What Does Keep the Country, Country Mean?Really
When you come to the island of Oahu and drive on the roads you will see green bumper stickers on people’s cars that say “Keep the Country, Country!” What does Keep the Country, Country really mean? Is it a patriotic statement to support the United States? No, what it means in short is Keep the North Shore of Oahu green and protected from a proliferation of hotels and cement. The North Shore is the recreational back yard for all of the residents of Oahu. Every week end our beach parks, particularly in Haleiwa are filled with local families from around the island. The North Shore is also the surfing capital of the world. Each Winter thousands of surfers travel here to test themselves in the Mecca of surfing. Virtually all of these surfers love the aina (land) and for them Keeping the Country, Country means no more hotels and no more of paving over paradise! So now when you come to the North Shore to learn to surf you know what all those green stickers really mean.