‘Mother of Honolulu City Lights’ Carol Costa was dedicated to holiday event
In 1985, when legendary Honolulu Mayor Frank F. Fasi determined that city hall was “just not festive enough” around the holidays, he tasked his then-Press Secretary Carol Costa with jazzing up the courtyard and lawn of Honolulu Hale.
And thus Costa became “the mother of Honolulu City Lights,” a yuletide tradition that generations of kamaaina families and visitors have used to mark the beginning of the holiday season on Oahu.
Costa, 80, died Tuesday under hospice care on Oahu.
