Services and Luau for Tiki-Kate 10-9-10

There will be church services for Tiki-Kate aka Katherine Simmons at The Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church on Olive St. Redlands on Saturday, October 9th 2010 at 11am followed by a potluck Luau at Kate's sister's house in Redlands.

Dress code is tropical - hawaiian, tiki clothing, no black. One of the last things I talked to Kate about was her starting to plan this party, she was very excited to be planning a Luau. She really wanted people to have a good time with friends, food, and drinks.

Potluck!
Bring some food and or drink to share, Kate's sister Susan will provide some ice chests, and a little bit of food, but Kate was really excited about having a potluck. There’s some great cooks among her friends, and I know she’d love for them to bring stuff to share.

Please RSVP in this thread!

Kate's sister Susan would like to know how many people to expect. If you’d like to chime in with what you can bring, even better! If you can’t cook, water, sodas, rum, or other beverages would be great.

I will be unable to attend as I will be out of town at a wedding, but I hope everyone can pitch in and have a great party for Kate. If anyone wants to take spam musubi and needs a recipe/directions, let me know!

Wow, thank you Mieko for posting this. I can't believe that Kate planned this herself. What a strong woman. We have a wedding in the Bay Area to attend on Sunday but are seeing if we can make it down on Saturday for this. We'd like to pay our respects and honor Kate's memory. Unfortunately, since we are 400 miles away with a bit of a tight schedule, we will have to let you know if we can make it. Thank you again.

I did not know Kate but knew of her from her wonderful and informative postings on TC. Cannot attend but think this is a wonderful way to celebrate her very full tiki life. Thank you for giving us all an opportunity to say good bye in the very way she wanted.

Laura

Thanks for the info Mieko.

Susan, My wife and I will be there...I'm bringing 3 trays of Panipopo (1 shown below). It's a Samoan treat; fresh rolls made with coconut milk, and bathed in a sweet coconut cream that you pour over top to serve. yummy! :)

Bartender(s): please pm me with a few things that I might be able to pick up on your list for you.

See you all on Saturday.

Rick

Thanks Mieko,
I will be there.

Naomi and Sven will be at both events.

makedamug and tron tiki (Holden and Mike of Tiki Farm) will be in attendance.

Manuel and I will be attending both the services and luau.

Rick and I will be there.

Squid and I will be there as well. I'll be bartending at the Luau and depending on the number of guests, may need a little help. Not sweating it though. Look forward to sharing memories of Kate this coming Saturday with all of you.

Thanks lisa for the note. Yes I'll be there. Tim if nyou need anythng, help? let me know.

Mrs. Fury & I will be there. I will mix up a batch of "Drifter's Reef".

I'll be at The Luau, I'll bring some sodas!!

Marie and I will definitely be there.
I'm still not OK talking or writing about this subject and am choked up just responding to this,
but to gather with everyone and celebrate Kate's life in a positive way will be an extremely good thing.

i will be attending the luau will bring rum and????

So sad I won't be able to make this. My thoughts will be with everyone.

Scott and I will be attending. I am making Neptune Salad (a pasta salad with tuna served cold)

See y'all there.

Jen

I'll be at the memorial services, sadly I don't think I'll be to attend the Luau.

I'm so sad I can't go tomorrow but my thoughts will be with you guys.

I'm grilling some pork loin right now and will bring "Painkiller Sundaes"

Mmm, pork loin.

Head Shrinker & I and are bringing hoisin BBQ tri-tip and a tub of potato salad.

http://www.greyhoundog.org

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2010-10-08 20:09 ]

Have a Heck of a Luau for TIKI KATE for the Boo's please!!

I gotta work. ( new tiki bar no ho)

I'll be there.

I will be there.

the sactown crawlers just let my house. i talked with a few about my friendship with kate and how much i miss her. r.i.p. sistah.

Gorgeous PNG Urn carved by SQUID at the request of Kate.

Closer view.

Sven shares a toast with Sabu who mixed drinks for us all.

There was alot of love in the air.
Bongofury barbacks for Sabu while buddies Trott and Boris wait patiently for one of Sabu's delicious drinks.

Humuhumu and Ookoo Lady (in the hat) sharing memories of Kate.
(Sorry Humu, GROG take unflattering photo of pretty lady--hard to do, but GROG manage it)

Skinny Dog(on the left in the hats), Humu baking in the sun, and Marie who we are happy to see becoming more and more mobile as she recovers from the terrible crash she was involved in.

