Models dance with guests at “Savor the Sunset.”

LAHAINA – Rotarians, locals and visitors savored the sunset and more at the annual benefit on July 19.

Ladies ogled the beautiful dresses in a fashion show by Passion 4 Fashion Boutique. Guys ogled, too, and everyone was treated to the lovely young ladies staying to dance.

Only a few guys got up the courage to dance with them (the usual suspects). When will guys learn that you can be a mediocre or poor dancer and still get up there and wiggle? Even the worst dancer can learn to do something with practice (written based on personal experience).

WE’VE GOT RESOURCES, KAHULUI – The Kaanapali Beach Resort Association just published a nice magazine called “Kaanapali.” A journalist is struck by listings on the masthead. Virtually every editor, writer, photographer or ad rep is based in Central Maui, and most never step foot on our beach.

Once, Lahaina was a sleepy town. To get professional publicity and advertising, one had to go to Kahului. No more – many talented writers, photographers, designers and ad people now call Lahaina home.

Old habits die hard. Sizable enterprises still hire the professionals they went to school with, and some even go to Oahu for help. Often, they miss local insights in what they produce.

Omitted from a good article by fine writer Jill Engledow was the significant fact that Kaanapali was the world’s first master planned resort development (a term familiar to planners). Resort designers won many awards for their inspired work.

Another example of “Kahului-centric” planning was this year’s Fourth of July fireworks, with the Central Maui-based Maui Chamber of Commerce deciding to go on its own to publicize the need for contributions and promote the event. Streets were less crowded, because no story about event details appeared in the Lahaina News.

JUMPY BRIDE – Brides have reason to be nervous, but one at Pu’u Keka’a (Black Rock) had two reasons. She climbed the rock in a bikini last week, donned a full-length wedding dress, got married and then jumped.

Seemed a bit nervous when doing it, a spectator reported. Maybe not a good idea, since Hawaiians traditionally have believed their souls depart from there.

FANS IN JAPAN – A Japanese magazine likes the Maui Friends of the Library’s Puunene bookstore. The publication provided tips on offbeat and traditional places to go (lavender farm, Grandma’s restaurant up toward Ulupalakua, etc.). After touring the sugar museum, the magazine suggested tourists drive up the dusty road to visit the MFOL’s first used bookstore and warehouse. Some people still favor the old place over the non-profit’s two successful stores in Kahului and Lahaina.

BENISE LOVES MAUI – Spanish guitar master Benise is hoping for a long run at Maui Theatre, home of ‘Ulalena, because he loves paradise. Benise played against a backdrop of spectacular filming during his trips to Europe. The show is refreshingly different.

FATHER DAMIEN TO APPEAR IN PLAY – Father Damien of Molokai, canonized as a saint, returns to Lahaina Town and Holy Innocents Church at 7 p.m. on Aug. 10 in the form of Vinnie Linares, an actor and professor at U.H. Maui College, who will be performing in a play that is in its 13th year.

Linares and the one-act play will be coming to West Maui for the first time after numerous appearances on the Mainland and as far away as Edinburgh, Scotland.

“The play highlights significant moments in the turbulent life of Father Damien, who treated lepers with Hansen’s Disease as patients instead of outcasts,” said Leanna Roberts, parishioner and one of the event organizers.

“The church is a perfect venue for a play about the saintly priest, since he was ordained just a few years after Holy Innocents was founded in 1862,” Roberts noted.

Holy Innocents is a historic church with a rich Hawaiian history. It was the first Anglican church on Maui, founded by Bishop Thomas Nettleship Staley in 1862. The present church was built on land where beloved Queen Lili’uokalani enjoyed holidays and vacations as a child.

Tickets are $10 and available for credit card purchase at www.holyimaui.org, or you can pay by cash or check at the door. The church address is 561 Front St. in Lahaina.

Columnist’s Notebook: There is a nationwide movement underway to teach condominium associations to be community-oriented and owner-friendly. My new blog website, KaanapaliCondoNews.com, launched last week includes a daily happening photo and will provide tips to make condo living even better.