Kalaʻi Miller / Home is Here Host Aloha, I’m Kalaʻi Miller.

Turning 100 is a significant milestone, whether it’s a person, place or business.

And in Hawaiʻi several institutions turned the big 100 in 2022.

We begin in lush Mānoa Valley where it’s like stepping back in a moment of time.

In 1922, the Salvation Army opened the Waiʻoli Tea Room where patrons could get lunch and afternoon tea.

But it was also a place for young girls to receive vocational training.

After being shuttered for several years, it’s now the Waioli Kitchen and Bake Shop and the owners are honoring the past with a new calling.

Stefanie Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner Waioli has a rich history that we're so lucky to be a part of.

Ross Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner So the history of this place is pretty interesting but it started even before the Waiʻoli Tea Room came into existence.

There was an orphanage here that started out when the Salvation Army first arrived in Hawaiʻi and this happened to be a girl's home, on the hillside here behind us.

And they discovered that when the girls aged out that they were headed, most of them back to the plantations where they had a very hard life in front of having no family.

They were the lowest of the social order, and it was just going to be a rough life.

So, with a grant or donation from the Wilcox family on Kauaʻi they had this property and they put up the Waiʻoli Tea Room.

And the idea was that the girls would learn how to basically do all the tasks to run a household.

They had the cooking, serving, cleaning, probably most importantly, they got beyond the plantation English and they learned how to speak proper English.

Stefanie Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner Now right across the way Salvation Army has a home where women who have drug and alcohol addiction can live with their children and continue to get treatment.

They're learning how to recover and learning how to be mom.

Ross had run restaurants for 30 years.

And when it was time for him to retire, somebody suggested reopening Waiʻoli.

It had been closed for about four years.

And when he consulted all of his restaurant friends, they said whatever you do, don't do it.

Because it's open and closed many times over the years.

But we we found if you ever want to make God laugh, just tell him what you're not gonna do.

We were like, we're not doing that.

He's like, Oh, yeah, that's exactly what you're doing.

So, I had spent six years volunteering in the women's prison preaching, teaching and counseling.

And we realized that in prison, women have a lot of support.

They have a lot of programs while they're in there, but when they get out, there's not so much they literally just open the door and let them out.

So you can imagine when they get out, they often times go back to what they've always known so we have a very high recidivism rate here in Hawaiʻi.

So we thought Ross' management and running restaurants coupled with what I had done would be the perfect thing to put in here at Waiʻoli.

Salvation Army wasn't even sure they wanted to open it again.

We wanted to make sure that everything that we did supported what they had done.

We had to get a vision for what this generation of Waiʻoli was going to look like because it had been a tea room.

We had a friend who came in and was able, John Attenti was able to help us get a color scheme back in place and return it back to so that you would feel like you're back in old Mānoa in 1922.

And then all the pictures that you see, we had to comb through their archives and, and try to tell the story again, bring it back on mission again.

Ross Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner We have an amazing building here.

It's literally a 1920s arts and crafts style, bungalow that could have been someone's home.

So many people walk up and they go, whose house was this, who lived here, not knowing the history of the place, which of course is an opportunity for us to tell the story.

But it's, it was done very, very well.

They had a tremendous understanding of, I'll say quality, back when it was built, and it stood the test of time.

It's not a new building by any stretch of the imagination.

Our drain lines are, you know, this big, and it has 100 year old wiring, and it has all the foibles of 100 year old building.

That being said, it's still here, it's still looks beautiful.

The grounds are old Hawaiʻi.

Stefanie Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner So we changed it a bit from the way that it used to be, we made it more of a fast casual restaurant.

And the idea behind that, I think, is that we wanted to continue the mission that Salvation Army has always had in our community.

So we talked about the orphanage and those those gals who are across the way getting help.

So we thought this would be the perfect place for them to just walk literally right across the parking lot, and and have a job.

But it's turned out to be a little harder than we thought it would be, yeah babe?

Ross Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner It's been a little bit more challenging to start this up.

Because when you are equal parts mission and equal parts restaurant, you find that you're doing a lot more counseling on life skills, rather than just the skills required to perform the tasks in the restaurant.

