A Thanksgiving
caffeine buzzIT must take something of a "coffee high" to maintain the kind of schedule which Starbucks execs Dean and Scott McPhail maintain. Take Thanksgiving Day, for example. The two were up early to brew and deliver Starbucks coffee to the corner of Hotel and Bethel for the annual "potluck" feast for the homeless. Then they dashed off to the Hard Rock Cafe to deliver more coffee for HRC's annual Thanksgiving meal for the less fortunate. That same week the pair opened two new Starbucks stores at Pearlridge Center and Pearlridge Uptown, sponsored (and provided coffee for) the premiere of "A Tuna Christmas" at Manoa Valley Theatre and coordinated Iolani art students at Starbucks Kahala as they built a Christmas tree made entirely of tuna cans. All 1,400 cans were donated to the Hawaii Foodbank! ...
AND speaking of coffee, Rick Ralston surely had no idea when he came out with his first Crazy Shirt that his company, created in Hawaii in 1964, would one day be putting out T-shirts that not only promote Kona Coffee, but smell like it as well. And new to Crazy Shirts is the "Chocolate Dyed T-Shirt," a brown-colored number with chocolate-themed artwork that, yes, smells of chocolate. The chocolate shirt is the newest item hitting the chain's 60 stores from Guam to N.Y. ...
Today's news next week
THE Dec. 8 issue of Sports Illustrated has a moving story about Shannon Smith, the UH football walk-on who died at Kauai's Slippery Slide after helping save the life of Coach Fred vonAppen's son, Cody. One sidelight to the S.I. article. It mentions both Honolulu papers carried headlines about the rescue of Cody, but failed to mention that the Star-Bulletin broke the story in its first edition after the tragedy, while the soundly beaten Advertiser didn't run a story until Tuesday, three days after the event.IF you happened to see the CBS movie, "A Thousand Men and a Baby" Sunday night, you should know that the baby in the film was none other than Chase Slover, who's dad, Keith Slover, is from Hawaii and formerly worked with Starr Seigle McCombs. His wife, Daugherty Chase Slover, is producer of the film. A further local angle: Benjamin Lum, who played a Korean official in the film, was a classmate of Keith's at McKinley and a neighbor now in Glendale, Calif. In addition, Keith Slover designed the film titles, poster and CD cover. Feature stories on 45-year-old Danny Keenan, who was the actual baby in the true-life story, are appearing in People, "Inside Edition" and "Entertainment Tonight." ...
Life sweeter for Saurer
THIS has certainly been a rewarding time for Kailua High and UH grad Beth Saurer. The former isle D.J., who worked for numerous stations here, most recently KINE 105.1-FM, moved to San Diego. And, while she plans to continue her involvement in the entertainment business, it'll be on a new level -- as a lawyer! The former emcee, interviewer, band manager and all around entertainment industry figure was informed just before Thanksgiving that she'd passed the California Bar on her first attempt! Some would-be lawyers take it up to 20 times. Her swearing in to both the California Supreme Court and the Federal District Court will take place next week, making for a rewarding holiday season indeed. Says Beth, "Musicians from back home are starting to call on me more often now." Beth's mom is Dorothy Saurer, author of the just-released children's book, "The Gecko Who Wanted to Be Different." ...
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.