Ormsby House goes Hawaiian

Roast suckling pig, shaking skirts and Don Ho's Hawaiian Wedding Song highlighted the 13th annual Carson City Kiwanis Club Luau on Saturday night.

About 350 people gathered at the Ormsby House Hotel/Casino to enjoy the island-themed fund-raiser.

Attendees pulled out their brightly colored silk shirts and were draped with leis on their way through the door. Crepe pineapples, fluorescent fishermen nets, and melon-colored balloons brightened the Rose Ball room for the event.

Luau chairman Rob Scanlin said the roast suckling pig was a first for the event.

"That was a special extra that the Ormsby House did for us this year," Scanlin said.

Besides the traditional Hawaiian pig, also served was lobster bisque, shelled shrimp, seafood Neuberg, Polynesian-style chicken, beef and pineapple skewers.

The Birds of Paradise, a Carson City-based Polynesian dance troupe, has been a feature of the luau for several years, Scanlin said.

In hand-made costumes, ranging from mumus, to bark skirts and coconut-shell bras, the dancers alternated between graceful Hawaiian hulas and hip shaking Tahitian dances.

Dallas Graf, past president of the Dayton Kiwanis Club, even stepped out on the dance floor in a bark skirt and loud Hawaiian shirt to shake things up a bit.

"There goes either a very brave man or a foolish one," master of ceremonies Craig Swope said. "But we like it when people are foolish."

The annual luau raises between $6,000 to $9,000 a year, which the club uses to support activities ranging from scout troops to reading programs to the Friends In Service Helping's Focus House.

Over 100 businesses from Carson City and neighboring communities donated raffle and auction items. Swope told the crowd that every dollar they spent for the auction and raffles will return to the community through the sponsored programs.