It's, this is your job, and you're expected to show up every day, on time, ready to work.

And a lot of these girls have never had that sort of an experience.

Dida Baza / Baker I'm the baker.

So, I pretty much do all the scones and some pies.

I run the line, pretty much everything back of the house.

Well, I spent most of my adult life incarcerated.

And everything I picked up, I picked up in jail.

So, I was the head baker and the head cook in there.

When I got out this time, I had a really hard time finding a job in the beginning.

Because as soon as they did a background check, they never called back.

This opportunity means a lot.

This is the longest I've ever been out of prison.

It's more than just a job here, we're a family here.

Tiffany Saleimoa-Kekahu / Line Cook Back in the days when I was doing time, Stef used to come and volunteer in WCCC.

And so, when one of my friends told me that this was her mission, that this is what they're doing here, I wanted to be part of that mission that they was doing, helping the next person that coming out of prison, you know, giving them a chance to work.

That's where I wanted to be and this is where I'm at.

Natashia Day / Food Runner I moved over here to Salvation, it's clean and sober living.

I had to get a job and I had just had my son, he was only like, maybe six months old.

My mom started babysitting for me, I came in applied for over here.

And they hired me.

And ever since then, since January, I've been here of 2021.

And I love it here.

I had no experience in this job, but I have plenty experience now.

Stefanie Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner We had some ladies that had run drugs, you know, for 40 years.

And then we're asking them to show up on time, to get along with people, to not just do things our own way.

So those are some of the huge challenges.

Our gal Tiff didn't even know how to flip an egg when she first came, right?

I mean, she broke how many eggs?

Thousands.

Thousands of eggs.

We put on so much weight eating her mistakes.

Tiffany Saleimoa-Kekahu / Line Cook I think it went about a month.

It took me that long to learn.

But he showed me this one method where raw rice and that pan he's like just flipping a baby flipping a baby and all that.

Okay, so now I can flip, toss, turn.

Stefanie Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner Tasha is incredible.

She is a single mama.

She's overcome her addiction.

She works so hard.

I mean, she's one that you're considering putting into management.

Yeah.

Going from just walking in going, can I have a job to being a manager, she owns her space and she trains people.

Amazing.

Natashia Day / Food Runner There's a lot of things I enjoy the most about working here, the where it comes from the whole background of this place and what it used to be and how they take in the people that most people wouldn't take in, you know, women coming from treatment, women coming from prison, and they train them they have no problem with it.

They put the trust in them.

And it's just, they're really, really awesome loving people, Stef and Ross.

Like I get goosebumps right now talking about it, but I really enjoy the scenery and the people that come here.

Ross Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner Dida’s a very interesting person.

She has spent the majority of her adult life in prison and the times that she's been out have been very short.

Right now she's on her longest stretch out of prison that I believe she's ever had.

And she is a remarkable woman because she has such natural leadership qualities.

Things that you can't teach.

Yeah, she she's a general she is a general.

No, she is she is.

And she brings people into her sphere.

And perhaps in the past that wouldn't have been a positive thing.

But now she takes people and she trains them and she teaches them and she gives them opportunity and little responsibilities, she's actually become my lead baker.

Dida Baza / Baker I actually created three of the scones that we have.

Boss is actually pushing me to create things.

Even when when I've had a couple of fails, he doesn't like judge me or get mad.

He'll just be like, "Well, this one didn't work out."

But I don't feel like a failure.

You know, like, oh, man, he's just like, well, let's just try and adjust it.

Ross Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner Our, our Tiffer is she's one of our first people that we hired.

She is steady.

She is calm.

It doesn't matter how busy it is, you're never going to see her get flustered.

And she'll always do her best and talk about someone who welcomes so new people into a stressful environment because it can be stressful in the restaurant business.

Tiffany Saleimoa-Kekahu / Line Cook We don't have professionals coming through these doors, you know, we have people that constantly reminding me where I came from.

So, I'm there to like, oh, no, come let's do this.

Let's try this way.

Let's go this way, instead of going that way, you know, so, um, I think every time when someone new comes, comes through that door, it reminds me of where I don't want to go back, you know, so kind of helps me stay on track too.

