Familiar sights in Utah

25,000 International Rotary members were treated to a Polynesian luau at a Utah convention centre this month. The performance, which involved story, song and dance, was put on by Kaeo-born Dave Atkinson, chairman of the Marae Committee of the New Zealand American Society. “Everyone enjoys a luau, so we are kept very busy all year round,” says Atkinson of his Utah-based group. The Marae Committee was founded in 1988 and entertains at festivals, art shows, church and school functions, corporate parties and family reunions throughout the Western US.