Dave Cohen aka SQUID. (Sorry Dave, it hard NOT to take unflattering photo of SQUID) :)

L to R: Holden, Sven, Naomi, Trott, Amy, and Babalu

A little slice of Americana. This remind GROG of Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving illustration.

GROG miss Tiki-Kate

[ Edited by: grog 2010-10-11 09:32 ]

The service was very nice. The songleader(?) set everyone at ease, I think she realized some of us had not been in a chuch for quite some time. Kate's sister Susan spoke elequently on how Kate's childhood love for Disneyland evolved into love of Disney's Tikiroom and then into love for all things Tiki. How happy Kate was to have found so many like-minded people on Tiki Central, many of whom became dear friends. The priest even commented on how nice and brightly dressed the audience was but he looked a little nervous about having Kate's Papua New Guinea idol urn in the church (I heard rumor that he hit it with an extra spash of Holy Water) Are anyone else's legs sore? That's the most standing and sitting I've done in a long time :)

Kate's Farewell Luau was very well attended with lots of good food and plenty of "Tiki Royalty". It felt a little strange drinking up Kate's rum, but she doesn't need it anymore - she's drinking nothing but the Special Premium Private Reserve good stuff now.

Grog,

Thanks for sharing those photos. Looks like it was a wonderful farewell for Tiki Kate as she would have wanted.

DC

MadDogMike, that was a perfect summary. And Grog, great photos.

Squid and Babalu...I have absolutely nothing but awe for you! Kate's urn is nothing less than perfect. Seriously, I am speechless!

Jen

We were so immensely disappointed to we weren't able to be there to honor her, but she was in our mind and thoughts all day. A beautiful send off for a beautiful person - in spirit and soul.

Thank you for sharing in pictures and story.

damn, i started crying the second i saw the urn. thanks for posting the pics, grog.

I am sorry that I was not able to attend the services,and the Luau.
I had to work yesterday.
:(

thanks for the Pics and Review.
R.I.P. Kate.

On 2010-10-10 09:41, Skinny Dog wrote:

Squid and Babalu...I have absolutely nothing but awe for you! Kate's urn is nothing less than perfect. Seriously, I am speechless!

Jen

Thank you Jen, but...Kate's urn was made 'entirely' by Squid. The only thing I did, was to have the honor of helping him to dry, and fire this absolutely extraordinary work of art.

Squids, I have to say buddy, that is one of the most powerful pieces you have ever done for sure! You are the man! I hope better pictures of it get posted. Kate is somewhere right now with a smile on her face from ear to ear.

Master Squid -

Oh, Coconut Boy...another Mai Tai please! Thanks Tim for the best drink I've ever had.

Jen & Scott (The Skinny Dog Crew)

The Buzz Master & Ms. Zaya

Mr. Mad Dog Mike

Boris the man!

The man who put the Farm into Tiki - Holden

The boss - Sven (great to finally meet you in person Sven)

That Trader Tom guy :)

Eric the Red

Red's kids

Tobunga & Manuel

Group shot

Sven and Tom

My lovely wife Amy

Ookoo and Rick

Squid & Ron

Sorry guys, that's all the pictures I took.

Kate, I love ya sis...we had a great time!

Really nice job you guys!

I don't think I ever fully grasped the concept of bittersweet until Kate asked me to make "a cute tiki urn" for her.

Kathy's family will be forever blessed for having known and loved her.

Shields to protect you and an ancestor figure to guide you on your new journey. Love you Kate.

Squid, that is a most extraordinary work of art. Dang !

Sorry I missed this yesterday.

Rest in Peace Kate.

Dave, that truly is the best piece you've ever done. Gorgeous. Kate would be very proud.

Nice photos, Babs. Thanks for sharing.

[ Edited by: GROG 2010-10-11 01:52 ]

Sounds like a wonderful ceremony and such a really beautiful urn in honor of Kate. Thanks for posting pictures.

Grog & Babalu- Thanks for the great pictures and captions.
Thanks to everyone else for their sentiments on the service. Wish we could've been there.

Dave- My friend, wow no surprise- I got so choked up looking at the images of that completely amazing urn.
It is beyond any words that I can express right now, other than to say I'll bet Kate is absolutely loving this.

Love to her family and to all who were involved in the services. Rest in peace, Kate.
-Andy

The Sacramento Crawl held a silent moment at VampiressRN's home in honor of Kate and the others we have lost. Even the Martini Kings stopped their beautiful music for her.

