Page 4 - MidWeek Kauai - Nov 30, 2022

4 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK NOVEMBER 30, 2022
Whether herding animals on her Waialua property or drawing crowds to another sold-out performance, veteran entertainer Ginai always finds ways to shine.
It started with a single horse — a birthday gift from her husband a de- cade ago — and the search for a home where the steed could roam.
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“Animals just seem to find me,” says the veteran enter- tainer, whose herd includes a kitten and three dogs. (“Two are good with the animals — the other one is not so good. He tries to eat the ducks and he’ll chase the donkey!”)
en coop and reinforce it with a crazy amount of chicken wire because the mongoose around here are hungry. They want the eggs and if the eggs aren’t there, they’ll take the chicken,” explains Ginai.
lon bucket of honey every now and then,” explains Gi- nai. “So, every Christmas, we simply give away jars of hon- ey to people.”
soaring food costs and supply shortages.
putting on rubber boots or cowboy boots, or getting all muddy and dirty and having my hair be a sweaty mess.”
But even though monon- ymous singer Ginai would eventually find the right spot, a 5-acre parcel in Waialua on O‘ahu, she knew she could never limit the number of an- imals on her property to just one.
“One of our former neigh- bors had abandoned a ram and a ewe, so we picked them up and brought them to our farm and the next thing I know, they’re making babies!”
“The chicken coop is the size of a garage — I mean you can park your car in it ... it’s that big.”
But managing livestock has its disappointments and ad- versities as well. The biggest tragedy occurred when a pack of wild dogs descended from the nearby Wai‘anae Range and slaughtered some of the farm’s occupants. The cul- prits were never caught, and the fact that they’re still roam- ing the mountains hasn’t eased the concerns of this shepherd of animals.
“This was a particularly brutal summer with the cost of buying supplemental feed, plus the 30% rise in shipping and other issues. So, it’s been breaking the piggy bank try- ing to find ways to feed all the animals,” she sighs.
Born in Chicago but raised in Mā‘ili, Ginai was taught by her mother at an early age to put in an honest day’s work and to embrace her diverse ethnic heritage of Hawaiian, African American, Native American, Scottish, Irish and French. But the greatest emphasis was placed on the importance of living by the Golden Rule.
So, the pet lover gave in to her nature and the single horse soon welcomed three more horses. Next came sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and pigs, too. Then, she al- lowed honeybee colonies to be formed there, and wild peacocks (the only uninvit- ed guests) to roost on a ficus tree that bordered her leased property.
Ginai admits to adoring the little ones, but acknowledges the entire lot hasn’t been shy about running roughshod over her sod.
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comfortable standing before audiences and sparkling in sequined dresses as she is gathering chickens under her wings while glistening in sweat and sporting overalls. But the thing about Ginai is that she knows how to straddle both the urban and the rural quite well.
Even an old jack covered in sores ultimately cantered his way onto the site. She’s since given him the name Don Juan de DonKee because “he’s very loving and sweet with the kids.”
Nor does she have the heart to turn away feathered friends in need of a new abode.
Life on the farm certain- ly has its pluses, according to Ginai. For example, her honeybee population actually belongs to a couple of bee- keepers who requested room to cultivate their colonies. In return, they promised to pay her in, well, syrupy sweetness.
Beyond her obvious love for animals and desire to shelter them, the singer re- mains committed to blessing the lives of people as well. In the last decade, she’s not only served as a foster parent
“I’ve now got a herd, and I can’t stop them. I don’t have enough grass!” she says with a chuckle.
“We’re now constructing a duck pond for them and soon we’ll have an enclosure around it,” she says proudly.
When a neighbor passed away unexpectedly and his daughter asked if the song- stress could take the family’s 12 chickens with her, she chirped in agreement.
Despite the unexpected culling of the herd, Ginai and her family continue to main- tain the farm as best they can, even with the ever-present challenges of dealing with
“I’ m a glamour puss! I’ ve got three closets worth of clothes and shoes,” she ad- mits. “But, I’m also a country girl. I don’t have a problem
“We had to build a chick-
“The deal is we get a 5-gal-
Additionally, when she dis- covered several abandoned ducks at a nearby trailhead, she quickly scooped them up and honked her way back to the property she whimsically refers to as “Peacock in a Fi- cus Tree Farm.”
“But it’s OK. I don’t trip about stuff like that because Ke Akua provides. It’s just how it works. You put out, you get back.”
“I’ve been worried for my horses for so long,” Ginai confesses. “I sleep by my little enclosed campfire just listen- ing to the sounds of the dogs, because I have incredible ears and I can hear them in the dis- tance bouncing off the valley walls and everything.”
t may be surprising to some that this long- time performer is just as
“My mother always brought us up with the les- son of giving, of doing unto those as you would have done unto you,” she recalls. “We watched our mother help ev- eryone, from friends to fam- ily to complete strangers, so we had an example set for us early in our lives.”
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