Hundreds of residents and guests were on deck this October as a splashy Hawaiian Luau sailed across The Gardens at Immanuel Campus of Care in Peoria.

Hula dancers from Tia’s Royal Islanders shimmied to the pulsating rhythm of live Polynesian music. As band members drummed up a medley of hula dances, the vibrant Hawaiian dance troupe danced around the cultures of Hawaii, Tahiti and Samoa. Several mainlanders were even invited on deck for a Tahitian hula dance lesson.

As the seaworthy program danced into the sunset, a dynamic fire twirler ignited the spirit of the islands by twirling flames in a spellbinding tribal dance.

A feast of Polynesian foods spiced up the taste of the islands with teriyaki beef and chicken kabobs, Hawaiian fried rice, fresh fruit and Key lime pastry for dessert.

“Great party,” Sun City resident, Ruth Ann Prior raved. “The food was wonderful.”

Seated with a half-dozen of her friends Lynne Rost, a Sun City resident, echoed the sentiments, “We all had a good time.”