Menlo Park’s Little House Senior Center hosted its annual luau for local senior citizens at Nealon Park on Wednesday evening. The event, run by Peninsula Volunteers Inc. (PVI), boasted delicious traditional Hawaiian food and drinks, along with hula dancers who made the event memorable for the elderly attendees.
To kick off the celebration, volunteers welcomed guests with faux leis and special “luau”-style drinks, like mai tais and piña coladas. Tables surrounding the outdoor area quickly filled as PVI volunteers greeted guests.
The event was fully sold out. For many attendees, it offered a uniting solution to isolation. “A lot of seniors find themselves cut off. Families have moved away. When you retire, your friend groups start to disperse as you get older. People move away, people pass away, and we increasingly find people alone. The luau and the celebrations are just fun opportunities to get together,” PVI CEO Peter Noles said.
The afternoon featured traditional island cuisine and entertainment for all. “We have a whole pig that is traditionally cooked by professionals who know how to do that, brought here as part of the menu,” M-A alum and PVI volunteer Laurie Croft said. During the event, Hawaiian dancers from the Keolalaulani Hālau ‘Olapa Ō Laka Dance Studio in Hillsdale also performed hula ‘auna, incorporating special props into each dance. One dance included puʻili, or bamboo rhythm sticks, while another incorporated niu, or coconuts, adding to the authenticity and vibrance of the dances.
The performance captivated the audience, with about 12 dancers moving in synchrony. “I just love the way they tell the words with their hands, and [how the dancers] have a way of somehow shaking their hips without using their knees when they do their dances,” Tom Vance, a former Little House volunteer, now attending as a guest, said.
For volunteers like Croft, providing these spaces for community elders holds deep value. “I think the Menlo Park area is very nice to offer this to people who maybe don’t have as many friends around who they can go out to dinner with or enjoy time with, so they can come here and have a little dinner party with their friends,” she said.
Noles also highlighted how these gatherings are important, not just for the local area, but for senior citizens in general. “People ignore seniors, they forget seniors. [Senior care] has the lowest percentage of funding nationally. These are the people that built the community, and a lot of them are forgotten about,” Noles said. “They fought in wars. They built what we’re living in today, and then suddenly, a lot of them, because of one reason or another, find themselves alone. They find themselves hungry. What I’m passionate about is being able to stay in your home as long as possible.”
Overall, the resounding applause and smiling faces suggested that the seniors thoroughly enjoyed the luau. Many expressed gratitude for getting out of their homes and socializing for an evening. “It’s great doing something like this for everybody. It’s very refreshing. [In] today’s bad world with all the bad news, this is wonderful, especially for seniors,” senior citizen Minu said.
