During community-inspired, County of Maui-supported tours called Remembrance Rides, nearly 600 Lahaina residents last weekend revisited their beloved Lahaina town for the first time since the devastating wildfires.

The Remembrance Rides signaled the start of Kuhinia Maui, County-supported gatherings for residents that mark one year after the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires. Kuhinia Maui continues with nine community gatherings from Aug. 8 through 11, 2024, in West Maui, Upcountry and Central Maui locations for residents to come together in support of one another.

Lahaina resident Trixy Nuesca-Ganer, who lost her uncle and all her belongings in the August 2023 Lahaina wildfire, said she almost didn’t attend the County’s resident-only drives to Lahaina town over the weekend.

“I never like admit to myself that my town was gone,” she said. “You can see the videos, you can see people’s pictures, but it doesn’t really put a nail in the coffin until you see it yourself. If I went, I have to really admit that everything I know is gone.”

Now, days after she decided to participate in the Remembrance Rides, Nuesca-Ganer said it was a key part to her healing – and a chance to move forward.

“I cannot speak for anyone else but myself and my daughter,” she said. “We haven’t been through the town since last year. It was overwhelming but it was good. It was very tastefully done, and I would tell you if I thought it wasn’t. Very respectful from beginning to end. For me, it starts my healing -- especially coming up to August 8th.”

“It was time to let go,” Nuesca-Ganer added. “It is time to let go. And rebuild to what it can be.”

The County’s Remembrance Rides included 15 bus trips for 590 Lahaina residents from Lahaina Civic Center through Lahaina town and back Friday, July 26, through Sunday, July 28. Each 50-passenger bus trip included a grief counselor on board and began with pule from a West Maui faith organization.

Kuhinia Maui organizers set up a rest area at Lahaina Civic Center called “The Garden,” a place of respite for participants that offered refreshments, grief counseling, hands-on activities and other resources.

Both members of Mayor Richard Bissen’s Lahaina Advisory team, Laurie DeGama, Lahaina community organizer, and Nestor Ugale, who has generational ties to Lahaina, created the concept behind the Remembrance Rides as a way to provide meaningful closure for residents who have not yet seen their town. County emergency proclamation rules have restricted access to the impact zone due to health and safety hazards. Residents since September have been given limited re-entry to their specific properties.

More than 40 volunteers, along with donations from local businesses and support from bus operator Polynesian Adventure Tours, made the Remembrance Rides possible.

The Remembrance Rides mark the start of Kuhinia Maui, which includes the following schedule:

• “Paddle Out,” 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Aug. 8, waters off Hanaka‘o‘o Beach Park across from the Lahaina Civic Center.

• “Upcountry Aloha Luncheon,” 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 8, Hannibal Tavares Community Center in Pukalani.

• “One-Year Tribute and Remembrance,” a Lahaina memorial marking one year since the wildfires, 5 to 9 p.m. Aug. 8, Lahaina Civic Center Gymnasium.

• “Aloha for Kūpuna of Lahaina” kūpuna gathering, 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 9, Lahaina Civic Center Gymnasium.

• Puana Aloha no Lahaina “Concert for Lahaina,” 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 9, Lahaina Civic Center Gymnasium.

• “Ka Malu ‘Ulu o Lele,” performance on the history of Lahaina by Kamehameha Schools Kapalama fifth graders, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Aug. 10, H.P. Baldwin High School Auditorium.

• Lahaina Obon Festival, 5 to 9 p.m. Aug. 10, Lahaina Cannery Mall.

• “Day of Hope & Prayer,” 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Aug. 11, Lahaina Civic Center Gymnasium

• “Upcountry Aloha” music and food event, 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 11, Oskie Rice Arena.

For information, visit www.kuhiniamaui.org.

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