Note: This event presents two registration steps. If you want to both make and toss the genki balls you must register for each event separately.
Okay. I know you’re asking. “What’s a genki ball and why do I have to make it?”
![](https://punahou74.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lily-pond-genki-balls.png?w=1024)
Genki (pronounced gen-key) are balls made of clay soil, rice bran and molasses moistened by a solution containing microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and phototrophic bacteria. Shaped into tennis ball-sized mounds, they can be dropped into polluted bodies of water where, once settled at the bottom, biomediation starts and the water starts to clear.
The aim of the Genki Ala Wai Project is to make 300,000 balls to clean up the Ala Wai Canal by 2026. That goal is expected to be 2/3 complete by this December.
And you can be a part of our project to help make it happen. Punahou74’s effort will come in two steps. Sign up for one or both to be a part of the team.
Step One: Genki Ball Making
Mud meets science class and P.E.! Come wearing your t-shirt and shorts to join us for an afternoon reliving our childhood passion: getting dirty as we make the genki balls.
![](https://punahou74.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/punahou73-genki-balls.png?w=944)
Our goal is to make 1000 balls. It takes two or three hours to create this many masterpieces depending on how much we talk! We need lots of hands willing to get dirty to get the job done!
At the gathering, you will need to walk, stand, carry, and lift. After the job is done, we will refuel and celebrate with a potluck meal. Of course, pictures will be taken. Should we take both a before and after group picture?
We will also need volunteers to take one or two trays of genki balls home to care for them while they harden. You’ll receive instructions. Basically you’ll need to dust off mold that may develop. OH! Don’t forget to bring them with you on the day of the tossing.
Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Time: 3:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.
Location: Home of Charley Loomis. Address will be shared with registered attendees.
Cost: FREE
Guests: Classmates only, please.
Step Two: Genki Ball Toss
![](https://punahou74.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/varsity-baseball-1974.jpeg?w=1024)
Calling all former baseball players. We need your arms!
Two weeks and much fermentation later, it’s time to put the genki balls to work. Ours will be tossed into the Ala Wai Canal.
A thousand balls will take a lot of throwing. Hope you will lend an arm, literally! The balls are about the size of a tennis ball but carry the weight of a softball.
![](https://punahou74.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/genki-ball-tossed.png?w=1024)
Date: Friday, June 7, 2024
Time: 9:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.
Location: Ala Wai Canal near the Waikiki-Kapahulu Public Library
Cost: FREE
Guests: Classmates and significant others only, please.
Note: Please bring water and any snacks. No refreshments will be provided.
![](https://punahou74.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/canva-50th-reunion-logo.png?w=430)