SOME 25 former airline execs and travel industry folks gathered Sunday at the Outrigger Canoe Club to fete ex-Pan Am bigwig Ernie Albrecht on his 80th birthday. Even former mayor Frank Fasi showed up for the occasion, and the good-natured insults were fast and furious ... Dr. Jack Scaff, former Honolulu Marathon director, is proceeding apace, so to speak, with the H-3 road race he's preparing for next spring. Scaff hopes to attract 100,000 runners and Road Race Management magazine says if the numbers materialize it would put "the three largest U.S. races - Bloomsday, H-3, and the Bay to Breakers - on consecutive weekends." Scaff theorizes it could make for the Triple Crown of running, attracting only the creme de la creme of people aspiring to complete all three events ...
NEW bike paths are popping up all over town and mountain-biking seems to be something of a newish craze. I ran into John Finney, the man who brought Burger King to the islands, and he's suffering from a Whopper of a leg injury from a mountain biking accident and will have to wear a leg cast for the next six weeks. Then there's leasing exec Ed Reinhart, who got a brand new bike, and was showing if off to friends in O'Toole's Irish Pub downtown. As he rolled it out the door and got on board, he immediately maneuvered into a small tree and crashed, much to his pals' amusement ...
IT was in January 1945 that Capt. Sakae Takahashi and his friend, buck private Halo Hirose, went to the first integrated YWCA in America in New York City where Hirose had arranged for them to meet blind dates. Before a word was spoken, Takahashi whispered to Hirose, "Rank has its privilege. I'll take the blonde." And on Saturday, Takahashi and his blonde, Bette Takahashi, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, one of the most successful East-West marriages anywhere. They have four children, six grandchildren and have been civic leaders in Hawaii, helping break down ethnic barriers in politics, banking and business. U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye was best man at the Takahashi wedding in N.Y. on July 6, 1946, and was again on hand to lead the toasts at a pre-anniversary dinner this month ... WHEN "Legends in Concert" producer Paul Revere returned from a show he and his Raiders performed in Battle Creek, Mich., he had stories to tell, not the least of which was that the entire audience was naked! It was the second annual "Nudestock," giving new meaning to the term "show" and Michiganders ...
THAT'S how Mary Levine greeted the unwelcome news that she has advanced cancer. As she puts it, "Breast, liver, bones - the works." The former isle musician and musical director has been living and working in Washington of late, but returned here last month to attend a dinner honoring old theater friend Terence Knapp. She didn't mention it at the time, but she was visiting all her musical and theatrical buddies, possibly for the last time. There was a big party held last night in Seattle, "A Tribute to Mary Levine," with friends and family flying in from as far away as London. It served to kick off a new Mary Levine Scholarship Fund. Even in this trying time, the warm and generous lady was seeking to advance her passion - music and the performing arts ...
