A Brief History of Laie

1st Century A.D.
Earliest carbon-dated recording of civilization in Hawai'i.

500-750
Polynesian migrations by sailing canoes from the Marquesas.

1000-1150
Polynesian migrations by sailing canoes from Tahiti.

1513
Balboa "discovers" the Pacific Ocean. Seven years later Magellan sails around Cape Horn (South America).

1695
Mendaña, a Spaniard, is usually credited as the first European to "discover" Polynesian islands when he was sailing from Santiago, Chile, to The Philippines. He names them the Marquesas after his royal patron.

Hawaiians make offerings to Capt. Cook

January 18, 1778
Capt. James Cook "discovers" Hawai'i. (There are some historical indications that Spaniards might have come much earlier.) At first Hawaiians believed Captain Cook was their god, Lono, who many centuries earlier had promised to return. The La'ie Hawai'i LDS Temple Visitors Center explains this tradition as an example of Christ visiting his "other sheep" as is recorded in John 10:16.

1795
Kamehameha completes the conquest of O'ahu at the Battle of Nu'uanu and establishes the first centralized government in the islands.

1797
The London Missionary Society calls the first Christian missionaries to the Pacific Islands.

October 23, 1819
The first Christian missionaries to the Sandwich Islands sail from Boston.

1819
Kamehameha I dies; his successor Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and his favorite wife, Ka'ahumanu, soon abolish the kapu system.

March 30, 1820
The first Christian missionaries make landfall in Hawai'i at Kailua-Kona.

1830
Joseph Smith Jr. and five others form The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York.

Honolulu in the early 1800s

1835
First sugar plantation in Hawaii established at Köloa, Kaua'i

May 11, 1843
Joseph Smith calls President Noah Rogers, Addison Pratt, Benjamin F. Grouard, and Knowlton F. Hanks as the first LDS missionaries to travel from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Sandwich Islands.

October 9, 1843
The Sandwich Islands-bound missionaries sail from Boston for Cape Horn and the Pacific ocean.

April 30, 1844
After nine months en route, and Elder Hanks' death at sea, the surviving missionaries arrive in Tubua'i, French Polynesia, and decide to remain in that area. They start the Church's first foreign-language mission in what is now generally called Tahiti.

June 16, 1844
Elder Pratt baptizes the first member on Tubua'i. On July 22, 1844, he baptizes the first Tahitian members.

June 1846
Sam Brannan, leader of the LDS pioneers on the ship Brooklyn, preaches the first LDS sermon in Hawai'i during a stopover en route to California.

January 27-March 7, 1848
The Mahele, or division of land, begins the process of private land ownership among the royalty and lesser ali'i or chiefs.

December 12, 1849
The Privy Council of the Kingdom of Hawai'i approves the ownership of kuleana or family property lots.

July 10, 1850
The Kingdom gives alien residents the right to buy and sell private property.

With the discovery of gold in California, travel between the U.S. and the Sandwich Islands becomes easier and more frequent.

September 25, 1850
Elder Charles C. Rich calls LDS missionaries from the California gold fields to go to the Sandwich Islands.

December 12, 1850
LDS missionaries arrive in Honolulu.

December 13, 1850
The LDS missionaries dedicate Hawaii for preaching the Restored Gospel and begin proselyting.

February 10, 1851
President Hiram Clark baptizes the first Hawaiian member of the Church.

July 26, 1854
LDS Mission leaders decide to "gather" to the Palawai area of Lana'i.

August 30, 1854
Mission leaders dedicate Palawai as a gathering place for the saints in Hawai'i.

September 27, 1854
15-year-old Joseph F. Smith begins to serve his first mission in The Sandwich Islands.

1857
The Church recalls its missionaries to Utah during the "Utah War". Walter Murray Gibson takes over the local leadership.

Jan. 24, 1863
Two Hawaiian Elders — Kimo Pelio and Samuela Manoa, unofficially called as missionaries by Walter Murray Gibson — open an LDS mission in Samoa. Twenty-five years later Manoa's persistence leads to the establishment of an official Church mission there.

April 8, 1864
The Lana'i gathering period officially ends with Gibson's excommunication for unauthorized practices, and his refusal to return the Palawai property to the Church. Joseph F. Smith recommends to Brigham Young that La'ie be established as the new gathering place for Hawaiian Saints.

October 1864
President Brigham Young directs the co-president of the Sandwich Islands Mission — Francis A. Hammond and George Nebeker — to find a suitable, new gathering place for the Church.

