HONOLULU -- They rolled out the red carpet for the country's Toyota USA dealers convention at the University of Hawaii, marking the first time UH has rented out its facilities for such an event.

Toyota hosted its first meeting in Honolulu 30 years ago and jumped at the chance to come back

"This is the 50th anniversary for the founding of our company, so we thought it was great to come back to our roots for our 50th anniversary in the 50th state," said Toyota Corporate Manager Mike Michels.

Toyota officials said it has taken about 1,000 people to organize the event, which featured venders of all kinds and a private concert with Stevie Nicks and Aerosmith.

The event was expected to draw thousands of people, but dealers and their families were the only ones in attendance for the private event.

The school closed off the athletic complex, the lower campus and areas of the upper campus for a 10-hour period -- and inconvenience officials said was a small price to pay for $500,000 check.