Future foxes
get all fired upTHERE may have been an old flame or two hanging around the Hyatt Regency the past few days, but there's no towering inferno anticipated. All those firefighters you may have spotted on the property are gearing up for the 1999 Honolulu Firefoxes calendar, back by popular demand after a two-year hiatus. Some 22 contestants have been toning up and hosing down in hopes of being selected for one of the 12 coveted spots in the calendar. And in the interest of political correctness, two of the slots are to be filled by "silver foxes" (senior captains) and another by a female firefighter. Her presence reminds us why we no longer call them "firemen." The photographer for the actual shoot, coming up on Secretaries Day (April 22), is Cool Hand Luke herself. That would be Keely Luke, following in the footsteps of her late dad, longtime Star-Bulletin lensman Terry Luke. Bosses who'd like to get their secretaries a seat at the shoot can do so by calling Easter Seals (536-1015), beneficiary of calendar sales. Billie Gabriel-Zito, who's helping line up the calendar "foxes," need look no further than her daughter, former Playboy "Playmate" Kona Carmack ...
YOUR government in action: Ben. Gutierrez of KHNR News Radio was going through the pile of faxes his station receives each day, and came across one that contained the agenda for a legislative hearing on duplication of government services. There were 10 copies of it. Was this a clever political ploy to demonstrate what the hearing was all about? Are you kidding? ... Hawaii is getting a rare opportunity to hear famed pianist Paul Badura-Skoda at the Academy of Arts Theater tomorrow and Saturday nights. One of just two musicians to have been awarded the Bosendorfer Ring, Badura-Skoda has worked with all the great conductors of our day. He will give a Master Class tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. for students of the piano ...
Follow the bouncing ball
SURE, you've heard of R2D2 from "Star Wars," but how about P2D2? George Lucas has nothing to do with P2D2, which was the name given to the Ping Pong Downhill Derby. It's a fund-raising event for the Rotary Club of Pearlridge. At 9 a.m. Saturday at Pearlridge Center, some 6,000 numbered ping pong balls will be dumped down the curved ramp of the Center's parking ramp. Tickets that match the numbers on the balls that cross the finish line first will be redeemed for prizes, including a trip to Vegas, where the stakes can far exceed the $2 it costs to enter P2D2 ...ONCE again those who can't make it to Hilo for the Merrie Monarch Festival will be able to watch it on television live. KITV will be beaming in the program on April 16-18 at 6 p.m. nightly, with over 750 performers on stage in this, the 35th Merrie Monarch Fest ...
Here comes the sun
MY pal Michael Fogarty, manager of Liverpool Lil's in San Francisco, cut short his Kona stay because he was tired of getting "a cloud burn." He's hoping for sunnier times in Honolulu. Meanwhile, Mauna Lani Hotel G.M. Don Dickhens is praying that Kohala sees nothing but sunshine. He's already accepted accolades as winner of the 1998 "Investing in the Environment Awards" for making his hotel the first in Hawaii powered by commercial-scale solar electric energy with the hope that others will follow. Now if the sun would only cooperate so he could have some numbers to show off at the official dedication of the solar project on May 29 ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
His columns run Monday through Friday.Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.