January 26, 1865
President Hammond purchases the 'ahupua'a of La'iewai and La'iemalo'o — with over 6,000 acres, several structures and some livestock — from Thomas T. Dougherty for $14,000 [an 'ahupua'a is a ancient Hawaiian land division usually extending from the ocean to the mountains, and giving people access to all the resources therein]. In ancient Hawaiian times, La'ie — which is in the middle of the traditional district of Ko'olauloa — served as a pu'uhonua or place of refuge where those who broke the kapu laws could come for sanctuary and absolution.

King Kamehameha V

March 1865
Brigham Young, in a letter to King Kamehameha V, requests permission to locate an agricultural colony in La'ie. The king grants his request.

July 7, 1865
Under the direction of President Nebeker, 38 founding members of the new colony arrive in La'ie and join existing families in the area. Ionatana Napela organized the men into teams to raise sugar cane and construct a mill.

October 1865
Missionaries start two LDS schools in La'ie.

April 1866
Construction begins on the first chapel in La'ie, which has a population of approximately 200 — mostly Hawaiian.

The sugar mill in La'ie, about 1880

1868
LDS Mission leaders establish a mule-driven sugar mill in La'ie. The first crop succeeds, largely due to sufficient rainfall; but subsequent crops suffer because of the uncertainty of adequate water supply.

December 31, 1871
Church leaders organize the first Sunday School in La'ie.

January 1, 1874
LDS Mission President Frederick A. Mitchell bans the drinking of 'awa (kava), saying it is against the Word of Wisdom and orders the commercial 'awa crops to be uprooted and destroyed. This leads a group of about 150 Saints to purchase the 5,000-acre 'ahupua'a in Kahana for $6,000 — making Kahana the second-largest LDS congregation in the kingdom. President Mitchell is released later this year and the ban is dropped. Some of the people move back to La'ie while the rest remain in Kahana which becomes an important Church site. This entire incident is sometimes called the "awa rebellion". Spurrier's history notes that in ensuing years personal consumption of 'awa was insignificant, but it remained a good cash crop. Many Kahana Saints later move to Iosepa colony in Skull Valley, Utah.

King Kalakaua	Queen Kapi'olani

April 20, 1874
King Kalakaua and Queen Kapi'olani pay their first royal visit to Laie (and return many times in the ensuing years). An LDS missionary wrote in his journal that the king said: Our great conqueror, Kamehameha, left the inheritance of a kingdom united. Kamehameha II threw off the old kapu. Kamehameha III left us a constitution and laws. Other ali'i have left us other bequests. What I would like to be remembered for would be the survival of our dying race. You, my subjects here at Laie, live so you can raise your children and re-people the land. Children, I see you here, more than I see in any other place in the realm. Obey your parents. I hear your singing. How pleasant. Sing in the hearts of your parents and your king.

July 6, 1875
Church leaders organize the first LDS Relief Society in La'ie. Some sources, however, indicate this event occurred in 1873.

I Hemolele chapel

1881
Construction starts on the first substantial chapel, I Hemolele. King Kalakaua participated in laying the cornerstones on April 6, 1882 and also attended the dedication on Oct. 6, 1882. This is the largest structure in Windward O'ahu at the time.

August 19, 1883
Church leaders organize the first Primary in La'ie.

La'ie in the 1880s

About 1886
President Joseph F. Smith locates the Spaulding manuscript in Honolulu while serving his third mission in the islands. This same year, President Smith counsels the Saints — some of whom were discouraged because of the shortage of water in La'ie — never to leave "this land," that it will eventually become a delightful place.

1887
La'ie sugar mill workers constructs a pier at nearby Pounders Beach to load sugar and molasses on steamers and schooners. The pilings can still be seen.

Iosepa cemetery, 1987

June 21, 1889
The First Presidency approves purchasing property in Skull Valley, Utah, for Iosepa Colony of Hawaiians and some other Polynesians.

August 28, 1889
Pioneer Day in Iosepa: The first colonists arrive.

1890s
La'ie Plantation installs water pumps.

April 9, 1891
Queen Lili'uokalani pays her first official visit to Laie, accompanied by a large party including the Royal Hawaiian Band. The party remains overnight and attends Church services the next day.

