Are You Ready to Spam?

By Madelyn Miller, The Travellady

I love Spam.

Not the kind that clutters my email offering a mortgage, a lottery prize, or enhanced sexual performance. I love the kind that comes in a little tin can.

This is the kind of food that is worthy of celebrating. And that is exactly what the wise people of Oahu do.

The Fifth Annual Waikiki SPAM(r) Jam is set for the last Saturday in April; April 28, 2007, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki; Honolulu, HI.

More SPAM(r) is consumed per person in Hawaii than is consumed in any other state in the United States.  Almost seven million cans of SPAM(r) are eaten every year in Hawaii.   That has proved to be cause for celebration.  Each place in the world seems to have its signature food festival; the annual Waikiki SPAM(r) Jam has become a cultural tradition, quickly becoming one of the most popular festivals in Hawaii.

Admission to the event is free; entertainment is free.  Kalakaua Avenue will be closed to car traffic for the event, and two entertainment stages will be set up on the street.  Between the stages, a dozen restaurants will be serving SPAM(r) in many different ways, so attendees can experience the enormous variety of its applications.  Two merchandise tents will be selling SPAM(r)-themed items including t-shirts, shorts, sport balls, and slippers.  A variety of Hawaiian craft booths also will be set up on the street.  Since the Waikiki SPAM(r) Jam attracts many families, the family tent with its variety of games and prizes has become very popular.

Booths will be set up by volunteers to help collect donations of SPAM(r) for the Hawaii Foodbank.  Foodland Supermarkets on Oahu will be accepting monetary donations of $5, $10, or $20 to the Hawaii Foodbank throughout the month of April.  A portion of the proceeds will purchase much-needed cans of SPAM(r).  All participating Foodland customers who make donations to the Hawaii Foodbank with their Maika'i Cards will be automatically entered into a drawing for a grand prize of a trip for two to Las Vegas.  Organizers hope to collect 10,000 cans of SPAM(r) for the Hawaii Foodbank through the Foodland Supermarkets and the Waikiki SPAM(r) Jam.

The annual Mr. or Ms. Spam(r) Hawaii Contest looks for the most SPAM(r)-crazed fan in Hawaii.  The winner of this contest will receive $1,000 and a year supply SPAM(r).

The sponsors of the Fifth Annual Waikiki SPAM(r) Jam are as follows:  Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products (including SPAM(r)), many of which are among the best known and trusted in the food industry.

Aloha Airlines is Hawaii's favorite airline, serving Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii's Big Island with more than 600 flights a week.  Aloha also provides award-winning in-flight service to Hawaii from Oakland, Sacramento, Orange County and San Diego, Calif., and from Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada.  Hawaii Tourism Authority is the lead agency and advocate for Hawaii's tourism industry, responsible for creating a vision and overseeing tourism from a statewide perspective.

Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, located in the heart of Waikiki, has more than 150 merchants and restaurants offering shopping, dining, crafts,entertainment, daily free activities and more.

This Week Magazines are available free to visitors on Oahu, Kauai, The Big Island of Hawaii, and Maui (including Molokai and Lanai), describing the latest in shopping, dining, entertainment, activities, attractions, tours, luau and shows.

Outrigger Enterprises Group, is the largest locally-owned lodging company in Hawaii and one of the fastest growing lodging companies in the Pacific.  With 60 years of hospitality experience behind it, the company runs a highly-successful, multi-branded line of hotels, condominiums and vacation resort properties across the Pacific, including Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, OHANA Hotels & resorts, Outrigger Condominium Collection, Outrigger Resort Club by Fairfield and Embassy Suites - Waikiki Beach Walk.

Free Accommodation Upgrades:

As part of the Waikiki SPAM(r) Jam, Outrigger and OHANA Hotels in Waikiki are offering guests checking in for the weekend a free upgrade, based on availability, with the donation of a can of SPAM(r), which will be donated to the Hawaii Foodbank.  To make reservations, visit outrigger.com or ohanahotels.com, or call 1-800-688-7444, and ask for the best available rate.  The offer is subject to change and availability. Some restrictions may apply.

The Hawaii Foodbank is the only nonprofit 501(c)(3) agency in the state of Hawaii that collects, warehouses, and distributes mass quantities of both perishable and non-perishable food to 250 member agencies as well as food banks on the Big Island, Maui, and Kauai.  The Hawaii Foodbank forms a vital link between the food donors and its member agencies by providing services in collecting, sorting, salvaging, and distributing food.  The Hawaii Foodbank also supports its member agencies through financial and educational assistance.  Last year, the Waikiki SPAM(r) Jam garnered 6,849 pounds of SPAM(r) for the Hawaii Foodbank.  Since 2004, it has donated more than 10,000 pounds of SPAM(r) to the Hawaii Foodbank.

Waikiki SPAM(r) Jam is organized by Karen Winpenny, Winpenny Marketing and Public Relations, LLC, and Toby Tamaye, AT Marketing.

Please visit the Spam Jam website at www.spamjamhawaii.com for more information.

Madelyn Miller is a food and travel writer who is not embarrassed to admit she loves Spam. Her favorite way to serve it is fried crisp with scrambled eggs. Or fried crisp and then sliced thin like a delicacy and served with mustard on rye bread. She wishes Spam had all the food group qualities of lettuce or broccoli

Read her stories on www.travellady.com, www.chocolateatlas.com, www.cocktailatlas.com, www.teaATlas.com and www.carladynews.com

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