Dida Baza / Baker We're not judged here.

We're all equal here and that makes a difference.

Natashia Day / Food Runner They remind me every day of of how, how worthy I am and how good I'm doing.

And they always constantly remind you of the greatness that they see in you.

Tiffany Saleimoa-Kekahu / Line Cook Everything we do here, we do at home too you know?

We're learning how to communicate here, we learn how to communicate with our kids, our family, you know, everything we do is a lifestyle here.

Stefanie Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner What inspires me I think the most about our staff is that they are, they're doing the hardest thing that they've ever had to do in their life.

You know, running drugs was hard, being in prison was hard.

But this changing is really the hardest thing they've ever had to do.

And being able to watch them wrestle through their processes has been amazing.

Ross Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner And they're learning to become overachievers.

They could take what they've learned here and basically fall into almost anywhere, because they do a really good job.

And there's a lot asked of them, and they do it at a fairly high volume.

It might just be breakfast and lunch.

But it's a lot of breakfasts and a lot of lunches.

And we always stress that you don't do 300 breakfasts, you do one breakfast 300 times, because it's special to that person that's going to enjoy it.

Stefanie Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner The hope is that they will go and they will take everything that they've learned here, and they'll bring it to their next place.

Ross Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner The hope is that they will go the right way.

Yeah.

It's heartbreaking to watch them go the wrong way and it's very fulfilling to watch them go the right way.

Stefanie Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner We just consider ourselves like the next ones to run with a baton that is Waiʻoli.

There's been many different people who have come through and run this restaurant in all different ways.

And so now that we have it, we want to run with it in such a way as to just affect those that are around us and those that come in here and and honor the culture definitely honor the host culture and honor the years and the the history that this place has.

Kalaʻi Miller / Home is Here Host At 100 years old, Ella Fujie has a lifetime of stories to tell.

Just imagine all that she’s lived through?

She says her life wasn’t always easy, but it’s been filled with family, art and adventure.

Happy birthday to you.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 I'm Ella Umeno Minaai Fujie.

I was born on February 24, 1922.

Happy birthday to you.

Woo!

Iris Nitta / Ella’s Daughter We are very fortunate that she's still here.

I mean, you know, she kept saying, I want to live to 100.

Christine Inouye / Ella’s Daughter My mom's goal was is was to reach 100 because all of her siblings have passed away.

My, my father passed away younger.

And so she's looked forward to this for a long time.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 I was born and raised in Hilo.

We all had Japanese name.

And then I used to cringe when we used to go to school, do you know, roll-call especially Hilo Intermediate School where we had Caucasian teachers come from the mainland, and they struggle trying to pronounce our name.

My older sister, you know, gave us all these English names.

Actually, she named me after Mrs. Roosevelt who was Eleanor.

So, later on somehow I shortened it to Ella.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son So my mother's father died when she was 10 years old.

And, you know, just the depression years, the Great Depression.

And so, they had a small farm and they, you know, had to persevere.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 We had to struggle, especially after my father passed away.

But my, I have two brothers and two sisters above me, another younger sister, and my mother.

So, you know when I look back, I was fortunate, I was able to finish Hilo High school, because many of my friends that went to grammar school, they all had to quit.

I didn't know any better until I grew up and found out the plantation life yeah, they all had to work.

The men worked, but the women all stayed home.

My favorite subject was art at the Hilo High School.

Clayton Fujie / Ella’s Son I guess my mom at a young age exhibited talent in art.

And one of the paintings that she did when she was 16 was this picture right here.

It's a watercolor of flowers, with no formal training.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 My favorite painting was the torch because my brother had that torch ginger and that was huge, you know, beautiful flowers.

I was just out of Hilo High School when Pearl Harbor was bombed, and we were all everything stood still, you know, no food, no, we had enough food but everybody starts to hoard.

And then, ah, schools are all closed.

I worked for the PX during the war days.

Then I got married and I went to the island of Lānaʻi.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son So my mother Ella was working at the PX in Hilo for the U.S. Army during the war.

And a family friend said, I have this really good, good, good guy for you to marry from Lānaʻi.

