By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
This is a memorial from Matt Kresser for his father,
Fred, who died in an accident in Singapore in 1983.

Ala Wai—and dad—rocks

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Nakasone of Honolulu are intrigued by "a big rock overlooking the (Ala Wai) canal with a plaque on it."

A closer inspection by the WatDat Scramble Team reveals that the plaque'd rock is visible from the road leading into the Ala Wai golf course, on city park land used by canoe-racing enthusiasts.

The plaque says simply "Dad's Rock." A Father's Day commemorative? Sort of. It's generally assumed that the plaque honors Outrigger Canoe Club's legendary swimming coach George "Dad" Center, whose swimming proteges included Buster Crabbe, and other Olympic medal winners. Center was coach of the U.S. swim team at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp.

The plaque was actually placed a few years ago by Matt Kresser to honor his father, Fred Kresser, a Honolulu engineer who died in 1983 in a bizarre industrial mishap in Singapore. Matt Kresser was 17 at the time, and an active canoe paddler, and has since become active in trying to preserve the Ala Wai.

"It's for my Dad, but it's really for all dads everywhere. I want all dads to come with their kids to enjoy the Ala Wai. Mine did," said Matt Kresser. "The canal is very important to me -- without the canal, there would be no Waikiki -- and it could become the epicenter of world canoe racing. It's Hawaii's unique export to the world of sport."

Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin.