HELP WANTED: HAWAII NEEDS CONCH SHELL BLOWERS

HELP WANTED: HAWAII NEEDS CONCH SHELL BLOWERS

HONOLULU (Wireless Flash) -- A serious shortage of Hawaiian conch shell blowers is affecting a scheduled Y2K celebration in Honolulu. The Aloha Tower Marketplace, a Honolulu-based tourist attraction, says it's desperately in need of 100 conch shell blowers to "blow in" the new year on Friday night -- but so far, they only have 30. Marketplace spokeswoman "Auntie Iwalani" says Hawaiian tradition dictates ringing in each new year with three blasts on a conch shell. This year they hope to get 100 conch shell blowers, one for each year. Unfortunately, conch shells are now rare due to over-fishing and not every would-be conch shell blower has the lung capacity needed to toot out a note. Still, at this point, Iwalani says she can't be picky so she's asking anyone traveling to Hawaii before New Year's Eve to bring along a conch shell and participate in the ceremony.