This Friday, SMU Service House (SMUSH) put on their 2nd Annual Luau for the SMU community. Held at the Dedman Rec Center, the luau featured traditional Hawaiian food, sand volleyball, Frisbee, a raffle sponsored by SMUSH and traditional Polynesian dancing.
According to SMUSH resident first year Jake Fields, they sold around 130 tickets but only about 70 people attended.
“It was really a SMUSH effort, all 28 people of the service house, even Antron Mahoney, our hall director, helped out,” Fields said.
Fields also praised the aid of the Leadership and Community Involvement Office.
“I think the people who went there definitely got value for their money,” he said.
Tickets were $3 each or $5 at the door. Sophomore Pa’akaula Kalawai’anui, known as PK around the Service House, donned an “SMU Needs more Hawaiians!” T-shirt and led a group of SMUSH men in a haka dance routine originating from New Zealand.
Originally from Hawaii Island, he said that coming to school here was his first time on the mainland, though he likes it here at SMU and even plays for the rugby team. His sisters dance hula professionally, and the talent seemed to run in the family.
First year Lauren Phillips also performed a hula routine for the audience, which also was well received. Afterward, PK and Philips held a workshop for any who wanted to learn more about their respective dances.
“It was a house effort, but it was mainly the PR and Special Events committees,” Fields said.
He explained that the profits from the event go to help the house put on events in the future and also fund service projects rather than line individuals’ pockets.
PK and his roommate, sophomore Sam McDonald along with first year Ryan Siu cooked all of the food themselves in the Service House’s industrial-sized kitchen. PK referred to it as the toughest part of the preparations for the event.
“Hawaiian food is real labor intensive,” PK said.
The menu featured a mix of traditional and popular contemporary Hawaiian food: Pua’a Kalua, a shredded pork dish normally cooked in an imu, a pot in the ground; Musubi, which is Spam and sushi rice wrap, is the most popular Hawaiian snack food, according to PK; Ahi Poke, which is fish, prepared Hawaiian style; Mochi, traditionally a Japanese dish, but very popular in Hawaii and lastly, Haupia, a traditional Hawaiian coconut dessert.
“The food was excellent, I thought, and I think everyone thought it was a decent event. For our first event it was definitely a success,” Fields said. “We set out to do a luau and I think we did it. Overall it was a definite success. We learned what we can improve on for future events and that’s part of the process.”
With a lighthearted and laid back atmosphere, attendees enjoyed a selection of Hawaiian-themed music and pickup games of volleyball started up after food was served.
“I really enjoyed it,” sophomore Courtney Chancellor said. “It was a lot of fun!”
As the evening wound down, SMUSH held a raffle with the prizes being T-shirts, gift cards and smoothie machines as a small “thank you” to the community for attending.
Last year, the luau was much smaller and held only for the house, so this year certainly was an improvement.
“I think it went well,” PK said. “I’m happy a lot of people turned out and that we were able to put it together in such a short amount of time. Everyone worked together real hard to get it done.”
