Beach Memorials

Awile back, there was an article in the Honolulu Weekly about the phenomenon of beach memorials around Oahu. Beach memorials are a beach-side take on road-side memorials that have often become popular at sites of traffic accident deaths. These memorials create controversy because they're placed by the family and friends of deceased people in a public space. They're illegal, they can be unsightly, and they're costly to remove. However, the government is hard up for cash and does not take the initiative to enforce laws or remove the memorials. So, who is really losing here? The idea of one memorial might not seem so terrible, but what about when they start multiplying and popping up all over the place?

Beach Memorials

Is there space for all our public displays of grief?

by Curt Sanburn | Dec 14, 2011

 

^“In Loving Memory of Robbie and Kalakekuewa, 1969–2011,” says the smooth-faced boulder in big, grey-paint letters for all to see. On the margin, scrawled above a petroglyph-style sketch of a paddler, is the name of a canoe club, Healani. “Cherish memories” is written by the drawing of a maile-draped ‘ukulele. All in all, it’s a sweet and touching memorial that will last until it weathers away or gets wiped clean by a sandblaster. The upright stone is close to water’s edge, right next to the landmark Alan Davis Ranch wall separating the city’s Wawamalu Beach Park from the state’s Ka Iwi Scenic Shoreline Park in southeast Oahu.

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