1892
The newly formed Kahuku Plantation Co. enters an agreement to cut, haul and process La'ie's sugar cane.

1893
The Hawaiian monarchy is overthrown, and the Hawaii Republic established.

Lanihuli in the 1950s

October 6, 1894
Lanihuli House (the mission home) is dedicated. (It was razed in 1960.)

1895
La'ie is valued at $116,220.

1898
La'ie plantation installs the first steam-powered water pump, drawing about 3.5 mgd (by 1930 there were five major wells with about 8-mgd capacity).

1899
O'ahu Railroad completes laying track from Pearl Harbor around Ka'ena Point to Kahuku.

June 14,1900
The U.S. Congress annexes the Territory of Hawai'i.

1902
O'ahu Railroad builds a narrow-gauge spur from Kahuku to Kahana to transport sugar cane and passengers. The line, which runs in front of the still-future temple site, operates until 1946, at which time trucks take over cane hauling.

1900-1910
The roads in La'ie are first paved.

Queen Lili'uokalani

July 7, 1906
Former Queen Lili'uokalani is baptized a member of the LDS Church, although she never openly attends LDS services. Her Hawaiian Book of Mormon is on display at her former residence in Honolulu, which is now the Governor's mansion.

1913
The Hawaiian population of the entire Territory is estimated at 22% LDS.

Joseph F. Smith returns to Hawaii and dedicates the Temple site.

June 1, 1915
President Joseph F. Smith dedicates the Hawai'i Temple site. Also this year La'ie Plantation builds a company store that becomes Goo's Store in the 1950s.

1916
In early February ground is officially broken at the Temple site.

1917
The last group of Hawaiian settlers leaves Iosepa Colony. Some of these Saints return to La'ie and settle along what is now called Iosepa Street. Queen Lili'uokalani dies.

November 27, 1919
President Heber J. Grant dedicates the Hawai'i LDS Temple on Thanksgiving Day (President Joseph F. Smith had passed away of the flu a year earlier).

February 7, 1921
Elder David O. McKay, on an worldwide tour of LDS missions, stops in La'ie and foresees a school of higher learning will be built here as he watches a flag-raising ceremony at the LDS Mission-operated elementary school. A mosaic mural of this same scene hangs above the entrance of the David O. McKay building at BYU-Hawai'i.

1922
The Church forms Zions Securities Corporation to manage all of its non-ecclesiastical real estate, including those in Hawai'i. La'ie Plantation manager Antoine R. Ivins is named "manager in Hawai'i" and is directed to report to Zions.

A Hawaiian family and traditional home in La'ie, 1920s

December 18, 1925
Zions Securities receives a deed for a good portion of the Church's non-ecclesiastical property in Hawai'i.

February 8, 1926
Zions acquires control of the Ko'olau Agriculture Co., Ltd.

February 1927
Zions sells a number of its beach lots for $275,000 to pay off a portion of La'ie plantation's debt.

August 1927
Zions transfers the La'ie Elementary School site to the Territory of Hawai'i free of charge. Also in this year, the company installs a water system in the village.

1928
The Territorial Land Court rules that tenants in La'ie do not have the right to decide how the land is to be used. Also this year, Zions acquires almost all the stock of the Ko'olau Railway which serves the Laie Plantation and others in the area. One of its terminals eventually becomes Goo's Store.

The sugar crop this year, at 7,097 tons, is the largest to date in the history of the plantation. Unfortunately, sugar market price fluctuations result in a substantial loss. On a positive note, the City and County of Honolulu paves the streets in La'ie with crushed stone and asphaltum.

Hawaii LDS Temple, 1928, surrounding by sugar cane on one side, railroad tracks and taro patches in front.

1929
There are 125 Samoans living in La'ie.

July 1931
Zions Securities Corp. leases agricultural land to Kahuku Plantation Company, which is operated by Alexander & Baldwin, until 1953. (The leases are eventually extended to the late 1960s at which time Kahuku mill begins to shut down.)

June 20, 1932
The Zions Securities board decides to lease residential and agricultural lots to residents in order to make La'ie financially self-sustaining.

June 30, 1935
President Heber J. Grant forms the O'ahu Stake — the first in Hawai'i, and the first outside the continental US — with Ralph E. Woolley as president, and Edward L. Clissold and Arthur K. Parker as counselors. One ward covers all of La'ie.

1936
Zions Securities re-purchases a few of the beach lots for less than they were sold in February 1927.

1940
Painters accidentally set I Hemolele chapel on fire, and the historic building is destroyed. In the ensuing years Church members hold their meetings in the Social Hall which was located where Loala Street now is.

