Dorothy Thompson inducted into Hall of Honor
January 23, 2013
Dorothy Mae Elizabeth Soares Thompson, widely known as Auntie Dottie, was born May 16, 1921, and passed away on March 19, 2010. She graduated from President William McKinley High School in 1939 and left a legacy of Hawaiian culture as the co-founder of the Merrie Monarch Festival. McKinley helped to define and influence the independent woman that she became. In 1996, she was awarded the County of Hawaii Department of Parks and Recreation Living Legend award, 2000 Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs Outstanding Non-Hawaiian Perpetuating the Hawaiian Culture award, 2007 Honpa Honwanji’s Living Treasure award, and 2010 YWCA Hawaii Island’s Remarkable Person award. The Merrie Monarch Festival is a week-long commemoration, dedicated to the memory of King David Kalakaua. This festival consists of craft fairs, entertainment and demonstrations, to name a few. Created by Helene Hale along with George Na’ope and Gene Wilhelm, the first Merrie Monarch Festival was held in 1964. In 1968, Thompson took over the festivities as the executive director, and transformed it into a private community organization. Her goal was to move the festival more towards a Hawaiian theme and it was accomplished. In 1971, along with Na’ope, she introduced a three-day hula competition which rounds out the weekâs festivities. From then on, each year they invited the best hula instructors with their groups to compete. This had a major impact on the community. It revived the Big Island’s economy with spikes in hotel, restaurant and car rental sales, to name a few. This united the community with its preservation of the Hawaiian culture and the hula. And through this, Thompson was able to share the hula with the entire world. Rather than exploit the festival and raise prices, she kept prices low so that everyone could enjoy the festivities. She provided the leadership and tenacity that was needed to spearhead the festival. Auntie Dottie was the backbone and the spirit. Although she passed nearly 3 years ago, the world still enjoys her legacy, the Merrie Monarch Festival.
