From the 1st state to the 50th

Every year, Hawaii and Delaware commemorate Dec. 7 for very different reasons, but for many years, there’s been a celebration in Hawaii that brings both states together.

Seaford native Adele Rugg has lived in Hawaii for nearly 40 years, and she hosts a party in early December to celebrate the ties between her old and new home states.

Delaware Day and Pearl Harbor Day both fall on Dec. 7, but Rugg hosts her celebration party the next day for several reasons.

“Dec. 8 is my birthday, and I always have the Delaware Day celebration on my birthday because we do things slower here in Hawaii, and it is a wonderful party,” Rugg said.

The celebration has caught the eye of the media before, she said, and this year, the Hawaiian Delaware Day celebration even received a special video message from Gov. Jack Markell.

“Aloha from the 1st state to the 50th state,” Markell said. “As Delaware’s governor I wanted to take a moment to thank you for celebrating Delaware Day in Hawaii. Mahalo...Believe me when I say I wish I could be there with you.”

Rugg says Hawaii and Delaware are actually a lot alike, and after decades of island life, she knows news travels fast in both places.

“For my Delaware Day celebration every year I move it around, I’ve had fun with it, people telling people about the Delaware connections. They are both very small states,” Rugg said. “Here it’s called the coconut wireless, and there I guess it’s the grapevine, but it’s like the coconuts talk and word gets around fast.”

She plans to continue her Delaware Day celebration as long as possible, and invites anyone with Delaware connections who plans to be in Hawaii to ask around on the “coconut wireless” and join her on Maui Dec. 8.

For live updates on the sun, sand and surf conditions in Maui, go to www.sugarbeachwebcam.com.