Many Church College of Hawaii alumni made significant contributions to their respective cultures and heritage during their years at the university, and especially since 1963 at the Polynesian Cultural Center, as well as throughout Hawaii and the rest of the world. Sadly, many of these now only live in our hearts and memories.
The diminishing number of surviving, original CCH Seasiders are now in their late 80s and 90s, while the youngest are in their 60s. Fortunately, one of the best and most talented of the latter still shares his profound knowledge of Hawaiian culture, arts, and mo’okūauhau [genealogy] with the rest of us:
CCH alumnus Cy Bridges of Hauula enrolled in the late 1960s and also began to work part-time at the PCC. Some may remember it was during this period he became a professional musician during evenings in Waikiki, but others have probably forgotten he also worked construction during the day, helping for example to build the Marquesan tohua at the Center.
He recalls many nights he and his group — which eventually included BYUH and PCC alumni Jay Akoi, his brother Bobby Akoi, and Harry Brown — got back to Laie/Hauula in time to catch just an hour of sleep before going to their day jobs. In future years, as their Church assignments changed, the popular quartet eventually became known as the “singing bishops” who still occasionally share their talents in the community.
“I felt tremendous camaraderie for the brothers I met at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and we have been life-long friends,” Cy said.
But he points out it was the late PCC general manager William H. “Bill” Cravens who encouraged him to join his management team full-time as the theater manager. Thus began his approximately 45 years of service at the Center. To list just a few highlights:
- Cravens asked Bridges and his late cousin (and CCH alum) William “Uncle Bill” Kauaiwi’ulaokalani Wallace III, to start PCC’s own hālau hula, Hui Ho’oulu Aloha, which he led to the Merrie Monarch Festival several times, as well as to other hula events and competitions, accumulating almost 50 awards in the process.
- He composed what has become BYUH’s signature Hawaiian chant, or as he explained, “...a hula ka’i or an entrance hula...a chant calling out to people and sharing the message,” for the university’s magnificent Pioneers in the Pacific Celebration that was held on campus from October 7–11, 1997:
Hiki Mai E Nā Pua I Ka Lā’ie
Hiki mai e nā pua i ka Lā’ie
Come forward and apar, you precious flowers arising in the calmness of this special day.
Ke pi’i a’e la ka mauna ki’eki’e
Each of you are taking up the challenge of not simply climbing a high mountain, but you have chosen to climb the highest and most majestic mountain of all.
Ha’a mai nā kama me ka Mākua
Dance forward, you children of your Heavenly Father.
He wehi pūlama a’o ke kūpuna
For is it not so that you, our children, are so very precious. In fact, you are the most precious adornment worn around the neck of your ancestors.
E ka’i mai ana e ka’i mai ana
Come forward, come forward, for there are many roads for you to choose.
E hahai i ka leo o ka Haku ē
Be sure to follow the voice of the Good Shepherd, for He will always keep you, protect you, and show you the way.
- The State of Hawaii also selected him to participate in the first delegation to the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture in Noumea, New Caledonia, in 1975, and he has been a member of several other delegations since.
But perhaps one of Cy’s most lasting accomplishments during those early years was marrying his Māori bride, Iraani Bridges (another 1960s CCH alumna who also worked for many years in the PCC business office).
Like many other CCH/BYU–Hawaii alumni, they met at the Polynesian Cultural Center . . . when during one night-show practice, according to his version of the story, she was entranced after hearing him sing one of his favorite songs, “Akaka Falls.”
As their story continued, he was a bit of a “hard catch,” so after a while Iraani returned to remote Bridge Pā, Korongotā, New Zealand, for a few years . . . until Cy finally sent her a Christmas card. He said that Iraani, still single, told her cousin that’s who she was going to marry as soon as she got the card. The couple married in the New Zealand Temple and made their home — which Cy helped build — in Hauula.
Bridges retired from the Center after 45 years of full-time service — which not surprisingly, opened up even more opportunities to share Hawaiian culture, for which he’s been widely recognized, such as:
- The Polynesian Cultural Center recognized Cy Bridges as one of its “living treasures” during their 2023 60th anniversary celebration.
- More recently Cy was called to pronounce a traditional Hawaiian blessing on a new extension of Kahuku Hospital — after explaining its history to the crowd of invitees.
- He’s also been a Merrie Monarch judge — twice and recently worked with haumāna hula [hula students] in Japan.
- The Moanalua Gardens Foundation, which sponsors the annual Prince Lot Hula Festival in Honolulu, presented Cy with its inaugural Nāmakahelu Ōlī master chanter’s award during its 40th anniversary event on July 16, 2017, at the ‘Iolani Palace bandstand in Honolulu.
At that time the foundation praised Bridges for carrying on the tradition of his great-great-grandfather, James Kapihenui Pālea Kuluwaimaka [1837-1937], who became a chanter at age 19 in the royal court of Kamehameha IV of the Kingdom of Hawaii. At his death, Kuluwaimaka was recognized as the “last royal court chanter.”
“Everybody associates me with Tūtū Kuluwaimaka, Cy previously noted, “who it was said delivered the house-warming chant when the palace first opened” [in 1882]. He added that “when the last Kingdom of Hawaii monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani, died in 1917, it was Tūtū Kuluwaimaka who chanted for her funeral procession as it made its way from ‘Iolani Palace to the Royal Mausoleum of Mauna ‘Ala.”
But that’s just one of Cy’s many intriguing stories, and if you ever ask him a “deep” Hawaiian genealogical question, you better have several hours available to listen to detailed answers he can recite from memory.
Fifty-five-ish years ago, when he learned how to speak fluent Hawaiian long before any kula kaiapuni [Hawaii DOE immersion] programs were available, Cy said, “One of my goals was, I wanted to teach Hawaiian language and culture” — and fortunately for us, he’s shared so much more ever since.