Paul recalled a mandatory all-school parent meeting soon after the Kristoffersons settled in a place with barely 2,000 people living in a rainforest along a 100-mile coastline. From left, Camille Coates, BettyLou Burgett, Melanie Coates, Kristofferson, Natasha Maduska and Patty Eason. Kristofferson with some of the folks who drove over from Hana for the concert. What Kris and Lisa were doing was protecting their privacy, raising their kids out of the limelight, and setting an example of being hard-working, outdoor-loving, community-minded adults surrounded by genuine friends. What would he be doing out here in this wilderness?” I once watched a fellow off a tour bus stare at Kris for 10 minutes, then turn to his wife and say, “Naw, that’s not him. Tourists would do a double-take, staring hard at the bearded older guy playing guitar in jeans and a T-shirt. Ask a gas station attendant, postmistress, waitress, B&B owner or just about anybody else in town where Kris Kristofferson lives and the answers are likely to be “never heard of him,” “no idea,” “20 miles back where you came from” or “none of your business.”īut if he wasn’t on tour or making a movie, local nonprofit organizations counted on Kristofferson to arrive unannounced and unobtrusively join local musicians on makeshift stages, often under rain tents. The family’s “just folks” demeanor and attendance at local weddings, funerals and baby christenings earned them protection from intrusive fans and tabloids. She must have baked a thousand lemon bars.” ‘His Voice Got Stronger And Stronger’ Lisa was always showing up with a big pan of lemon bars. Helping kids pay for school trips, school supplies, whatever. Airline miles for sick kids and their families. “They opened their arms to the community,” said Rich Young, Hana school vice principal and former athletic director. Two years later, another concert and a silent auction raised $27,000 split between Hana athletics and other school expenses. In 2007, during a state spending freeze, Lisa organized a concert by her husband at the MACC that raised $40,000 for Hana school’s athletic department. Lisa was a great problem solver and helped us design the new middle school.” They bought the high school computers, wrote checks for fundraisers. She taught mock trial for 15 years, with little ol’ Hana getting all the way to state competition. You could always count on her to drive the kids, and she chaperoned and organized years of overnight trips. “They are regular parents who helped out a lot. “They’re wonderful go-to people in our community,” Principal Rick Paul said of Kris and Lisa. Courtesy of Lisa KristoffersonĪmong those making the four-hour roundtrip from East Maui were two former Hana High and Elementary School principals, Hana’s current principal and his mother, the vice principal and his wife, teachers, young parents who had been classmates of the Kristofferson kids, local business leaders, school bus drivers, a ranch hand and a mechanic who keeps Lisa’s cars running, plus me and my husband. Some of Kristofferson’s fellow Hana residents got backstage passes to his Friday concert. Many wore stick-on passes Lisa gave them to get backstage after the concert. The often plaintive, always heartfelt lyrics invoked memories of love and loss in his listeners, some of them Hana folks who have known Kristofferson, his wife Lisa and their five youngest children since they moved there in 1990. “Thank you” was drowned out by more whoops and hollers.Īnd so it went through classics “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “Loving Her Was Easier,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “For The Good Times” and 25 of the hundreds of original songs tracking through a career of full-tilt-boogie living. “You all must have been having a party before I got here,” he said, a wide grin acknowledging the goodwill. Micah Nelson, left, and Kris Kristofferson perform at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center Tony Novak-Clifford KAHULUI, Maui - When Kris Kristofferson walked onstage at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Friday with a rousing “Hello, Maui!” he was answered with a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd welcoming home a local favorite.ĭressed in black and performing on a bare stage, Kristofferson got right down to business, his acoustic guitar and harmonica backed only by Micah Nelson, Willie Nelson’s youngest son.Īfter two numbers, the opening words of Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” were drowned out by full-throated support for the 80-year-old singer-songwriter.
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