POLYNESIAN PARADISE: Wasilla Summerfest welcomes Hawaii-based musician, food

WASILLA — Folks headed to the Wasilla Summerfest this weekend may get a taste of fresh flavors and smooth sounds on Friday night.

Though the second annual, eight-day festival began with carnival rides and kids games at the Menard Sports Center at 4 p.m. on Thursday, the capstone event of the first weekend comes Friday, June 24 with a performance by New Zealander Leon Toomata, better known as “LT Smooth.”

According to his website, Smooth’s journey to becoming a professional musician was anything but.

“I have spent too many years of my life doing drugs and alcohol, and running from the law and the people that loved me the most,” reads his brief biography in part.

In an August 2007 news story, Smooth told the Honolulu Advertiser he “grew up with the gang scene,” “was a heroin addict” and quit school at age 9. As a teenager, he contemplated suicide at least once, doubtful of his future.

Smooth identifies as “hapa,” which means he has Samoan heritage as well as haole (of European descent) — he was also born into the native Maori culture of New Zealand and raised by adoptive parents. Because of these various ties, establishing his own positive identity early on was difficult, and instead of reaching out for help, he turned to drugs and alcohol.

Running, stealing and destroying became his new routine.

But amidst it all, there was one constant that soothed him — music.

“I’d be stoned, but I’d sit outside a pub, listening to music,” he told the Advertiser. “Jazz, rhythm and New Zealand blues.”

That was the beginning. It would be years before he found “slack key” guitar — the kind of fingerpicking born in Hawaii that Smooth specializes in now — and became a motivational speaker for Voices of Change (vc4u.org), but the results were worth the wait.

“It’s been eighteen years sober now, and I would never change a thing,” his bio reads.

Smooth is now married with children and has shared a stage with the likes of English pop artist Adele, New York rocker Lenny Kravitz, Bono of U2 and, just last month, Stevie Wonder.

Smooth was traveling and had just a few minutes before press time Thursday to express his excitement for the festival this weekend.

“The whole object of me being here is to change lives, to save lives,” he said.

Wasilla Parks and Recreation chairman Dave Tuttle, who was acting as Smooth’s chauffeur this weekend, said bringing his friend up here has been a long time coming.

“We finally got him to Alaska and we’re so looking forward to what he can share with us,” Tuttle said.

Menard Center marketing manager Joan Klapperich said she too was excited to have the artist in town for the weekend, just before he heads to the Lower 48 for the Idaho International Summerfest beginning on July 6.

In addition to the musical performance scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. (sponsored by MTA), the Wasilla Summerfest offers a Polynesian plate dinner at 5:30, catered by Hula Hands Restaurant. Tickets for the dinner and the performance are $25 for adults, $10 for children age 7 to 13 and free for children 6 and under.

Silk flower leis will also be distributed to the first 240 attendees, Klapperich said.

“We just want people to come casual and enjoy the Aloha spirit,” she said.

That said, the event is not just about putting on airs, pretending to be on a weekend Hawaiian vacation. It’s about “cultural exchange,” Klapperich said, between new and longtime Alaska residents, some of whom have Polynesian heritage.

King’s Chapel Alaska in Wasilla, for example — which is providing volunteers to serve dinner on Friday — has a significant Polynesian population among its congregation. As an extension of the King’s Cathedral in Maui, Hawaii, the Wasilla church is represented on its website as one that “cares for people and is structured to minister to people no matter what their age group or ethnic background.”

“As the City of Wasilla, what we try to do is bring our community together,” Klapperich said.

For a complete schedule of Wasilla Summerfest events, see related content.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.