Navigation

Home‎ > ‎

THE VULTURES ON PARKER RANCH

 
parker ranch
Parker Ranch cowboys (paniolo) with cattle.
 

PARKER RANCH


It takes a "Big Island" to hold Parker Ranch. Parker Ranch, founded in 1847, is one of our nation’s older and more historic ranches and, at approximately 135,000 acres, is counted among the larger ranches in the United States.

Located in the cool, country town of Waimea (heading north from the Kohala Coast), Parker Ranch transports visitors back to Hawaii’s paniolo (cowboy) days. It’s where you can watch rodeos, go horseback riding or, with a nod to modern-day ingenuity, hop aboard an All-Terrain Vehicle and explore the ranchlands.

Parker Ranch’s story begins in 1809, when a 19-year-old sailor named John Parker jumped ship and became acquainted with King Kamehameha. Parker became the first man in Hawaii to be allowed to slay some of the thousands of cattle that roamed the island’s plains and valleys. (Five head of cattle had been given to Kamehameha by British Captain George Vancouver; in time, the cattle population spread out of control.)

Due mostly to Parker’s efforts, beef replaced sandalwood as the Big Island’s chief export. His wealth and influence grew, and in 1815 he married the daughter of a high-ranking chief. The couple had two sons and a daughter, thus starting the Parker family dynasty in Hawaii.

The ranch itself was founded in 1847. In 1992, following the death of Richard Smart, the ranch’s last owner, Parker Ranch was left in a trust to benefit the Waimea community.

Today, Parker Ranch includes the Parker Ranch Museum & Visitor Center, which provides an informative introduction to the ranch and its history. Antique ranching tools, historic photos and a video are among the museum’s highlights. Just a short drive away are two historic homes: Mana Hale was built by Parker in 1847 as the original family home. Puuopelu, Richard Smart’s residence, has a large collection of fine art collected from around the world.

Also worth a visit is the Parker Ranch Store, which is stocked with ranch logo wear, accessories, souvenirs, Parker Ranch Kona Coffee and more.

Visitors at Parker Ranch can participate in a variety of activities, including horseback riding, ATV adventures, carriage rides and even hunting.

Photo Credits:Photo1: Courtesy HVCB, Photo2: Kirk Aeder, Photo3: Kirk Aeder; Courtesy HVCB

©2003-2004 Media-HI, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://hawaii.aloha-hawaii.com/tours/parker+ranch/


Trustees

Timothy E. Johns, Trustee

Trustee
Parker Ranch Foundation Trust

Johns was first selected as Trustee for the Parker Ranch Foundation Trust in June 2005. He was reappointed following Trust restructuring in December 2007.

Johns was recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bishop Museum.  He formerly served as the Chair of the Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources and as Chief Operating Officer of the Estate of Samuel Mills Damon. Johns was chairperson of the State Department of Land and Natural Resources having served as that department’s Deputy Director prior to being named chairperson.

He has also served as Vice-President and General Counsel for AMFAC Property Development Corporation, been a Lecturer in Business Law at the University of Hawaii and Windward Community College and held the position of Director of Land Protection with the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii.

Johns received his bachelor’s degree in history and business economics from the University of California , Santa Barbara , with honors. That was followed by a master’s degree in economics and Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California Law Center .

His extensive community involvement includes active membership with the State of Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Northwestern Hawaiian Island Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council and the Rotary Club of Honolulu. Johns serves on the board of directors for Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Grove Farm Company, Inc., YMCA of Honolulu, Hawaii Nature Center, St. Andrew’s Priory School, Child & Family Services, Helping Hands Hawaii, ‘Ike ‘Aina, Diamond Head Theatre and Hawaii Public Television Foundation.

http://prft.org/index.php/trustees/timothy_e._johns_trustee/

 
NOAA Photo Library Image - line0385

Horses in paradise - on the Parker Ranch
Image via NOAA

Reba McEntire, the country singer legend, took a private tour of the Parker Ranch on the Big Island, the largest (really!) working cattle ranch in the country and one of the last bastions of the paniolo lifestyle (although this paniolo stuff is unbelievably hyped). Parker Ranch has a rich history and is a fascinating place. The views from the slopes of Mauna Kea are truly amazing -- you have to see it to believe it. I highly recommend the horseback rides.