President David O. McKay, accompanied by his wife, at the 1941 dedication of the Honolulu Tabernacle

August 6, 1941
Elder David O. McKay dedicates the Honolulu Tabernacle.

April 1, 1946
A tsunami (tidal wave) devastates portions of Hawai'i. Three LDS children in Kahana were killed.

A 1950s Hukilau in La'ie

January 31, 1948
Members of the La'ie Ward start a commercial Hukilau to help raise building funds to replace their chapel which burned down.

1949
Zions Securities rewrites most of the company leases to comply with a new Territorial Government law that provided tax reductions, starting the following year. Also in June of this year an O'ahu Stake committee recommends establishing an LDS academic institution in La'ie.

March 5, 1950
Elder Matthew Cowley dedicates La'ie Ward chapel, erected with funds raised at the hukilau.

Matthew Cowley

1951
Elder Mathew Cowley suggests Maoris coming from New Zealand to La'ie to do temple work should build their traditional houses, sell handicrafts and perform so they could live inexpensively while in Hawai'i. O'ahu Stake President Edward L. Clissold thinks this is also a good idea for other visiting Polynesians. Elder Cowley shares this idea, which eventually becomes the concept for the Polynesian Cultural Center, at O'ahu Stake conference in Honolulu.

April 9, 1951
David O. McKay becomes the ninth president of the Church. A new era for La'ie is about to begin.

Goo's Store, 1950s

June 1951
President McKay sends a delegate to Hawai'i to study the details of setting up the school he envisioned in 1921.

May 1954
LDS Church architect Harold W. Burton submits a La'ie master plan, which the First Presidency subsequently approves.

July 2, 1954
President McKay dictates that The Church College of Hawai'i should be ready to open no later than the following year.

1955
Hui Lau Lima o La'ie (community association) is formed. One of their projects includes selecting names for some of the new streets in La'ie. Original Church College of Hawai'i faculty member Wylie Swapp serves on this committee and recalls that their recommendations were accepted and still basically in place to this day.

February 12, 1955
President McKay, standing in the middle of a former sugarcane field, presides at the groundbreaking for the college and prophesies that La'ie would "...become a missionary factor ... influencing not thousands, not tens of thousands but millions of people who will come seeking to know what this town and its significance are." At the time the total annual visitor count to Hawai'i was approximately 110,000.

September 1, 1955
Under the direction of Wendell B. Mendenhall, the Church begins a labor missionary program in the Pacific Islands. LDS labor missionaries begin work on the permanent campus of The Church College of Hawai'i.

September 26, 1955
Church College of Hawai'i classes begin in war surplus buildings moved to La'ie and the La'ie Chapel with 153 students and 20 faculty/administrators.

July 27, 1956
Five La'ie resident officially incorporate the La'ie Community Association, including Edward L. Clissold, Woodruff J. Deem, Clinton Kanahele, V. Kehau Kawahigashi and George K. Kekauoha.

November 13, 1956
President David O. McKay, standing at the Temple, directs that the view along Hale La'a Boulevard should be open to the ocean

1958
The LDS Church authorizes Zions Securities to proceed with a master plan for La'ie. Also this year, Zions installs lights at La'ie Park with the understanding that community residents would pay the operating costs.

December 17, 1958
President David O. McKay dedicates the first permanent buildings on The Church College of Hawai'i campus.

February 1959
Zions approaches the City and County about taking over La'ie roads, water and sewer systems. It was reported that they were not interested.

August 18, 1959
Hawai'i becomes the 50th state.

October 1959
CCH is accredited as a two-year college. By 1964 it becomes a four-year university. Professor Wylie Swapp starts Polynesian Institute, which performs authentic Polynesian dances at the International Market Place in Waikiki. It is soon renamed Polynesian Panorama.

March 11, 1961
Polynesian Panorama puts on a larger-scale performance at the Kaiser Hawaiian Dome in Waikiki, which draws only a small crowd but garners favorable newspaper reviews and the support of other Hawaiian performers. Also in this year, Zions Securities authorizes more housing lots for La'ie. Edward L. Clissold and Wendell B. Mendenhall approach President David O. McKay with the Polynesian Cultural Center concept, which he approves.

April 1961
Polynesian Panorama begins to perform for sell-out crowds.

Early 1962
Labor missionaries begin construction on the Polynesian Cultural Center.