And she says, "Well, if he can't find his own wife, he must be a loser.

And he's from Lānaʻi so he's a country hick."

And the guy, the go between kind of pleaded with her to at least meet him.

So when he came over, she says, "Wow, this guy's pretty good looking guy.

He's pretty tall.

And you know, he seemed pretty nice."

So they went on two dates, daytime dates, and my dad proposed on the second date, and they got married.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 This was during the war that everything was you know, uncertain.

You know, the Japanese, young boys volunteered to join the U.S. Army.

And my husband says he volunteered two times, but somehow working on Lānaʻi limited workers in a big company, pineapple company, yeah.

So, he was rejected.

So his father said you might as well get married.

I lived there for two years working in the personnel office, learning about the pineapple company and was very interesting.

So, and then after when the war ended my husband was ready to move, so we moved back to Hilo.

I raised five children three boys and two girls.

Clayton Fujie / Ella’s Son Actually it’s Iris, who’s the oldest.

Iris Nitta / Ella’s Daughter And my brother Clayton is the second.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son And my late brother Maurice.

Iris Nitta / Ella’s Daugher And then Christine my sister.

Christine Inouye / Ella’s Daugher And my baby brother, Richard Jr. Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 Well my children came first.

They were my first happiness, yeah.

But they had, they had all their problems too so.

They give me alot of headache too.

Especially this one.

He's the youngest you know he was really, he was surfing, no study the report card, whoa, okay he didn't want us to see his report card.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son She told me just recently, I was the worst.

But I turned out pretty good at the end.

So, it's how you finish not how you start.

Iris Nitta / Ella’s Daughter And because he and my mom finished high school, which was rare in those days, and my dad didn't have the opportunity to go to college, he always said we had to go to college.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 Now, when I see all my children there were able to go to college on their own, I mean we helped a little but they all had to struggle through it.

Clayton Fujie / Ella’s Son It was an interesting time.

My parents were always involved with different organizations, the church, or my dad had a Garage Association.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son The Lions Club, the Junior Jaycees, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, the booster club for Hilo High School.

Christine Inouye / Ella’s Daughter They set a very good foundation for us.

They always encouraged us to expand our horizons to do different things to, to explore, to go away.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son 19:33 – 19:36 They traveled a lot.

That was their, that was their passion.

They traveled all over the world.

Clayton Fujie / Ella’s Son My dad asked her, "Do you want a house or you want to travel?"

And my mom just said, "I want to travel."

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 Traveling you learn a lot.

Iris Nitta / Ella’s Daughter She did hold a lot of jobs.

Her first job really I would say is the art teacher told her the printing of the high school diplomas, the bid is up for options right now.

So, why don't you put a bid in and she said that she went one cent lower than the person who had the previous bid.

And by right she should have won the bid but because she was only a junior in high school, they split the the printing of diplomas between the two of them.

Then she said well I went down to the stationery store and I bought a book on how to do calligraphy and all the pens.

And I taught myself how to how to do Old English printing.

So that was her first job and it lasted 50 years.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 High school diplomas I used to paint all the, Old English.

Iris Nitta / Ella’s Daughter She did some other jobs, like helping my dad at the service station.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son My father Richard had Richard's Service Station, which was a Flying A gas station, right on Waiʻānuenue and Kinoole in Hilo.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 So one morning, he said, "Oh, the two boys didn't show up can you come down?"

And my youngest son was only three years old, so I had to stay at home.

So he and I, I say, "Oh, we have to go to the service station."

So he and I walked one mile, one mile to the service station.

And then, you know at least answer the phone and cause my husband was all by himself.

So after that he said, can you come again?

So I ended up working, helping him for 17 years I think?

So, you know, those days you don't see women working, pumping gas.

Eventually, I learned how to you know, check the front.

Iris Nitta / Ella’s Daughter Then she also worked for Parks and Recreation.

She did that as the summer school, summer fun program director.

Then she found a job at the Hilo Bay Hotel.

She worked there for like 50 years.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son She was part of the family for that Kimi family and enjoyed working with them.

They're actually classmates Billy, Uncle Billy and my mother were classmates in Hilo High School.

Nats HNN pkg People fondly call her the flower lady.