Hawaiirama.com


December 23, 2005

Parker Ranch sells shopping center

A Chicago-based commercial real estate firm, M&J Wilkow Ltd., pays an undisclosed price

Star-Bulletin staff

Parker Ranch has sold Parker Ranch Center, its regional shopping center on the Big Island, to an affiliate of Chicago-based commercial real estate firm M&J Wilkow Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.

"M&J Wilkow has a highly successful national track record that spans more than six decades," said Chris Kanazawa, Parker Ranch's president and chief executive. "Under their ownership, Parker Ranch Center will continue to grow and serve the Waimea community."

Located in the Big Island's historic upcountry town of Waimea, the 132,000-square-foot center is the community's retail hub, housing anchor tenants such as Foodland, First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii, Kaiser Permanente, Starbucks, Blockbuster and the Parker Ranch Store.

M&J Wilkow is expected to maintain the Parker Ranch Center's Western-motif architecture, which reflects the community's paniolo heritage, said Diane Quitiquit, a Parker Ranch vice president.

"From what we've been told by them, that's definitely their interest," Quitiquit said. "They like the culture of Waimea; that's one of the things that interested them." ...

Kanazawa said that proceeds from the sale will enhance the Parker Ranch Trust's ability to support its beneficiaries, which include North Hawaii Community Hospital, Parker School Trust Corp., Hawaii Preparatory Academy and the Richard Smart Fund.

Founded in 1939, M&J Wilkow and its affiliates provide services to more than twenty-five properties in the United States with an aggregate value of approximately $800 million. They employ more than 100 people in Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Minneapolis and other mainland cities.

The Parker Ranch Center is its first Hawaii acquisition.

"We appreciate being selected as the new owners and entrusted to protect the historical significance of the Parker Ranch Center," said David Harvey, partner of M&J Wilkow. "Our company understands the importance of maintaining the value of Parker Ranch Center to both the Waimea Community and tourism alike."

Wells Fargo Bank subsidiary Eastdil represented Parker Ranch in the sale.

 

Click here to find out more!
Business News - Local News

Tokin, Moore join Parker Ranch board

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

Parker Ranch Inc. has appointed business executives Arthur Tokin and Randolph Moore to its board.

They replace John Andrews and Patrick Sullivan, who recently left the board of the Big Island for-profit corporation that manages the ranching and real estate operations of the 175,000-acre Parker Ranch.

Tokin, until last December, was the managing partner at the Honolulu office of PricewaterhouseCoopers. He brings his expertise in strategic planning, financial accountability and corporate governance to the table.

Moore is a financial analyst turned school teacher who is currently a project manager for the state Department of Education. He previously was president of Molokai Ranch Ltd. and vice president of the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, before he became a teacher in 2001 at Central Middle School in Honolulu.

Other board members include Matt Echeverria, Herber "Monty" Richards Jr. and Gary L. Gifford. In addition, trustees Mel Hewett, John Ray, Warren Haruki and Timothy Johns also serve on the board.

All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2005/10/17/daily12.html


Starbulletin.com






art
FILE PHOTO



Stryker projects on

$164.5 million in Army construction
begins soon on Oahu and the Big Island

By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

With its key legal battles behind it, the Army will begin construction next month of the first of 28 projects designed to prepare Schofield Barracks and the Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area for its newest unit -- the Stryker Brigade Combat Team.


art

Ron Borne, the Army's transformation manager at Schofield Barracks, said construction will begin this year on at least nine of the 28 Stryker-related projects totaling $164.5 million.

Cost of the Stryker projects on Oahu and the Big Island is estimated at $693 million and could extend into 2010.

