History: Is It Treasure Or Trash In Kailua’s Attics?

It’s not exactly a swap meet, but Kailua Historical Society’s May 17 meeting will tackle the difficult dilemma of what to keep and what to treasure from those boxes of stuff everyone has from days gone by.

Bishop Museum archivist and lifelong collector DeSoto Brown will discuss “Cleaning Out Kailua’s Attic: Trash or Treasure?” at the event, set for 3-4:30 p.m. Sunday at Faith Baptist Church. The program will be on the church’s outdoor lanai where three Kailua families will display certain keepsakes — such as 20 boxes of Hawaii postcards, an old hukilau net, art pieces from the 1950s, and a 14-foot-long table carved from a historic tree.

“Don’t bring things!” cautioned WHS president Paul Brennan, “but be prepared to carry home with you someone else’s ‘trash.’”

Brown and others will share tips on how to recognize documents and objects with common historical value, and how to transfer them to other forms of usefulness. Practical advice for restorations and preservation also will be offered.

Though KHS itself has neither a museum nor funds to store or display Kailua’s history, Brennan noted, “People will see we’re trying to do the responsible thing by our parents.

“There’s a ton of stuff out there, and we simply can’t handle it!”

Brennan also mentioned a diary found by a longtime Kailua family. It was written in letter form over the course of a year, starting on Dec. 7, 1941.

“It’s quite valuable, very dramatic and skillfully written, starting with ‘Today I just saw these planes … ‘ ”

The church is located at 1230 Kailua Road.

For more information, call 262-7316.