2009 Flame Tree Arts Festival

This year's Flame Tree Arts Festival concluded and, unfortunately, I didn't take any photographs because I was waiting for the battery charger I ordered for my camera to arrive, but the charger arrived too late.

One of the highlights of the Festival for the family was seeing Gus and the young Kaipat kids perform. Gus did a couple numbers, followed by (L-R) Jun, Aj, and Dusty. This was the second time Jun performed at the Flame Tree Arts Festival. Last year, he performed with Gus, though he only played the uke. This year, he got to sing.

The three were joined on stage by Kadie and Josiah (who stood between Jun and AJ). So, with the exception of Jun, all the kids (Kadie, Aj, Josiah, and Dusty) made their performance debutes at the Festival.

Speaking of debutes, we also had TJ operating the camera. He'd never done that before and was pressed into service that day because his Uncle Gus did not bring the tri-pod and, well, consider yourself forewarned. Heh! Heh!

After the kids' numbers, Uncle Gus joined them for one final number. Poor Uncle Gus, he was supposed to grab the uke from Josiah, but Josiah would not surrender the uke to him, so Uncle Gus had to go on with the show and sang while the kids played. Heh! Heh! We had a pretty good laugh about this aftewards.

All in all, everyone had a great time.

Okay, still want to see that video? Again, sorry for the camera work. :)



See you all next year!

Speaking of Olomwaay, someone posted this on Youtube (thanks for sharing!). This was when Olomwaay opened for Jake Shimabukuro at last year's fundraising concert that he held for Beautify CNMI! and HANMI. Gus (in the blue t-shirt in the middle of the red t-shirts) sings lead, backed by Dee Saures, Cris Kaipat, Ben Limes, and Miki Lisua on vocals.

28th Annual Flame Tree Arts Festival Kicks Off Tonight

Flame Tree Photos in header and this post courtesy of my friend Mike Tripp.
Flame Tree Arts Festival kicks off today
Thursday, 23 April 2009 00:00 By Raquel Bagnol - Variety News Staff
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THE 28th Flame Tree Arts Festival officially begins at 6 tonight at the Civic Center in Susupe.

Arts Council coordinator Lucille Ayuyo said over a hundred visitors from Guam, Palau and Rota are already on island for the four-day festivities.

“The community will be treated to four days of cultural entertainment,” Ayuyo said.

She said the canoe welcome ceremony will be held from 9 to 10 a.m. today at the Civic Center.

The two traditional canoes will come from Satawal, Yap.

Ayuyo is urging the community to participate in the festival and grab the chance to sample local food and drinks as well as artwork and crafts.

Logistics committee chairman Parker Yobei earlier said that the festival “is a chance for the community to showcase different cultures in one place.”

“Artists and exhibitors will be demonstrating and teaching their respective culture, arts and traditions to the community, and this is an experience everybody should not miss,” he said.

The Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture has reserved 23 slots for arts and education booths.

This year’s festival theme is “Uniting Rainbows of Culture and Tradition.”

For this year, there will be no traditional booth competition but prizes of $500, $300 and $200 are at stake for the float parade on Saturday morning.

1st in a Ron & Nancy Kramis Eco-cise Series

It is people like Nancy Kramis and her husband Ron who help make Beautify CNMI! what it is today. Nancy travels to work in the CNMI periodically to help our people learn to better assist and serve those citizens in our community who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. Depending on the need, Nancy stays for weeks, and sometimes several months at a time, and her husband Ron has made some of these trips out here with her several times. Their invaluable contributions as Beautify CNMI! community volunteers deserve to be recognized, so here begins the first posting of the Ron & Nancy Kramis Eco-cise series right here. After some begging, Nancy was kind enough to give me permission to post these photos and accompanying eco-cise journal that she shared with Beautify CNMI's Kaipat family (that would be my family and her adopted Island family).

The series starts here....

A couple of pics of Ron's and my Sunday a.m. eco-exercise program for your collection. Sunday, March 9 we did a round trip from the Bird Island lookout past entry to Kalabera to the end of the road. About 3 hours and not too much junk. Looked fairly good.We then hiked down to the beach and noted that the ocean has left way too many "presents" for us at the high tide line. So we high tailed it outta there with plans to return another day with many big bags.Gettin' outta there!

STAY TUNED NEXT TIME FOR MORE.

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Nancy and Ron have contributed in so many other ways, from adopting a flame tree. . .L-R: Chuck Sayon of MINA; Nancy Kramis of Beautify CNMI Bellingham, Washington; Cinta Kaipat; and Doreen Jesus of Beautify CNMI Guam at the 2007 Flame Tree Arts Festival.