Borne said the Army can now enter into serious negotiations with the Richard Smart Estate to acquire 23,000 acres of Parker Ranch on the Big Island to be used as a maneuver area for the 19-ton, eight-wheeled Stryker vehicles.

Borne said up to $30 million may be spent to expand the 108,792-acre Pohakuloa Training Area. With more than 300 vehicles assigned to the 3,500-member Stryker unit, the Army needs an area as large as Pohakuloa to train together. It also will include a parachute drop zone.

Borne said all the 28 Stryker-related projects were placed on hold after Earthjustice, representing Ilioulaokalani Coalition, Na Imi Pono and Kipuka, went to federal court last August and challenged the results of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team's environmental impact statement.

Last week, Chief U.S. District Judge David Ezra rejected that Earthjustice complaint and a companion one challenging an agreement between the Army and Campbell Estate on the sale of 1,402 acres of land adjacent to Schofield Barracks along Kunia Road. The South Range land will be used as a training area, a new $50 million Stryker motor pool and a $5 million rifle and pistol range. Construction will begin this year.

Ezra's decisions mean the Army can resume transforming the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade at Schofield to the more mobile Stryker unit. One Stryker unit is already working in Iraq.

Earlier this year, an internal Army report said the vehicle bogs down in mud and the engine strains under 5,000-pound armor added by the Army. The report also said the armor's extra weight has caused problems with the automatic tire-pressure system, requiring crews to check the tires three times a day....

This summer at Hickam Air Force Base the Air Force will dedicate a $30 million facility, which will consist of three buildings for training, operations and maintenance and a flight simulator for a new C-17 squadron.

The first of seven C-17 jets will arrive in January from Boeing's Long Beach facilities. The C-17 is a critical portion of the Pentagon's humanitarian and strategic Pacific airlift operation, which includes being able to transport Schofield's Stryker Brigade Combat Team to any place in 96 hours.

The first two dozen vehicles should arrive at Schofield Barracks in May 2006. Eventually, the 25th Division will have 300 Stryker vehicles that can be outfitted in 10 different ways, with everything from a 105-mm cannon for a mobile gun system to a completely wired command center. Each Stryker costs about $1.5 million.

The tracked combat vehicles and another 810 soldiers will be assigned to the Tropic Lightning's 2nd Brigade, which last month completed a year's combat tour in Iraq.

The first soldiers seeking assignment to the Stryker brigade should arrive later this year, Borne said, as part of the Army's summer normal job rotations. By October, the 2nd Brigade will grow to more than 3,850 soldiers from 3,000.

The unit should be operational by May 2007, Borne added.

The Stryker, named after two Medal of Honor recipients, is the brainchild and legacy of retired Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric "Ric" Shinseki. The Strykers, much lighter than the 67-ton M-1A1 Abrams tanks, were conceived to be easily deployed. They are the first new Army vehicle to enter service since the Abrams tank in the 1980s.

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/05/01/news/index12.html


Smart alleges accounting fraud

Pacific Business News

Multimillionaire Richard Smart recently sued a former "trusted adviser" and a major accounting firm for fraud in connection with contributions to charities.

Smart, the owner of Parker Ranch on the Big Island, sued Deloitte & Touche and Ralph S. Dobbins, formerly a trustee of the Richard Smart Revocable Personal Trust and before that an accountant at the firm.

It is alleged in Smart's suit that starting in 1979, Dobbins and Deloitte & Touche advised Smart to make millions of dollars in charitable contributions to take advantage of "significant tax deductions."

Smart's suit went on to say Dobbins and the accounting firm received substantial fees for the tax and financial advice.

Smart claimed in his suit to have discovered in November 1989 a loss of more than $3.6 million in charitable carryover tax deductions on contributions to the Parker School Trust.

According to depositions on file in the chambers of state Judge Marie N. Milks relating to this and previous litigation, Smart's personal worth is between $250 million and $300 million.

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-9276322/smart-alleges-accounting-fraud.html

~ ~ ~

TO SPOT MORE VULTURES IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, FLY TO

 
 

~ o ~