Every year, one of the most requested bits of information we get is "where do I send cards to the Christmas Card Lady?" ‘Christmas Card Lady’
no longer accepting cardsSadly, the answer from now on will have to be that author-artist Helen A. Daniels no longer will be accepting the old cards, which she uses to make picture books for hospitalized children. She is winding down her volunteer project, begun in 1986, because of health reasons.
In a letter to Kokua Line, Mrs. Daniels noted she also turned 79 in July and "I just feel that it's time to slow down."
Mrs. Daniels would cut and trim the cards, filling 52 pages of pictures to a book, with eight to 10 pictures per page. Often, she said, she would work 12 hours a day on the books.
"It kills me to have to give up the project, as the children do love the books so and look forward to receiving one," she wrote. "I will give to Shriners only this Christmas and I have plenty of cards to carry me through this Christmas and next."
Already this year, her Kailua home has been inundated with 2 million cards from all over the world, she said.
In 1990, she received an award from the Hawaii Chapter of the Freedoms Foundation for her efforts.
"Never dreamed when I started it would mushroom like this!!" she said.
Mahalo, Mrs. Daniels, for your caring and generous spirit all these years.
We have an elderly cat and dog. For health reasons, they can't be boarded overnight. When we have to tent our house for termites, are there any motels on Oahu that we can take pets to? The Hawaii Hotel Association periodically gets calls asking the same question. But it has no such listing and the woman who answered said that, offhand, she didn't know of any place on Oahu. The exceptions are seeing-eye dogs, she said.
However, someone else alerted us to the Four Seasons resorts on Maui and the Big Island, which do accept pets, mainly kamaaina. (Because of the state quarantine law, out-of-state pets aren't likely.)
The only rules are that they be smaller pets, such as lap dogs, be housebroken and be kept on a leash at all times, a spokeswoman for the resort chain said.
"Just let the hotel know ahead of time," she said. There is no extra charge.
Your best bet on Oahu may be a bed-and-breakfast.
"We do have several hosts that will consider a pet," said Mary Lee, who runs Bed & Breakfast Honolulu, a reservations service. Call 595-7533.
We found Lee's service in the Yellow Pages under bed and breakfasts. You might want to check other listings there.
In the meantime, if there are any motels/hotels/lodgings that do accept pets as guests, please call and we'll compile our own list.
To the gentleman from New York City who has taken it upon himself to paint over the graffiti in the Makiki area. -- L.F. Mahalo
To the nurse and doctor at Kahala Mall on Sept. 7. They stopped to help when our 15-year-old daughter had a seizure until the ambulance arrived. -- Grateful parents Mahalo
To the woman or "angel" who saved our special-needs son from a beating at the Mililani bus stop on Sept. 23. He was so excited that he could attend class at KCC and ride home alone. But that dream was interrupted when two young men exited the bus with him and demanded money. When he said he had none, one grabbed him around the neck and the other one punched him. They ran away when a woman yelled at them and stopped her car. She then drove our son home. We are so thankful to her for saving our son from serious injury. -- The Stouts Mahalo
