Laie continues to celebrate its sesquicentennial: In our July e-Newsletter, we mentioned that Laie is celebrating its Latter-day Saint sesquicentennial this year (1865-2015):

It’s been 150 years since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased Laie Plantation, which is now home of the Laie Hawaii Temple (1919), Brigham Young University Hawaii (started as Church College of Hawaii in 1955, and renamed BYUH in 1974), and the Polynesian Cultural Center (1963).

The celebration kicks into high gear as we approach October and November, with the following events scheduled for those of you who are or might be in the area:

Please visit laie150.org for the full calendar of activities, a timeline history of Laie and great pictures.

Saturday, October 24, 9 a.m. in the BYUH Heber J. Grant Building (there are fees involved). The agenda includes presentations in morning and afternoon sessions, and the unveiling at 11:30 a.m. near the east end of the student multi-stake center of a historical marker commemorating the 1955 CCH groundbreaking. For more information, contact Prof. Mark James or download the registration form here. 

Laie McDonald’s is now open: The new Mickey-D’s in Laie opened a little more than a week ago, and you would have thought it was like people in the desert discovering a gushing new oasis, by the long lines at the counter and drive-thru of mostly Laie and Koolauloa people needing to get their Big Mac fixes.

It’s still the same menu you can find practically anywhere in the world, but local people in particular have been missing the convenience of having a McDonald’s in Laie; and nearby food competitors definitely noticed a drop in business as we got reacquainted with Ronald McD. But no worries, we’re most likely experiencing the novelty effect: Because otherwise, it’s hard to underestimate the appetite for fast and near-fast food around here . . . or the range of selection that’s available, including at all the great choices at the PCC.

Meanwhile, contractors are pushing to complete the new Foodland & Aloha Gas Station at the Laie Shopping Center. Maybe another month.

Story by Mike Foley

Mike Foley, who has worked off-and-on

at the Polynesian Cultural Center since

1968,  has been a full-time freelance

writer and digital media specialist since

2002, and had a long career in marketing

communications and PR before that. He

learned to speak fluent Samoan as a

Mormon missionary before moving to Laie

in 1967 — still does, and he has traveled

extensively over the years throughout

Polynesia and other Pacific islands. Foley

is mostly retired now, but continues to

contribute to various PCC and other media.