I apologize if this sounds a little familiar but I had to do it...
This event is timed to honour this year's King Kamehameha Day as well as pay homage to Geocaching's Deuces Wild theme from earlier this year. It's like two themes for the price of one (again)! We just might be a little late for the latter. :-/
For those of you that aren't aware, King Kamehameha Day this year is on June 11th, 2022 or written numerically, that's 22/06/11 which (work with me now...) could be converted mathematically to 22/2+2+2/(22/2). That may have been a bit of a strrrrrretch but hopefully you can see a pattern there.
Let's talk about King Kamehameha, the main reason for this event.
This statue of King Kamehameha I is located in Honolulu in front of the Aliiolani Hale building where the Hawaii State Supreme Court resides. You may recognize it from the opening of the Hawaii 5-0 TV show reboot. And it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that there is also a cache there - GC7B68E.
June 11th is a public holiday in Hawaii that honours King Kamehameha I aka Kamehameha the Great. It's claimed that he was born while Haley's Comet passed overhead in 1758, leading to a prophecy for his future greatness. At the age of 14, he was able to overturn the 2.5 ton Naha Stone in Hilo by himself, again foretelling his future destiny. In 1810 he fulfilled that destiny by becoming the first person to unite and rule all the Hawaiian islands. He passed away in 1819. In 1871 his great grandson designated June 11th to be recognized as King Kamehameha I Day in Hawaii and it has been celebrated ever since.
Why are we having a King Kamehameha event here in Calgary then? I think the better question is Why not? For starters, who doesn't like just saying King Kamehameha? (That's kuh-may-huh-may-uh by the way. There may be a test later. ;-) ) I'm a big fan of Hawaii and I've discovered other cachers are as well so I thought this would be the perfect excuse for all of us to get together. Plus it gives everyone the chance to wear show off their favourite Hawaiian attire. The louder brighter bolder, the better as far as I'm concerned. That being said, Hawaiian shirts are not mandatory for attendance to this event, but definitely encouraged.
And just in case you are wondering, coconut bras and grass skirts are also optional. (Hula dancing is encouraged though.) Everyone is welcome in whatever attire they choose but yes, Dave, you DEFINITELY must wear clothes. I would like to get a group picture of everyone in all their Hawaiian "camouflage" near the end of the event.
Come one, come all. Mahalo. Aloha. Cue the music now.
