News Releases
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
PARKER RANCH GARNERS TRIPLE HONORS AT KEEP IT HAWAII AWARDS
Waimea, Big Island of Hawaii Parker Ranch on Hawaii ‘s Big Island returned from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau’s 12th Annual Kahili Awards with honors in three categories, environmental preservation, architecture and retail.
The Parker Ranch Store received the highest honor, a koa Kahili Award, in the retail category.
The original Parker Ranch store began nearly 70 years ago to provide provisions to the paniolo and their families. From sugar to sacks of feed, from salt to boots, the store stocked goods for the ranch hand’s daily needs. That original store has evolved in to the store honored as one of the best in “keeping it Hawaii .”
The new Parker Ranch Store is stocked with a large selection of paniolo hats, boots, buckles, shirts, jackets, cowboy music, art and cards. Many of the products are emblazoned with the Parker Ranch brand. Parker Ranch boasts its own brands of Hawaiian coffee and beef jerky, along with a lineup of paniolo cookies made just up the road at Mama Ella’s of Hawaii especially for Parker Ranch in tropical flavors, such as Pineapple Coconut, Poha and Poi.
An authentically architectured Paniolo Country Store located within the Parker Ranch Store contains gifts and goodies. Jams, paniolo cookies and Waimea trail mix are just a few of the gourmet food items stocked in the Paniolo Country Store. Parker Ranch Store is also the only paniolo store on the island where craftsmen will hand-stamp your name (or word/s of your choice) on your leather belt selection, while you wait.
As shoppers enter the store they notice a dramatic Paniolo Hat Wall of Fame, a wall with dozens of hats that belong to real-life paniolo. Beneath each personal hat is a description of the paniolo who owns the hat. Many of the paniolo work at Parker Ranch.
The Parker Ranch Center and the design firm Group 70 International were recognized with a Certificate Of Merit in the architectural category of the “Keep it Hawaii ” awards for the Western-motif design that expresses Waimea’s paniolo heritage throughout the new and renovated 121,000 square foot center. The Parker Ranch “Tree Project” received a Certificate of Merit in the environmental preservation category. The “Tree Project” has restored over 800 trees to vast areas of this historic ranch that currently spans over 175,000 acres. The majority of trees planted are native species such as the mamane, the only habitat and food source for the endangered palila bird.
Parker Ranch surrounds the town of Waimea and spreads between the Kohala Mountains and Mauna Kea . The Parker Ranch Visitor Center is approximately 37 miles by car from Kona International Airport and approximately 57 miles by car from Hilo Airport .