So  … maybe I am relatively new around the aina, and maybe there are certain others who are always trying to take more than their share and don’t appreciate the true value of things. What else is new?  This beautiful island in the middle of the Pacific is a true Paradise that can be protected and preserved by those who do appreciate it and who join together with the intention to keep it inviolate. The Superferry shutdown is just the latest example of how good people can come together to produce a good result for everyone. So, you wanna grumble about the dark side  … or let the better angels of our nature create a brighter tomorrow for Maui?

Namaste,
Haole Anna, Paia

		HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY Moe`uhane: Dream				HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY “The smoke seen in the dream now rises.”
		Maui TV News				Maui Calendar

U.S. LABOR DAY - PLANTATION ERA ENDS ON MAUI - September 3, 1953: Homes in what is now called “Dream City,” in Kahului, are being built and sold for $8,000. They often include indoor plumbing, three bedrooms and a small lot, usually one-quarter acre.

This type of home is being sold in 2007 for $550,000 and up.  Such homes were a dream come true for low-wage Plantation workers, most of whom had never owned their own places. They had previously lived in “camps” provided by their employer,  sugar mill owner  Alexander & Baldwin Corporation (A&B). Following World War II and unionization of Plantation workers seeking higher wages, A&B entered the land development and real estate business, forming a new subsidiary, the Kahului Development Co. A&B closed the camps, paid the sugar workers higher wages, then sold them homes in Dream City, the first subdivision on Maui. Owning most of the property on Maui, the company has become more involved in real estate development over the past six decades.  Today, the Kahului Development Co. is known as A&B Properties, Inc.

Businesses owned by Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.

• East Maui Irrigation Co., Ltd.  (owns irrigation ditches built in the 1870s )
• Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (sugar growing division)
• Matson Navigation Co., Inc. (shipping company)
• A & B Properties, Inc. (real estate and development company)
• Maui Brand Sugars (gourmet sugar brand)
• Kauai Coffee Company, Inc. (coffee brand and plantation)
• Kauai Commercial Company, Inc. (freight trucking)

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