Postcard from Manoa
Manoa, Pennsylvania / Yo* Honolulu Weekly,
Greetings from snowy Manoa, Pennsylvania. Ask around, and most people shrug their shoulders about where this little town eight miles outside of Philadelphia got its name. But local librarians and historians reveal a connection between our Manoa and theirs.
As the story goes, in the 1830s, the Havertown postmaster visited–and fell in love with–Hawaii. When he returned to Pennsylvania, he changed the name of his general store to the Manoa General Store. Over time, people just started writing “Manoa” on envelopes they sent to the area–probably because the general store was where mail was delivered–and eventually the little town had a new name.
Today, I took a drive down Manoa Road, which is lined with trees and cookie-cutter postwar brick houses. I visited the Manoa Shopping Center, where there’s a cigar shop, a dollar store and a deli that serves cheesesteaks, meatball sandwiches, pastrami and other East Coast staples. The Manoa General Store is long gone now, but it once stood across the street from where the Manoa Tavern is today. On the other corner is Manoa Elementary, where students missed so many school days due to this winter’s 70 inches of snow that they’ll be in the classroom until almost July to make up for it.
The people here are warm and welcoming. Many of those I met have lived in Manoa all their lives.
Most say they imagine Hawaii’s Manoa to be an exotic snowless paradise, wholly unlike their hometown. But the owner of the Manoa Tavern said he imagines the two to be fundamentally alike. Living in Manoa, he says, is about a close community of people who know everything about one another–for better or worse–and will always look out for their neighbors.
Aloha, Adrienne LaFrance
COMMENTS
We often print online comments in our “Letters to the Editor” section of Honolulu Weekly. While submitted letters are often edited for length and clarity, online comments we use are printed entirely as they are written for the website. If you do not wish for your comment to be used in Honolulu Weekly print issues, please write “Don’t Print” at the end of your comment. For questions, e-mail editorial@honoluluweekly.com. Thank you!