Historic Hawai‘i Foundation held its 44th Annual Meeting on June 20, 2018 at The Novelty Foundry, built in 1930, and presently owned by HHF Members Bob and Teri Bosley. This playful space houses an extensive collection of Hawaiiana, classic cars and memorabilia. Attendees took a trip down memory lane as they perused black and white photos, neon signs, old-fashioned telephones, fire hydrants and other historic items as a vintage toy train sped along its track suspended from the ceiling. Please check out the photo gallery below of the fascinating collection!
Joanna Oshiro, who has served as HHF’s board president since 2016, opened the meeting. She remarked that one of the great joys of the past year was HHF’s extensive engagement with communities across the state. Meetings held with members and supporters were a productive opportunity to hear what was on their minds and contributed towards our collective effort to preserve and save Hawai‘i’s historic places.
New members of the board, Rick Kiefer, Wendy Rice Peterson, Greg Pietsch and Vernon Wong, were warmly welcomed and returning trustees, Ricky Ching, Joy Davidson, Donne Dawson, J. Scott Meidell, and Jennifer Zelko-Schlueter were enthusiastically re-elected. A warm mahalo was given to departing trustees Lance Parker, Nancy Maeda, and Rick Houck for their years of service.
Natalia Lagmay delivered her first address as the new president of the Board for 2018-2019. We are grateful to all of our past and present trustees for their commitment and support of our organization.
The business meeting and elections were followed by a special presentation about the history of the meeting venue given by trustee Jim Niess and property owner Bob Bosley. Jim shared his experience during the late 1960s of joining a group of friends to convert The Novelty Foundry, formerly a casting shop that produced tools and equipment like manhole covers, into an art gallery.
The slideshow (see link below) shares how the friends worked for weeks, scrubbing, power washing and clearing 36 tons of oily sand and scrap metal. A broad cross-section of people–engineers, plumbers, students and even passerby contributed time and materials to the gallery. The gallery created quite a buzz when it opened in 1969–dubbed “the most exciting art project in town” by local news–and exhibited the work of 115 local artists. Visitors to the gallery could not only see and purchase art, they also had the opportunity to observe and interact with artists doing glass-blowing, plaster casting and other types of projects. After what Jim referred to as a long roller coaster of a ride, the Foundry was transformed into a hub of artistic activity.
Bob, who also heard this piece of history for the first time himself, shared his own experience of purchasing The Foundry in 1993 and undertaking his own renovation. He refurbished and repaired the property to open a new office for his business, Diamond Head Sprinkler Supply. After selling the company in 2014, he and Teri began collecting cars and antiques, gradually and lovingly transforming the office into the stunning showroom it is today.
A big mahalo to our gracious hosts, Bob and Teri Bosley, for sharing their private, one-of-a-kind place with us, and to Jim Niess and his wife, Stephanie Austin, for sharing their personal story. Thanks also to event volunteers, LeAnn Auerbach and Anna Barrett, and Chef Roberti of Italica Café for providing us with a delicious buffet.
Last but not least, we thank our members who helped us conclude a successful meeting and election. Mahalo nui!
ATTENTION MEMBERS!