March 17, 1962
An audience of 3,000 watch Polynesian Panorama's first performance at the Waikiki Shell.

1963
Zions works with the City and County to establish appropriate zoning in La'ie. The company also starts a new residential section of the village for Church College faculty members and others, contracts for the installation of street lights, installs a drainage system and completes some streets, gutters, sewer and water lines.

Dedication ceremony for the Polynesian Cultural Center

October 12, 1963
President Hugh B. Brown dedicates the Polynesian Cultural Center.

October 13, 1963
President Hugh B. Brown dedicates the O'ahu Stake Center in La'ie and the Hawai'i Temple Visitors Center.

About this same time, the Zions Securities board approves leasing sites for a motel, village shopping center, additional playground equipment and lights at La'ie Park, and a building materials quarry.

August 5, 1964
Ground is broken for the Laniloa Lodge (now the Laie Inn). This same year Zions leases 10 acres to Meadow Gold Dairies for development of a piggery and 37 acres to Cackle-Fresh Eggs for an egg farm.

Elvis Presley at PCC

June 1966
Elvis Presley spends one week at the Polynesian Cultural Center filming Paradise Hawaiian Style.

This same year, Zions acquires ownership of La'ie Cemetery.

June 1967
Zions commissions a Honolulu firm to draw up a comprehensive La'ie master plan. They present a preliminary report in December of that year. The City and County, however, takes no action on the plan.

January 17, 1969
First Presidency opens the Asian and Pacific Language Training Mission on CCH campus. (The mission continued until 1975 when all language training was consolidated at Provo.) Also, later this year, La'ie Village Shopping Center opens.

1970
Zions, in cooperation with the Church, installs new lighting on Hale La'a Blvd. to enhance the approach to the Temple.

1972
The Church and Zions expand the sewage treatment facility located behind the Church College technology building.

August 1973
The First Presidency declares in a letter to Church leaders that the original concept concerning gathering has now been fulfilled.

1974
PCC announces a major expansion project calling for relocating the Hawaiian village, and new Marquesan area, dining facilities, entrance, and evening show theater.

January 20, 1974
La'ie Stake succeeds O'ahu Stake

September 1, 1974
CCH officially becomes Brigham Young University-Hawaii Campus.

1975
The Hawai'i State Legislature passes the Lessee's Bill or Rights making it possible for lessees to purchase the fee simple interest in their lots through condemnation proceedings.

July 4, 1976
Elder Howard W. Hunter dedicates the PCC's new major expansion.

January 23, 1977
BYU-Hawaii Stake is formed with Eric B. Shumway as its first president.

1981
Residents in La'ie begin converting their leaseholds to fee simple property ownership.

Early 1980s
The Polynesian Cultural Center and BYU-Hawaii form a relationship with The People's Republic of China.

March 21, 1982
A major flood causes considerable damage in La'ie.

January 16, 1983
La'ie North Stake formed

January 7, 1984
People's Republic of China Premier Zhou Ziyang, as part of his official visit to the United States, tours BYU-Hawaii and PCC.

A month later, McDonald's opens in Laie.

January 1, 1985
Zions Securities divests itself of all real estate holdings and becomes a property management agent for the Church.

1986
Chinese Vice-Premier Li Peng tours PCC.

1987
The Church purchases the La'ie Village Shopping Center and turns its management over to Zions Securities.

1989
Zions assumes management of Laniloa Lodge as of April 1st. Also later this year the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund files suit against the Church entities in La'ie for violation of the Clean Water Act, thus beginning years of legal actions that resulted in the eventual construction of the La'ie Water Reclamation Facility.

1990
The Church sells Kakela Beach Park to the City and County, under threat of condemnation. Also this year, Zions Securities takes over management of the sewage treatment facility.

1991
Zions creates two new subsidiaries to oversee water and sewer operations. Kapaka Farms, a family welfare project, starts on approximately 185 acres of land in Hau'ula. Also this year, LDS Service Missionaries begin to volunteer their professional expertise to the development of various infrastructure projects in La'ie — water treatment, planning, drainage, etc.

1993
The federal court issues a consent decree to resolve the water violations which calls for major improvements to the water treatment facility.

September 1, 1993
Hawai'i Reserves, Inc., succeeds Zions Securities Corp. Also this same year, Foodland Supermarket takes its place in the Laie Shopping Center.

June 26, 1997
La'ie Water Reclamation Facility is dedicated.

