UNDERNEATH THE LEAVES OF THE BANYAN TREE        

       (Play The Uke, Play The Uke, Play The Ookoolele, Ookoolele)

Dear friends,

 The devastation that the fires on Maui left behind was shocking; that virtually a whole town could burn to the ground was unimaginable. And yet… pictures everywhere showed it all.

When I heard the news that Lahaina was almost totally gone, the first thing I searched for on the internet was how the banyan tree had fared. Was it still standing? For it has been the heart of Lahaina since it was planted 150 years ago, growing to fill an entire city block and serving as a gathering place and shelter from the scorching sun for natives and tourists alike. As first-time visitors in 1982, Mike and I were awestruck by the immensity of the banyan tree and its place in Lahaina’s history.

We last visited the islands in 2015 while teaching on our second ‘Hawaiian Ukulele Cruise’ aboard The Princess. Mike never went anywhere without his uke. Anywhere. So, while taking shelter from the sun under the banyan on our afternoon in Lahaina, Mike pulled out his uke and played the song he had composed the previous year, ‘Underneath the Leaves of the Banyan Tree’.        

 He included his song in the cruise book he’d put together for our classes and they were having a great time with it. I remember him joking with our group about the pronunciation…was it a uke or an ook? If it’s a uke, why isn’t it pronounced Yookoolele? And if it’s an Ookoolele, why isn’t it called an ook? We had great fun, chuckling through the song. Yes, we were a corny bunch.

Those were halcyon days…but now, what is to become of Lahaina and its beloved tree? The town will never be the same, its historic buildings obliterated… but people are determined to rebuild. And they/we are holding our breaths to see if the banyan, Lahaina’s heart, will recover. The hope is that life in the roots will generate new growth; apparently, it’s possible to sprout leaves even from burned branches. But arborists just don’t know with certainty. Time heals wounds; perhaps time will be kind to our banyan tree.

What can we do to help? The need is great and many of us have limited funds. But if we each do even a little something, we can make a difference.

I am reposting Mike’s YouTube of his lighthearted tribute to the banyan tree here and dedicating it to the people of Maui.

As you can see, Mike offered the words and chords at the end of the video. He never included it in his collections (by that time he was totally into instrumentals) but I have a pdf that I can email.

If you order a copy, I pledge to donate all proceeds from those sales to *The Maui Strong Fund.

The code to enter into the item box is: B-1.

The cost: $1 (leave the $ sign off; only use a decimal i.e. 1.00)

Also, if you order a copy of his arrangement of ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ (The Hawaiian Christmas Song) from his ‘Ukulele Mike’s Favorites for Beginners’ book I will donate those proceeds as well.

The code: sa 3.16    

The cost: .99

Here’s a link to our website order page. http://www.ukulelemikelynch.com/order.htm

         *You can read about The Maui Strong Fund here.

“The Maui Strong Fund is providing financial resources that can be deployed quickly, with a focus on rapid response and recovery for the devastating wildfires on Maui.”

(One of the reasons for including this link to the fund is you may wish to donate directly to it.)

https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/maui-strong-fund

I’ll post revenues monthly and reassess at the end of 2023. If there’s a good response, I’ll continue into 2024-or find another avenue to fundraise; it will take a long time and a tremendous amount of revenue to make a difference; but make a difference, we will!

I wish you all good health, much joy…

And Happy Strumming!

Collene