Big Bro , what is "Vali-Hi"?

Big Bro -
On Verdugo here in Montrose, there is a sign on a side street that reads "Vali-Hi" - but other than that - I can find nothing Polynesian around.... A picture of this is in your Book of Tiki - can you give me any history on this?

Vali-Hai, Vali-Lo...
Sorry, I did not research anything about it, it was just a great example of word play on Bali Hai, and how the term was a buzzword at a certain time. I am just assuming that that neighbourhood got the name by a developer when Bali Hai was in everybody's vocabulary. But the houses do not look uniform, so maybe it was a neighbourhood association of some sort..? Find out!

I know of someone's backyard Tiki bar that is named "Bar-I-Hai"!

And on the subject of names, can someone tell me how THIS amazing Seattle ferry got it's name? (I just know "Kala" is Surgeon Fish in Hawaiian, but WHO and WHY did they name it that):

http://www.kalakala.org/

I grew up about a mile from there in that little neighborhood called Sparr Heights, on Las Palmas Avenue, a stone's throw from Fremont Elementary (if that means anything to you). I never knew why that area was called "Vali-Hi" - just past the main drag of Honolulu Avenue. Perhaps somebody's Polynesian vision was unrealized? My parents bought the house in 1959, I think. I don't ever remember there being anything the least bit tiki in the area! Mom sold the house about 8 years ago, dadgummit. I love that neighborhood. Very Beaver Cleaver.

Well - the last reminant of the Indian Springs center (a small "wishing well" that says Indian Springs), is in the parking lot across the street from it... Although I don't think that had anythink to do with Tiki...

Maybe "Kalakala" is a corruption of David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii, 1874 to 1891. The main drag in Waikiki is named for him, as well as the Merrie Monarch hula festival on the Big Island.

RE: The Kalakala.

If it's in the Pacific Northwest and it sounds Polynesian it's probably an Indian name. The similarities makes hunting Tiki bars in small towns difficult as you never know if a place called The Kalakala might be an old Polynesian themed joint or just a dive bar named with the Chinook word for "the flying bird" (which is, apparently, what it means). The Kalakala (pronounced kah-LA-kah-la) is indeed an amazing looking ferry, a point of pride for Seattle history buffs...Even though it's a Californian transplant. But just the bottom, it got dreamy up here.

Know it all at http://www.historylink.org/output.CFM?file_ID=312

[ Edited by: woofmutt on 2002-07-31 23:03 ]