After a moment Vamps mom who is 80+ years old blurted out, "Can we laugh now?" We all did and I hope Kate was too.

Lots of love for her friends and family, Wendy

a truly sublime piece of art. thanks dave.

On 2010-10-11 00:40, squid wrote:
I don't think I ever fully grasped the concept of bittersweet until Kate asked me to make "a cute tiki urn" for her.

Kathy's family will be forever blessed for having known and loved her.

Shields to protect you and an ancestor figure to guide you on your new journey. Love you Kate.

That must have truly been a labor of love for you. Excellent work.

Dave, that may be the most amazing work of art I've ever seen on TC. What a wonderful tribute to one of our most vibrant & enthusiastic members. Kate is surely smiling.
Mahalo,
Rick

Shields to protect you and an ancestor figure to guide you on your new journey. Love you Kate.

Dave,you created something truly special for a truly special gal...

enormous...

On 2010-10-11 23:48, little lost tiki wrote:

Dave,you created something truly special for a truly special gal...

enormous...

give of yourself. it's the most precious of all gifts.

[ Edited by: pdrake 2010-10-12 16:25 ]

Hiya folks, how about employing some editing skills after hitting the "quote" button? As wonderful as Dave's work is, I am sure even he feels that it is a little redundant to have it plastered four times on one page.

Thank You, that's better :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-10-12 18:02 ]

GROG second that!

Warning, the following post will have TWO more photos of Kate's urn in it (which, by the way Dave, I believe will be the beginning of a trend in Tiki Ohana burial customs!)

This was a wonderful event that Kate would have loved, no, DID love, because there was such a strong showing of TCers.
First off Redlands, where Kate grew up and lived nearby, is a marvelous little time warp. Blocks and blocks of old houses, I tried to take a characteristic photo:

Yet the neighborhood church was a little mid-century gem:

with mosaic tile work...

...even an ORANGE mosaic tile bible!:

At the service, all the girls bawled their eyes out. I respectfully refrained from taking pictures of such displays of emotionality.
I liked the piano player:

...and the above mentioned pagan idol on a Christian altar:

We all missed to snap that Kodak moment when the priest blessed it with holy water.
When we got to Kate's sister's house, after the service, there it was, on the mantle piece:

Hiya Kate! :)

One of the things I really appreciated was that her sister had set up Kate's carvings all over the house and backyard.
There also were things like this Kate quilt:

...many photos of Kate...

...and memorabilia like this sign:

...and this great mask, which I recognized as having been inspired by one at the TIKI Apts in Redondo Beach:

The most moving piece was this unfinished carving, I assume Kate's last project:

It rang a bell in my Tiki memory, and so I proudly proclaimed to know its ancestor....but my foggy brain could not pin it down:
Was it the Witco Tiki planter?:

Not. Someone suggested the Enchanted Tiki Room, and I cried YESSS!: It's Ngendi, the Earth Balancer:

But foiled by my intoxicated state, I was wrong again. Only much later did I realize that it was based on MAUI's assistant, the little guy that gets the japanese bamboo stick on his head -Tok-Tok-Tok!:

Aaaah, now I seee!:

Anyway: The moving aspect of this find was that Kate's sister had spoken about her life at the church service, lauding her dedication to Tiki, and how for Kate it had all had started at Disneyland -- and there, at the Enchanted Tiki Room. So to find that her last piece was an hommage to that place...

And here is the source of my aforementioned foggy state of mind:

In the foreground, Bongofury's Drifter's Reef, and in the middle, Sabu's Mai Tai, made from Kate's remaining rum stash - both were exquisite! And they kept on coming. I was overjoyed to see Marie King ....serving a cocktail again! :wink: :

And Babalu, with his excellent creation in action:

The fine booze certainly helped to make this a rather joyous gathering, like Kate had wanted it to be...

...for friends near and far!

Though I cannot fully agree with Grog's comparison made earlier on this thread:

On 2010-10-10 02:22, GROG wrote:
A little slice of Americana. This remind GROG of Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving illustration.

What rather comes to mind is this well known tableau:

:D Well, close...
I decided to continue to sacrifice brain cells in honor of Kate that day, and went straight to the Tonga Hut, to sample several of HipHipHula's (who had been to the service) yummy creations, and from there on to La Descarga, enjoying sipping 30 Year old El Dorado, and showing the place to Humu and Trott. It was good day, thank you Kate!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-10-12 18:03 ]