North Shore NewsMany people driving through Haleiwa wonder about the historic gym across from the Haleiwa Post Office and may not realize it is the home of the Waialua Community Association (WCA). The WCA, founded in 1934, is the first and oldest community association in Hawaii. More than sixty community associations on Oahu and the neighbor islands were modeled after the WCA.
The WCA was the vision of brothers Frank and John Midkiff, Frank coming up with the idea and John, being the manager of the Waialua Agricultural Co., Ltd., helping to make it happen. The Midkiff brothers, the trustees of the Juliette M. Atherton trust, along with the residents and existing organizations in the Waialua district, set out to make rural life more attractive and to increase the population of Waialua. The Midkiffs’ vision included addressing health, recreation, entertainment, education, and all phases of social life. Although John Midkiff managed the Waialua Sugar Plantation, he wanted the WCA to be managed by the 4,400 non-plantation people of the community and refused to be an officer, instead staying in the background and allowing his brother to be the WCA’s first president.