October 7-11, 1997
Several thousand LDS Church members from Hawaii and throughout the Pacific gather in La'ie for the Pioneers in the Pacific conference as part of the local celebration of the Church's 1847 Sesquicentennial observances.

February 12, 1998
HRI launches a new taro project in the Po'ohaili section of La'ie where generations of Hawaiians raised their crops over the centuries. Kupuna, community leaders and residents participate in planting the new huli.

Later that year HRI repaves about half of the streets in La'ie.

1998
The City and County of Honolulu participates in repaving about half of the streets in La'ie, marking the City's first significant contributions to the infrastructure of the community in many decades.

December 4, 1998
HRI harvests the first taro from its project started in February; kupuna, community leaders and residents again participate in the activity.

January 15, 1999
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs dedicates a plant nursery in La'ie to propagate endangered indigenous species.

April 16, 1999
La'ie North Stake President S. Wilfred Navalta rededicates the historic La'ie Chapel, originally built with funds raised through the O'ahu Stake hukilau project.

August 6, 1999
BYU-Hawai'i launches the Malama ka 'aina (Care for the Land) portion of its Hawaiian Studies program with an agricultural area near the Nioi Heiau

November 1999
Hawai'i Reserves, Inc. launches the LDS Hawaii Sesquicentennial (1850-2000) web site at www.ldshawaii150.org (this site has since been discontinued; a copy is available in the BYU-Hawaii Archives).

April 1, 2000
The First Presidency calls Donald L. Hallstrom, the Area Authority Seventy for Hawai'i and Vice Chairman of the HRI Board of Directors, to serve as a fulltime member of The First Quorum of the Seventy. Also this month, the City and County extends automated trash pickup to La'ie.

May 20, 2000
The La'ie Community Association schedules a stray chicken round-up, which garners national media attention.

June 1, 2000
Von Orgill succeeds Lester Moore as President of the Polynesian Cultural Center.

August 1, 2000
La'ie master carver Tuione Pulotu launches a 105-foot Tongan double-hulled kalia- style canoe in Nuku'alofa — probably the largest Polynesian canoe created in modern times. Also this month, HRI announces it is close to signing an agreement to co-develop a new sewer system throughout La'ie with the City and County of Honolulu.

November 4 , 2000
The La'ie Emergency Council — comprised of leaders from the LDS institutions and the community — stage a mock "hurricane" drill in the BYU-Hawai'i Cannon Activity Center, with 700 people participating.

November 25 , 2000
Almost 500 La'ie Temple workers and past presidents gather in the BYU-Hawai'i Cannon Activity Center to observe the famous building's 81st birthday, as part of the Sesquicentennial of the LDS Church in Hawai'i (1850-2000).

December 1, 2000
The Kahuku High football team, which consists of many players from La'ie, ends St. Louis High School's 14-year reign as they win the state football championship in Aloha Stadium, 26-20. It was the first time since 1959 — 41 years — that Kahuku defeated the Crusaders, although they came close during the 1999 Prep Bowl championship, 26-25.

December 9, 2000
The Sesquicentennial of the LDS Church in Hawai'i (1850-2000) concludes with Ho'ike 2000, a four-hour presentation of Hawaiian music, dance and art in the BYU-Hawai'i Cannon Activity Center.

January 11 , 2001
BYU-Hawai'i President Eric Shumway launches the Keith and Carol Jenkins Matching Fund as part of the goal to raise $20 million in endowed scholarship funds by the University's golden anniversary in 2005.

January 18 , 2001
Over 1,000 people attend the premier of Haka He Langi Kuo Tau: We Dance in the Ecstasy of Singing, a 70-minute documentary on Tongan dance and culture produced by BYU-Hawai'i, the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Institute for Polynesian Studies (now called the Institute for Pacific Studies).

By August the twin hulls of the traditional Hawaiian sailing canoe have been joined.

February 8 , 2001
With the arrival of seven huge hardwood logs from Fiji, master carvers Tuione Pulotu and Kawika Eskaran begin to shape BYU-Hawaii's 57-foot traditional double-hulled Hawaiian sailing canoe that will eventually be used as a floating classroom in the University's Hawaiian Studies program. Also this month, HRI announces it has completed negotiations with the City and County to co-develop a new $16 million sewer system throughout the community (with residents to pay approximately 7%, and the balance divided between the two principals).

April 5 , 2001
A statewide teacher's strike closes down La'ie Elementary School for approximately three weeks.