. . . to making a $500 donation at the 1st Anniversary Dinner for Beautify CNMI held at the Aqua Resort last year. They were there again this year at the Jake Shimabukuro Benefit Concert for Beautify CNMI and HANMI.

In addition to their own Eco-cise, they've also participated in numerous Beautify CNMI! activities, including the monthly clean-up of the Paseo de Marianas, which is the heart of the Garapan Tourist District, and they've attended some Beautify CNMI General and Committee meetings. Ron is a member of Beautify CNMI!'s Parks & Trails Committee headed by Ken Kramer of RCD.

Even when they're back in Bellingham, Washington, they still participate from afar in spreading the Beautify CNMI "beauty virus" in the mainland. Their dog, Molly Kramis, even planted a tree in honor of Arbor Day as we in the CNMI celebrated it here.

Thanks, Nancy and Ron! Congratulations again on being winners of the 2007 Beautify CNMI! Spirit Award. You are quite an inspiration to many of us.

Last Day of Flame Tree Arts Festival

Jun joined Gus for a few numbers. Actually, he was only supposed to join Gus for one number, but when he got on stage for the sound check, he decided to stay from beginning to end!


It sure was hot out! But, in the end, it was well worth it. At the end of the performance, Parker presented Gus with an appreciation certificate. (Photo courtesy of sister Nan Kramis.)
Sisters Cil, Vio & Niece Lei enjoying the Festival. (Photo courtesy of Nan Kramis.)
Nan and Cin. (Photo courtesy of Nan.)
Cin & Gus say "See you all next year!"

HOLY CHOW! He Put My Head On Dolly Parton's Body

I decided to take a walk around to visit some of the booths on the second day of the Flame Tree Arts Festival and ended up striking up a conversation with Greg Borja Flores, a caricaturist from Guam. As I was looking at his portfolio, I noticed that he'd done mural drawings with community members in Guam to combat graffiti. "What a coincidence," I said to him. "Beautify CNMI! is just getting ready to launch the 'War on Graffiti' [for lack of a better name] Project next Tuesday." He offered to come up and help us with the Project.

And while we were talking, he said, "Here -- let me do a complimentary drawing for you on the condition that you hang this in your office -- not at your house." Not one to pass up that kind of offer, I quickly accepted before he changed his mind. :) Several people stopped by and snickered as they looked at the drawing. I wondered out loud if he was giving me a Groucho Marx mustache or something. When he was all done, this is what I saw...HOLY CHOW! He put my head on Dolly Parton's body! Trust me -- I don't have Dolly Parton's assets!The 2007 Flame Tree Arts Festival came to a close yesterday. I arrived home utterly exhausted after midnight last night, but I had to muster up enough energy to check my e-mail and some blogs real quick to see how my friends fared over the weekend. I cruised by the Saipan Middle Road Blog and saw a familiar name. DUH! Now it all makes sense! I didn't even look up to see this sign, but now the pieces fall into place.Be careful what signs you end up standing under! Thanks to my friends at The Saipan Middle Road blog for allowing me to borrow this picture. :)

Flame Tree Arts Festival -- April 26, 2007: Day One, The Set Up

This year, the Flame Tree Arts Festival, the largest of its kind in the Pacific, is held at Civic Center Park in Susupe, Saipan, CNMI. Festival staff, volunteers, and vendors were busy getting ready for the 6 p.m. Opening Ceremonies.

The stage.

Local musician Joe Limes who is a fixture at these events. Look for Joe to volunteer again when the Liberation Day Festivities begin. Thank you and Olomwaay, Bwibwii Joe.

Arts Council Director Cecilia Celes, on right, and staff Ramona T. Rubuenog take a breather to assess their progress.

The sound crew and emcees. L-R: David Chan, owner of the sound system used this year; Gordon Marciano, awesome emcee, John Hosono, extra emcee, and Gus Litulumar, another local musician volunteering to help with this year's Flame Tree celebration as it was yesterday.

John Hosono sharing a light moment with our photographer.

The hardworking staff of the Arts Council and volunteers pose for a shot.

Angelo and Marites arrive early to set up. Thanks to Arts Council for donating this tent to Beautify CNMI!

Those healthy-looking Flame trees were grown for us by Brad Doer. Stop by the Beautify CNMI! booth and sign up to adopt a Flame tree for $20. We can plant it for you during the rainy season and let you know about it or you can come join us and plant it with us.

The much-coveted Beautify CNMI! t-shirts! Stop by and get yours for $20 adults and $10 kids. Sign up for a MINA membership and you'll get one FREE! MINA stands for Mariana Islands Nature Alliance and is a proud partner of Beautify CNMI!

The FMI banner is hung and the Beautify t-shirts, buttons and stickers went on display.