Tiki Gardens Tiki Memorial Update

Here's the latest news (as of 1/7/03) on the Tiki Gardens memorial project.

Update time, this time with some actual progress to report.-we (Cy and Tami) drove over to cocoa yesterday and spent about 90 minutes with Wayne. Succinctly, he doesn't think we should do kahona. He says it's a badly stylized version of an easter island statue, is not remotely evocative of tiki while lono is truly exemplary of the culture, and he can't understand why we would even consider anyone but lono (or, as wayne refers to him, sponge bob). I vote we do lono.
-Either way, he thinks 12' would be the most aesthetically appealing height, and he also thinks the tiki should be ground level with a detached bronze plaque. He wants to do the entire project, including install. Cost- $5,000, plus $350 for a 4' mockup and engineering plans, the cost of a stucco man to help with the final coat, whatever it would cost to install floodlights, and the cost of putting him up in a hotel for a couple nights (quick aside- Wayne is at times, a gentle, befuddled giant (he's like 6' 5"), in a genuinely endearing way. He thought TG was still in existence in webster and that tammy and I owned it and lived on the property. I think it was a case of tg overload after the article came out). Throw in the plaque and the cost of things we can't think of right now but you know there's going to be a few of and $6500 sounds like a good guess.
-Time frame: wayne can have the engineering plans and the mockup ready by the end of this month, start of February.
-County: The parks director has assigned the proposal to the parks advisory board for review, evaluation, and ultimately recommendations to the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners. The engineer in charge of processing our request has agreed to allow us to make the presentation ourselves to the board at their monthly meeting, scheduled for Thursday, February 20th at 9:00 am in Clearwater. According to our enginer, the board is comprised of citizens with a demonstrated interest in the welfare of the county parks system; while completely advisory in nature, he did say in a matter such as this the commissioners may well be inclined to adopt the board's suggestions lock, stock and barrel. Can you say, the whole ball of wax?
-And as of 15 seconds ago (hot off the fax) we are now in compliance with florida statutes chapter 496, allowing the establishment of a trust fund by a non-profit group; finally! I can't make it to the bank this afternoon, but by tomorrow will have established the Tiki Gardens Memorial Fund. I'll email you guys with the address and acct info.
We finally seem to have a little momentum; if you've got input or want to let tc members know where we stand, we probably should do it pretty soon because I plan on being unequivocally prepared for that presentation at least a couple weeks in advance, meaning no changes in our pitch after early february. let me know, thanks, cy

http://www.tikigardens.com

So what if Kahona doesn't please Wayne. We're putting up a memorial to Tiki Gardens, not Easter Island and Kahona lived there.

First off, that's great news that it's moving along nicely. For a while it seemed it was yet another brilliant, but ultimately doomed Tiki Central idea! Well done to all involved.

I must say, though, that Wayne's views about Kahona seem a little odd. For a start, using stylised moai is a HUGE part of Tiki! You only need a quick glance at your mug collection to confirm this. How he can just dismiss Kahona as being a bad Easter Island copy beggars belief. His argument is hardly helped by putting the Tiki Gardens Lono forward, which itself is a very stylised take on original renderings of Lono.

But hey, it's our money and our choice, right? There are those who'd love to see Lono going up and there are others who prefer Kahona. Both lived in Tiki Gardens and both have an equal right to be resurrected. The only way to choose which one is through the democratic process of voting. Bring on the poll!

Trader Woody

I'm partial to Lono myself because he was the logo for so much Tiki Gardens memorabilia, but I think voting with a check would be a good solution. Maybe set a cutoff date in a weeks time, then publish the list of contributors on TC and how everyone voted to keep it honest.
I may be able to drive over for the meeting, if you guys need moral support. Might be kind of fun. I'm really glad to hear Wayne is back on the task.

Well - I for one gotta go with Kahona - I think he would look much better up there on display. I know Lono was on a lot of the merch - but I just think Kahona looks better....
My 2 cents!

I've already stated my reasons for Kahona. When I talked to Wayne back when this all started, he seemed more than jazzed to do him.

One could easily counter that Lono is just a stylised version of a New Zealand tiki, check it out, got look at your salt and pepper shakers, all you have to do is straighten the head out, same mouth, eyes, and nose.

I recieved the papers Chris sent, and will get them out.

I will, however, probably be occupied by more pressing matters. So my involvement in this effort will be minimal at best.

If anyone wants my opinion on what I intended the memorial to be, I addressed that in the "Raise a tiki at tiki gardens" thread.

TG
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com