covid summer was a drive-through luau where people didn't have to get out of their cars. Kind of like a ride at Disneyland--think the Autopia ride--only everyone drove Range Rovers and Teslas instead of mini cars. Instead of seeing automated characters and Mickey Mouse, they saw the real thing--hula girls, fire-dancers, and island musicians, spread out throughout the "ride". At the end of the ride, they received a big family sized bag of freshly grilled teriyaki chicken, pulled pork, and more, topped with a lei! Everyone in their community took their feast home and ate it in the shade of their very own manicured front yards, with neighbors within shouting distance. This is our ninth year entertaining and feeding 600-700 people at Talega of San Clemente. They had cancelled it this year, because of Covid, and then the Chief got very creative! #Hawaiiancatering #hawaiiandancers#hawaiianfood #luauideas #hoaideas
Not only are we having more luaus than ever, but we have been doing a wedding nearly every weekend. It is amazing how many memorials we do, and of course big milestone celebrations for people, as well as more and more swanky corporate events! The pressure is on, because we know that each luau is a very BIG deal to our client. They are inviting the most important people in their lives and they expect us to sweep them off their feet. Maril loves the challenge!
Panesi Afualo was the lead musician for the Islanders back in the day! He was an amazing guitarist and lead vocalist, wrote and arranged songs for us, and accompanied all of the dances with live music. He was a masterful emcee who always had guests roaring with laughter. He was a self-taught guitarist who started his musical career with a garage band in Santa Ana California, back in the 60’s. He went to BYU-Hawaii where he played volleyball and was voted MVP of the National Championship Tournament. To make ends meet, he worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center where he became the lead musician for the their famous night show. After graduation his sister, Susiana, hired him as the lead musician for her Islanders show, which kept him busy for the next 30 years. When we realized that customer's often didn't have the budget for a full band, he recorded all of the parts for his music, part by part, into his synthesizer, and he became a one-man band. Our kids affectionately called it the Pan Band. Panesi trained his children musically and often brought them along to back him up. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, but continued performing for us for another 14 years while he battled the cancer. His last show was only a few weeks before he passed in the summer of 2015. He is a legend in our family and in our business.
We thought we were pretty creative when we came up with our "Fiji Foto Booth". So, we were totally surprised when we arrived at the airport in Fiji this month, and they had their own Fiji photo op wall (and floor) mural for travelers to snap a photo. It was incredibly creative. By placing your hand on the wall, where the post is painted, and setting our luggage on the floor, where the bridge is painted, It looks like we are really on a suspended bridge! #PhotoBooth #LuauEntertainment
We love the unusual fruits that we find at the flea market in Samoa. Green bananas, or fa'i, are boiled or baked and eaten with tasty palusami and various meats. The white fiber in the basket is used to squeeze coconut milk out of freshly grated coconut. The leaves next to it are used to wrap food in before it is baked, kind of like how we use aluminum foil. Many fruits are absolutely huge--like avocados, pineapples, and papayas. Our favorite, and the food that all of our family requested that we bring home for them, is Koko Samoa. Samoan cocoa beans are grown on a tree, then roasted, mashed, and placed in a styrofoam cup, which turns as hard as a rock, but when you grate it and boil it, it makes a unique and fabulous chocolate! We Bring the Islands To You! #IslandFood #KokoSamoaApia, Samoa
A little over a week ago we were in Fiji for a 13 hour layover, so we hired a taxi and packed our schedule! We enjoyed a 100% authentic show at the Fiji Culture Village. We discovered a new dance that our customers will love, and we found that Fijians are incredibly friendly and wonderful people. We Bring the Islands To You! #LuauEntertainment
In Samoa they drive on the opposite side of the road--the left side-- like Europeans. Last week when we first got our rental car in Apia, Samoa, Maril only got confused twice. On our first right hand turn, we ended up going head to head with an oncoming truck. Good thing the speed limit is 25 mph in town and everyone's brakes worked. On his first left hand turn he made the same mistake, but his co-pilot quickly corrected him.
It is pretty interesting that Samoans drove on the right side of the road up until they switched directions one day in 2009.
Wikipedia explains, "A plan to move to driving on the left was first announced by the Samoan government in September 2007. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi said that the purpose of adopting left-hand traffic was to allow Samoans to use cheaper right-hand-drive vehicles sourced from Australia, New Zealand or Japan, and so that the large number of Samoans living in Australasia could drive on the same side of the road when they visited their country of origin. He aimed to reduce reliance on expensive, left-hand-drive imports from America..... at that time, 14,000 of Samoa's 18,000 vehicles were designed for right-hand driving."
