Hawaii's Five-O KO'd

The New York Times published an editorial wondering at Hawaii's much lack of official celebration commemorating Hawaii's 50th anniversary of statehood:

It's not that the anniversary is being totally ignored. There’s a statehood commission. There are events...On the actual anniversary, there's a conference at the convention center in Honolulu where panelists will discuss state history, the economy and the environment, then party into the night with the Platters, the Drifters and the Coasters.

Hawaii's governor's current webpage would differ as to the extent of celebration, "the Hawai`i 50th Anniversary of Statehood Commission is sponsoring events across the state." The mentioned conference is titled, The New Horizons for the Next 50 Years, A Commemoration Conference, and its website states:

The 50th Anniversary of Hawai‘i’s Statehood provides a unique opportunity to commemorate the path that has brought us to the success we have experienced in our first 50 years since statehood, and to solidify the vision for who we will be over the next 50 years.

The price of attendance is listed as only $30 ($15 for students), and "original Hawaii 50th Statehood Anniversary products certified by the 50th Anniversary of Statehood Commission" are available for purchase online.

Seems this is not enough for NYT:

...the islands bled at Pearl Harbor, rebuilt the fleet to win the Pacific war, and sent thousands of sons overseas, including the Japanese-American volunteers of the 100th Battalion, one of the most decorated units in Army history...

Hawaii has given a lot to the Union. It got its own native-son president in January. Only 21 states are in that club. The guy who really invented baseball is buried in Honolulu. And if you could go to any of the 50 states right now, which would it be? The state has a lot to celebrate, if it really wanted to.