… LAHAINATOWN ACTION COMMITTEE’S plans for the lighting of the Banyan Tree with Christmas lights are under way, thanks to the generous support of businesses and residents of Lahaina — what a great town!!…

… plans are also under way on Saturday, Dec. 5, to bring in snow for the keiki… plus a snowman… plus Santa Claus… plus entertainment. And at 6:30 p.m., all the lights will be dimmed, and a VIP (to be announced) will pull a cord, and the majestic tree will light up, along with the lights on the surrounding buildings — THE WHARF CINEMA CENTER and PIONEER INN. It’s always a chicken skin event and marks the beginning of the Christmas Season for our Lahaina Town…

… FRONT STREET will also be decorated with Christmas wreaths, and businesses are urged to join in and have their Christmas decorations in place. Remember the date — Saturday, Dec. 5! Entertainment will continue through Sunday, Dec. 6, and there will be craft fairs both days under the Banyan Tree…

… and the official Lahaina Poster for 2010 is proving popular. It’s available at VILLAGE GALLERY near the Baldwin Home along Front Street. All posters are signed and numbered by artist CARLETON KINKADE…

… and the Furlough Fridays fights move on. When they finish trying to fix the blame on each other, maybe we can have some common sense and a solution…

… and the County Council dilemma — where is Sol domiciled? He says Lanai, and the State Supremes say Lahaina. Maybe we should put Lanai back in the West Maui district where it used to be!!…

… the estate sale by the MAUI MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION was a huge success, due to the many helping hands, including members of the foundation’s board…

… turmoil seems to be popping up in all manner of places! My second favorite place after Maui is the Fiji Islands, where the heads of both the Australian Consulate and the New Zealand Consulate were recently given 24 hours to vacate their offices and leave the country. Pretty drastic, I’d say, considering that both countries supply 70 percent of Fiji’s visitors, not to mention imports (including food). Woe is us — or them!…

… and Lahaina lost a lovely lady and a great artistic talent with the death of longtime Lahaina artist MARIAN FREEMAN. You will be sorely missed, Marian. Aloha ‘oe…

Up Front Lahaina is a twice monthly feature. To protect his innocence, the writer chooses to remain anonymous. The views expressed in this column belong to the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Lahaina News staff and owners.