May 2001
The Polynesian Cultural Center launches a $2.8 million front entrance renovation project; R. Eric Beaver succeeds Daniel T. Ditto as President & CEO of Hawai'i Reserves, Inc.; and for safety reasons, HRI begins to remove the 70-foot Norfolk pine trees lining Hale La'a Boulevard.

June 14, 2001
Almost 400 seniors form BYU-Hawaii's largest graduating class ever.

October 18, 2001
Approximately 800 people attend an evening open house for BYU-Hawaii's nearly completed Hawaiian sailing canoe, which has been named the Iosepa, partially in honor of LDS Church President Joseph F. Smith, who served several missions in Hawai'i, and also for the Hawaiian Latter-day Saints who migrated to the Iosepa Colony in Skull Valley, Utah, in 1889.

Thousands witness the launch of BYU-Hawaii's traditional Hawaiian sailing canoe, the Iosepa. — Photo By Barry Markowitz

November 3 , 2001
Several thousand people throng Hukilau Beach for the Polynesian ceremonial protocol, blessing and launching of the Iosepa sailing canoe. Elder M. Russell Ballard of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a descendant of Joseph F. Smith, delivered the blessing. All present attend a lu'au after the launch.

November 30, 2001
The state championship Kahuku High football team left no doubt that their Y2000 victory over St. Louis was no fluke, as they defeated the Crusaders again for the 2001 state title, 21-14.

March 25 , 2002
The LDS Honolulu-Hawai'i Mission and the Polynesian Cultural Center make special arrangements to provide free screenings of the Church's large-format movie, The Testaments, in PCC's IMAX™Theater. Also this month, surveyors begin to lay out Phase I (of two phases) of the new La'ie sewer project, which will take several years to complete; and HRI President and CEO R. Eric Beaver succeeds Merlin Waite as President of the La'ie-Hawai'i Stake.

June 23, 2002
With 1,500 people in attendance, Elder Jeffery R. Holland of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicates the new BYU-Hawai'i multi-stake center. Also this month, visible construction work on the new La'ie sewer project starts.

September 25 , 2002
Following a public hearing in Honolulu Hale, the City Council approves Phase II of the new La'ie sewer project (which formally sets the rate at which residents pay their assessment portion of the costs).

March 13, 2003
Hawai'i Reserves, Inc. announces plans for a $5 million-plus project that will turn Hale La'a Boulevard leading from the ocean to the grounds of the La'ie Hawai'i Temple. The plans call for an enclosed meditation garden at the popularly-called "Temple Beach," six-foot "blue rock" walls along the length of the street, a 24-stall parking lot near Temple Beach, a turnout lane for La'ie Elementary School, a bike lane, a new traffic circle on Naniloa Loop in front of the Temple, and extensive new landscaping.

April 25, 2003
The Polynesian Cultural Center, which celebrated its 40th anniversary throughout the year, welcomed its 30-millionth visitor, a woman from California who had previously visited the Center as a teenager two decades earlier.

June 20, 2003
HRI purchases 663 acres of adjoining land in Malaekahana from the Campbell Estate with the hopes of transferring some of the future developments planned for La'ie to the more easily developed site.

October 24, 2003
President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife Marjorie, attend the Polynesian Cultural Center's 40th anniversary celebration and watch over 200 "alumni" perform in the night show.

October 25, 2003
President Hinckley joins HRI President & CEO R. Eric Beaver in breaking ground for the $5 million-plus project that will beautify Hale La'a Boulevard (see March 13, 2003). The project also includes a new front entrance for Brigham Young University-Hawai'i, which was funded by a private donor.

November 25, 2003
HRI announces changes to Phase II of the new La'ie sewer project that mean affected homeowners will not have to pay any assessment or hook-up charges. The sewer collection system will be turned over to the City and County of Honolulu as its completed, but the City has asked HRI to continue billing for the service.

Acknowledgements:
BYU Hawaii Pacific Islands collection; BYU Hawaii Archives; Moramona: The Mormons in Hawaii by R. Lanier Britsch (1989, Institute for Polynesian Studies at BYUH); William Cannon, The Saga of Laie, Hawaii: Its Relationship to Zions Securities Corporation (1999 manuscript); Dr. Marc Shlachter, M.D.; Sandwich Island Saints (1989) by Joseph H. Spurrier; Riley Moffat, Historical Sites Around Laie (1997);