Who, how, what, where, when is PONO?
A. Soon after arriving in Hawaii, Norm Sandin took Hawaiian language classes. Every student was encouraged to adopt a Hawaiian name. Norm’s kids had called him Papa when they were young. That turned into Pa as they grew and eventually into Po as they cooled. Put Po on the front of Nomano, the Hawaiian spelling of Norman, and you have Ponomano. Norm allowed his classmates to shorten that to PONO! The instructor said “Do you know what PONO means?” Norm said “Heavens, no, what DOES it mean?” She said “PONO means righteous!” Norm said “What a lucky break!” And Norm became Pono.
