Waipahu Grad Remembers The Old Days At 62-year Reunion

Waipahu High School’s Class of 1951 had a good turnout when classmates met for a 62-year reunion lunch Oct. 12 at Makino Chaya at Westridge Shopping Center in Aiea. Photo by Ben Robles.

Below is a portion of the poem composed and read by Elaine Funakoshi to her classmates at their Oct. 12 Waipahu Class of 1951 reunion.

DEM WERE DA DAYS

Children of the depression we were Parents who came to the tiny island With dreams of returning home one day

But ’twas not to be
Instead of making money, they made babies

Babes without shoes we were
Living thru blackouts, gas masks, sirens and crowded movie theaters We made our own games by sticking cans on our feet, rifles w/rubber tire strips, catching medakas/crayfish Being chased by the lunas out of the canefields

Of course, there was the “make” horse,
Manners/Waipahu Beach outings, looking for blue diamonds and crabs, and scavenger hunts
No one swam, we didn’t know how
But it was fun catching waves
How cum we girls all wore blouses over our swim suits?
On weekends, there was Ewa gym and bon dances
After school, the boys hit the reservoirs

Waipahu kids all walked to school
The Kunia kids came over on open trailers
Pearl City joined us in our freshman year
Waianae, Aiea, Ewa joined us in our sophomore year

… Hanaoka Store, Kawano Store,
Plantation Store,
The guriguri man or the puff rice man who came to the door
Or even the Shiraishi ice blocks delivered for our ice boxes
The smell of clothes being boiled and scrubbing of clothes on wash board

Ahh, the black snow that fell from the sky

Kaname Saito’s bus rides to the games

As we sang “USED suckers every day.”

DEM WERE THE DAYS.

We had da best football team in the West

And the best CLASS OF 51. Make, die, dead, the BEST.