She’s a real icon here.

She’s just as popular as Uncle Billy.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 Hilo is always rainy so I plant all kinds of flowers and that's what I was taking to the hotel.

Christine Inouye / Ella’s Daughter She would bring flowers from her own yard and she would have it on a table for you know, please help yourself.

And then she started with talk to them.

And, and everyone was amazed because they would just think it was this old woman there.

But they didn't realize how world traveled she was and how she knew a lot of things.

She made so many friends from around the world working at Hilo Bay Hotel.

Iris Nitta / Ella’s Daughter And in between, she worked at the Seaside restaurant, that now my cousin is running.

And so she waitressed for us.

And then in the end, in a twilight years, she and her sisters were the salad makers, washed all the lettuce and prepped all the vegetables.

And then later on they became the ladies in the back folding the napkins and tablecloths, answering the phones taking reservations.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 I learned a lot working at the hotel and at the service station.

Then at night I used to work at the Seaside Restaurant as a waitress.

I never wanted to be a waitress somehow, family so you know, so I had three jobs.

But and then raising my five children.

I never retired.

No, I never retired.

I was working til 96.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son My siblings were retired.

I was the only one working when she when she finally retired, but wasn't retirement because she actually got hurt.

And she got knocked down by a big puppy and broke her collarbone.

And so she was kind of forced to stop driving and she couldn't work after that.

Clayton Fujie / Ella’s Son I think she just loved to be with people, that was the key.

She could talk to people, share different stories with them.

And whether it was at Hilo Bay, or at Seaside Restaurant on the Big Island, that was her way of interacting with people.

Trisaha Roy / Ella’s Granddaughter Having grandma here to celebrate her her 100th birthday with four generations of our family, I think it's like really, really special.

It just shows you how much she means to everybody.

Christine Inouye / Ella’s Daughter Family came first for her which as you can see our families very close to each other.

And that was both my parents feeling that we should all be close together.

Clayton Fujie / Ella’s Son She was willing to take chances that amazed me.

And my mom was always, you know, at home wife, took care of all the kids.

But when my dad passed away, all of a sudden, you know, it's like, she took charge.

Very strong willed.

But I think all of this contributed to having a good life.

And I think she was also very happy with how we all turned out.

Iris Nitta / Ella’s Daughter I think the lifestyle in Hilo, you know, is very low key.

They eat a lot of greens, fresh vegetables, or fish.

And it's just her involvement with the temple and just with family.

She was very close with her sisters so I think all of that led to longevity.

Richard Fujie / Ella’s Son I think she's a very giving person and she likes to engage with people.

She loves people.

And that's I think the key is she's, her minds always active and she's always active doing things.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 Even I cannot imagine I lived this old.

I live long enough.

And I've seen the war, I've seen the drought, volcano eruption, all kinds, tsunami.

Who’s that?

Mia.

Oh my goodness, she caught that?

Yeah.

Wow!

Trisha Roy / Ella’s Granddaughter Hearing my grandma's stories has been all through these years, in the beginning as a child, maybe I took you know, granted for, but now it's something that I really cherish.

Even if she tells the stories over and over again, I don't get tired of listening to them and just really trying to embody what she's telling me about and learning from them.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 We all have problems so you just have to do the best you can.

Trisha Roy / Ella’s Granddauther I've asked my grandma many times, what's her secret to living to 100.

But I think the best is you work hard and she said, "Don't forget, you have to play hard too", which is super cute.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 Secret?

Work hard, play hard.

(laugh) Kalaʻi Miller / Home is Here Host Thank you for joining us.

Head to pbsawaiʻi.org for bonus features from this episode including a recipe for Ella Fujie’s ono potato salad.

For Home is Here, I’m Kalaʻi Miller, a hui hou.

Stefanie Anderson / Waioli Kitchen & Bake Shop Co-owner We really think of all these folks as found treasures and our whole heart is to just give them a second chance.

Ella Fujie / Turned 100 Years Old in 2022 We never wear shoes.

Barefoot but we enjoyed that because when it rained we run around in the mud.

And we used to climb up the guava tree, pick the guavas.

That was my life.