Can you imagine the chaos that we would experience here in America if the government decided to switch us over to the left? The Samoans figured it out though, and had a pretty smooth transition. The speed limit in Samoa is 25 mph in town and 35 mph outside of town--which helps--especially since American Samoa still drives on the right. The islands are so spectacular that you really don't mind driving slow. We Bring the Islands To You! #SamoanStrength
As detailed in previous (see below) blog posts about the children of Luteru and Siasaga Afualo, their children used their talents to perform across Southern California beginning in the 70s. The music played at the shows was a mix of old-time island favorites and music they wrote themselves. The original set-up was done majoritively by the family with Panesi Afualo as lead singer & guitartist, harmony by Sone Afualo and on bass, with Tomasina on the drums, Susiana as vocals and ukulele. Other siblings and their own children were equally called upon to step in by playing the keyboard, the pake drum or perhaps pick up a ukulele.
"Chief Luteru" the owner and CEO of Islanders Luau, officially became a Matai, or Chief, in 2006, in his grandfather's small village of Tufutafoe, Savaii, Samoa, with the traditional Saofa'i Ava Ceremony. (Ava is the Samoan word for Kava, which is Tongan and is much more commonly used.) The official title given to Maril by the village elders, is “Chief Afualo Luteru”.
Read the captions accompanying the below pictures for details of this incredible experience in Maril's life.
The village chiefs
The village of Tufutafoe was where Maril's grandfather was born in 1905. All of the people in the village are Afualos. These are some of the distant relatives that serve on the village council who were invited inside the fale, for the ceremony. They were completely comfortable sitting cross-legged on the mats for the lengthy ceremony.
Uncle Nesi
Susiana’s Uncle Nesi has lived in the tiny village of Tufutafoe, Samoa, his whole life. Nesi is one of the village high chiefs. He looks just like Maril's Uncle Sone, who used to be the base player for the Islanders band in the 1970's and 80's.
The 'Ava Stick
The taulealea presents Maril with his kava stick. Each chief or matai of the village is presented with the prospective chief’s kava stick during the ceremony.
The kava bowl
The Tufutafoe village kava bowl was much simpler than the fancy kava bowls which are sold to tourists at the market in Apia, Samoa.
This boy, a tualealea, is scooping the kava drink out with a coconut shell for each of the village elders to take a sip. The rest of the village sat around the outside of the Fale tele, to respectfully observe the lengthy ceremony.
Chief Afualo Luteru
The ceremony was a meaningful, humbling experience for Maril as he became one of the village chiefs.
Once in a lifetime
After the Kava stick was presented to Maril, a tea was made of the kava and each of the chief's took a sip of it from a coconut shell. Susiana was sitting next to her son, Maril, proud that he would now represent her family here in California.
Chief Luteru's son taught himself to do the fire dance at a very young age!
Here are some of our favorite shots taken at luaus in the last couple of years!
In 2017 Islanders Luau had 159 events at venues all over SoCal. Here are some fun pictures and videos from a handful of those tropical events!
Islanders Luau has been our family business for almost 50 years. Our roles have changed, but everyone in the family still gets involved--because we love what we do!
This photo was taken by our son, last December in Samoa. Nathan, who was living in Samoa working as a dentist, had one of the only kayaks on the island and Santa borrowed it to come to his church Christmas party. The kids were so excited that they jumped into the water to greet Santa, just like the old days when Samoans waded into the water to greet incoming visitors. Nowadays it is the airport that has everyone coming to greet visitors. Every Monday and Friday night, when the plane comes from Hawaii, there are huge, excited crowds at the little airport to welcome loved ones! In the two years that Nathan and his family lived in Samoa, we flew into that little airport because, "We Bring the Islands To You!" #MeleKalikimaka #Kerisimasi
“Susiana and the Islanders” would have never made it to Southern California without the great faith of this man, Luteru Afualo. He was born on the largest Samoan island of Savaii in the early 1900’s. Someone encouraged Luteru to go to the island of Upolu to attend the LDS Church school in Sauniatu. While there he met Siasaga Naea, who told him she wouldn’t marry him if he wasn’t a member of the LDS church. He promptly converted. After finishing school, they were called on a lifelong mission for the church. Luteru would travel to small villages, and ask the chief of the village if they could start a church there. The chief would give them a small plot of jungle land to farm. They would clear the dense vegetation and build a fale, or grass shack, and farm the land by day, and do missionary work by night. Once the church was established in a village, they would move on to a new village and start over again. Susiana remembers that they would put all of their belongings on handwoven mats and the family would carry or drag the mats to their new land in a new village.
