In her wallet, Sylvia Umeda Kop keeps a Kingdom of Hawai‘i identification card next to her Hawai‘i driver license. She discovered her love and passion for the Hawaiian culture years after graduating from Kaimuki, and now thousands of people from the local and worldwide community have benefitted from the knowledge that Sylvia shares so freely.
Sylvia is married to Mike Kop (St. Louis ’68), whose father sold dolls and curios to tourists and servicemen in the boat-days era from a small shop on Fort Street Mall. Papa Kop’s close friends, kumu hula Aunty Ma‘iki Aiu Lake and Kahauanu Lake, asked him to use his doll-making skills to produce ipu and ‘uli ‘uli for her new hula halau. That eventually led to the founding of the Hula Supply Center in Mo‘ili‘ili.
After Sylvia and Mike got married, they worked at the family business, eventually taking over the shop in 1998. Sylvia majored in fashion design at the University of Hawai‘i so she designed and sewed Hawaiian projects for the shop while Mike continued his father’s legacy of making hula implements.
Over the years, the Kops developed business and personal relationships with hula enthusiasts from around the world. They were eager to learn more about the true meaning of hula mele, Hawai‘i’s history and culture. Sylvia and Mike became passionate supporters of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i when they learned about the illegal 1893 overthrow of the monarchy and have been on a quest to share authentic hula, mele, olelo Hawai‘i and history ever since.
Although the storefront closed in 2015, Hula Supply Center continues to have a presence, selling Hawaiian hula and music supplies through www.hulasupplycenter.com and their Facebook page. Sylvia and Mike continue to sponsor and promote events like Kanikapila Waimanalo and various hula events and festivals.
Sylvia says, “Hula was the true ambassador during the Hawaiian Renaissance in the 1960s. Our generation was the first to freely experience, learn and embrace it with a passion. Scientists have discovered that our Hawaiian culture has real therapy benefits. Why do we live longer and are happier than the rest of the country? We are bred to live aloha by nature.”
We are fortunate that Sylvia has been an enthusiastic ambassador for sharing authentic Hawaiian culture and aloha with the world.
