A former Waikiki beach boy has turned a dying Hawaiian weaving tradition into a livelihood after the pandemic ended his work on the water — a good-news story for anyone who cares about local culture surviving.

• Alan Okuma, known as Uncle Oku, worked the beach in the 1950s and 60s alongside the original beach boys, including Duke Kahanamoku's circle.
• When COVID shut Waikiki down in 2020, he lost that work and started selling handwoven goods from a tent on Kamehameha Highway.
• He picked up coconut weaving because the old-timers who knew the craft were dying off and almost no one was making the pieces anymore.
• The hats, bowls, and other woven items caught on fast, and he now sells them at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• Years of greeting visitors on the beach gave him the people skills that keep customers coming back.

Outlook: He plans to keep selling at the swap meet while still returning to the ocean to teach surfing and run outrigger canoes.