Luteru and Siasaga had 10 children, 8 of whom grew to adulthood. All of the children were born in different villages on two different Samoan islands. They all have interesting names that have to do with their parents’ faith.
Opapo--Born in Sauniatu, Western Samoa, named after the man who converted Luteru, Opapo Fonoimoana.
Elesiva--Also, born in Sauniatu, called Siva--appropriate for her lively personality. Siva means dance.
Pago Pago--Born in Pago Pago, American Samoa, where the family moved to proselyte.
Uatisone--(Pronounced Watasony) Born in Tula, American Samoa, the first of the boys to be named after an American missionary, Elder Watson.
Laile--Born in Sauniatu, Samoa, the headquarters of the church in Samoa. Named after a church leader named Lyle.
Susiana--Born in Lauli'i, Western Samoa. Susiana is not a traditional Samoan name, but the Samoan version of Susan or Suzann, possibly the name of an American church leader’s child.
Penina--Born in Eva, Western Samoa. Named after her beloved older sister who had recently passed away.
Panesi--Born in Mesepa, American Samoa. Named after an Elder Barnes. Panesi means barn.
The boys all learned to work hard by fishing and farming. Susiana’s job was to go to the villages to sell the fish and produce. She learned to be a very good salesman as a young child, because she would get in trouble (sa sa) if she came home with unsold items. Things were different back then.
The children didn’t have toys other than a cricket bat and ball. Susiana said that some of the activities that the children enjoyed were singing, dancing, and spinning a stick like a fire-knife dancer. (She is the one who taught her son, Maril, the basics of firedancing at the age of 5 years old. Who would have ever guessed he would use that skill almost every weekend for the next 50 years?) Susiana’s mother had learned to play a pump organ in the 1920’s at the LDS school in Sauniatu, and she taught all of her children to play. All of the kids remember that she had a metronome, and if they missed a beat during their lessons, they would get rapped on the knuckles with a ruler. The family was well-known for their musical talents.
Luteru's wife, Siasaga, died of TB after her youngest son was born. Luteru wanted his family to go the Mormon temple in Laia, Hawaii, so the family came up with a plan. First Pago got accepted into a military school in Hawaii--which was still not a state--just an American Territory. Then the other boys, Opapo, Uatesone, and Laile joined the military to allow them to immigrate to Hawaii as well. Once they were there, then Luteru was able to come and one by one, the other children were able to join them--Elesiva, Susiana, Penina, and little Panesi.
Luteru’s mission then changed to that of a labor missionary, where he worked to build the LDS Church College of Hawaii in Laia, now BYU-Hawaii. While in Laia, the handsome Afualo brothers were well known for their singing talent, often singing songs by the Lettermen, with beautiful harmony. While in Hawaii Susiana observed that entertainment didn’t have to be just for fun--it could be a viable business.
All of the children soon migrated to the US mainland, and by the time Susiana was 25, she was dancing at luaus in California. Before she was 30, she started “Susiana and the Islanders”, now known as “Islanders Luau”. She enlisted many of her siblings into the first Islanders band. Sone on bass guitar, Panesi on lead guitar, Peni on ukulele and tamborine, and Susiana on ukulele. Panesi was the lead singer and all of the siblings sang backup and an occasional solo.
Luteru passed away in Laia, HI in 1960 on the day that he was released from his lifelong church mission. He was walking with his son, Sone, when he peacefully collapsed with his missionary release papers still in his hand. All of the children and grandchildren enjoy the faithful legacy of Luteru and Siasaga, who richly blessed their posterity.
*Side note: If anyone knows of any LDS missionaries who served in Samoa from 1930 to 1950, who have photographs of their missions, please let us know! We don’t have any pictures of Luteru’s wife, Susiana’s mother, Siasaga Naea. We know she must be in a lot of photos that American missionaries took, back in the day. Also, if anyone knows of any corrections or additions to this blog, please comment!
We only know of three photos of Luteru. This first one is from the Church College of Hawaii’s Yearbook in the 1950s. The second one is at a wedding in 1958, with 4 of his children--Opapo, Pago, Susiana, and Panesi, and the next picture must have been taken in Hawaii. He is holding a traditional Samoan fan. The last picture is of his grave which his great-granddaughter tends to weekly, in Laie, HI.