It looked like any laid-back weekend at the Poamoho Camp in Wahiawa yesterday. There were backyard parties, with grills flaming and picnic tables covered with food. Children played loudly in kiddie pools or in the damp, red dirt.

But behind the normalcy, the sense of worry was palpable.

It was clear Del Monte's announcement on Friday to immediately stop pineapple harvesting and layoff 551 workers was on everyone's mind.

"We are sad," said Romeo Ganiron, as he used a ti leaf to shoo flies from big hunks of barbecue chicken cooking on a grill. "No more Del Monte."

The 50-year-old and his 49-year-old wife both work for Del Monte. He has been with the company for eight years. She joined Del Monte in 2000.

After Jan. 22, when Del Monte paychecks end for workers, Ganiron and his family will be in a tough spot. "We'll have no income," Ganiron said, adding he'll start looking for new work tomorrow, possibly as a janitor. "We'll try to find another job."

On Friday, Del Monte shocked workers — along with their union and state representatives — when it announced the company would shut down two years ahead of schedule. In February, the company said it would close at the end of 2008.

Since workers thought their jobs were secure for at least two more years, many did not plan immediately for the future. Now, they have only two months to find new jobs, which could require learning new skills or drastically changing their lives.

Just a day after the announcement, Del Monte started bulldozing rows of pineapple in its fields, but it's unclear how much of the existing crop was destroyed. Maui Land & Pineapple Co. said Friday it would pay to harvest the pineapples. Officials with the companies could not be reached yesterday.

Union members who represent the Del Monte workers said many of them — especially laborers — will have a tough time finding new jobs. Some workers, for example, have limited English skills or might need training just to apply for new jobs.

"The tradespeople are facing increases in pay. But the laborers are probably going to be facing lower-paying work or less benefits," said Walter Benevitz, who was a labor relations manager at Del Monte until 1998. "It's not going to be easy for them."

Benevitz, who was a Del Monte labor manager for 22 years, said he was shocked when he heard Del Monte was closing on such short notice.

During his years at the company, he said, there was a strong rapport between workers and the company. "To pull the rug out from under them, it's just indicative of how times have changed," Benevitz said. "It would be impossible for that to have happened even 10 years ago because of how the parties felt toward each other."

Kathleen H. Masunaga, a Wahiawa Neighborhood Board member, said there are not many jobs in the community for the displaced workers.

Masunaga added that Del Monte's closure signals the end of an era and a new chapter for Wahiawa. The company is embedded in the history of the town.

Several streets in Wahiawa are named after former Del Monte foremen. And California Avenue was named after California Packing Corp., which later became Del Monte. The last thing residents expected, she added, was an abrupt closure.

"After all the years Del Monte has been a part of the community, that really was not a good send-off," Masunaga said.

Vaeleti Tyrell, who worked for Del Monte for 42 years before retiring in 2003, said he worries about laid-off laborers and their families falling through the cracks. "It's really hard for me to see these people," he said.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.