'ALOHA' THEME FOR MAY TARGET FREE FAMILY SATURDAY AT NAITONAL MUSEUM

The Japanese American National Museum continues its successful public program series, Target Free Family Saturdays, with the theme of "Aloha" on Saturday, May 9, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Generously sponsored by Target, these special Saturdays are filled with fun activities giving families unique ways to learn, play, and grow together. Admission is free and open to the public.

In keeping with the Hawaiian theme, participants will have the opportunity to learn to play the ukulele, dance the hula, and taste Hawaiian style food. Entertainer Michelle Kiba, who also is a music educator and a music therapist, will lead a ukulele workshop at 11:15 a.m. and 2 p.m. Known as the Ukulele Lady, Kiba found that in her job as an activity director with senior citizens that playing the ukulele was one of best therapies for her clients. She began incorporating hula as well and taught some of the seniors to dance in their wheelchairs.

Word of Kiba’s work began to circulate and she found herself in such demand that she turned her musical and dance performances with seniors into a full time career. Said Kiba, "It’s incredibly heartwarming to watch my listener’s faces light up or sometimes becoming teary-eyed, as I sing love songs or tunes from their pasts. I see many of my clients weekly and over the years they have become my adopted kupuna, (beloved aunties and uncles)."

As a music therapist, the Ukulele Lady, engages up to 50 solo visits every month at healthcare centers, convalescent hospitals, retirement homes, mental health facilities, and Alzheimer's units in Central California. In her role as a music instructor, Michelle directs the Pa Mele 'O Hokulea Ukulele Academy (Song of the Morning Star) meeting weekly in San Jose and Santa Cruz. For more info, visit: www.ukalady.com.

Kiba will lead a hula workshop at 12 noon and then finish with a special ukulele performance at 3 p.m. Her ukulele workshops are 30 minutes long and only a maximum of 10 children (seven years and older) can participate in each workshop.

Aloha Café will provide a food tasting at 1 p.m. The restaurant, located two blocks south of the National Museum in Honda Plaza, will share dishes of the many ethnic cultures of Hawaii that promote the “Aloha Spirit.” For more information, please visit their website at: http://www.eatatalohacafe.com/.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., a number of arts and crafts activities will be available for all visitors. These include how to fold an origami Aloha shirt and how to create a lei to wear or share. Also available will be shave ice, a favorite treat in Hawaii. Participants can construct their own "shave ice" artwork out of tissue paper. Finally, Ruthie’s Origami Corner will teach visitors to make a ladybug Mother’s Day card.

This program is free and open to the public. Generously sponsored by Target, these special Saturdays are filled with fun activities giving families unique ways to learn, play, and grow together. For more information, call the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 625-0414, or go to www.janm.org.