25 years ago
Elder Howard W. Hunter, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, helped the Polynesian Cultural Center celebrate its 10th anniversary on Oct. 12, 1973, reported the Oct. 20, 1973, Church News.
During the celebration, Elder Hunter and his wife, Clara, were among those honored for contributions to the center, adjacent to the campus of what is now BYU-Hawaii. Elder Hunter, at the time, was president of the center's board of directors.
The article reported, "Nearly one million men, women and children visit the Polynesian Cultural Center, owned by the Church, each year."
It noted that the center was constructed as a tourist destination to give students at what was then called the Church College of Hawaii employment opportunities to help pay for their schooling.
The article continued: "In the early 1960s, Hawaii experienced a fantastic upsurge in tourism and, with the students from Polynesia and elsewhere bringing with them the skills and arts common to their home cultures, the idea was born.
"Now, the Polynesian Cultural Center, located on 19 acres adjacent to the college, is one of the most popular paid attractions in Hawaii."
