Hawaii
DON'T mess with the boys from Hana High. Of 29 male students in the school, 25 are on the wrestling team, and seven won championships on Maui this year. (May 29, 1970) ... Work begins next Monday on a new 600-seat movie theater that will occupy the spot on the ground level of the Ilikai Marina, which currently houses a Union 76 gasoline station. Royal Theaters is building the structure. (May 30, 1974) ... In a quirky coincidence, Honolulu theatergoers in the next few weeks will be able to see both "Fiddler on the Roof" and a Fiddler IN the "Roof." That is, Jan Peerce will be starring in the Broadway musical at the Concert Hall June 29 to July 11, and Bill Fiddler has been cast in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at HCT, opening July 9. (May 27, 1976) ... 1976: Honolulu’s theater
scene dominated by FiddlersAUGUST will be arriving in July this year. That's the word from Mimi Sylva of Pacific Wine & Spirits, who reports that August Sebastiani, patriarch of the California wine-making family, will be coming to the Islands in July. ... Another movie, "Pearl," continues filming in Honolulu and this week will be in the Merchant Square area downtown, which still resembles Honolulu circa 1940. Because of extensive filming in O'Toole's, the restaurant will close Friday at 3 p.m. and remain shuttered to all but the cast and crew of "Pearl" until the following Tuesday. Most of the stars -- Dennis Weaver, Robert Wagner, Angie Dickensen -- are expected to be involved in the downtown scenes. (May 28, 1978) ...
BANDLEADER Del Courtney claims he'll feature the youngest trombone player in the world at tomorrow's tea dance when 5-year-old Nat Sharp takes the stage. Nat is the son of jazz trombonist Don Sharp, though he's been taking lessons not from his dad, but from Mike Lewis, who regularly plays with Courtney and his orchestra at the weekly Royal Hawaiian tea dances. (May 29, 1980) ...
FORMER Miss Teenage Hawaii (and Miss Teenage America) Lori Lei Matsukawa is now grown up and getting married next month to Larry Blackstock in Seattle, where she's working for KOMO-TV. She formerly worked for a TV station in Portland before moving on, and when she left, her job was taken by another ex-isle resident, Emerald Yeh, who's back in town for a visit. The Pacific Northwest, in fact, is a haven for ex-Honolulu newscasters -- both Linda Coble and Linda Taira are with Portland stations, and Susan Hutchinson is also doing news there. (May 28, 1982) ...
WE all know that auto repair charges are going up, but if the ad in Sunday's paper for Tire Warehouse is to be believed, inflation is going crazy. The ad states that the company is looking for auto mechanics "interested in earning $20,000 per month or more." (May 28, 1980) ... June is busting out all over, and for some reason that reminds me of Liz Taylor. Just last week, one of Honolulu's better-known bon vivants, Guido Salmaggi, went to see "The Little Foxes" starring Taylor on Broadway, and who should he literally bump into but Richard Smart. The Parker Ranch owner (and actor himself) had picked the same night to visit the theater. (June 1, 1981) ...
BACK in February, I mentioned that Kualiapuu School on Molokai had organized a campaign to gather sales receipts from Foodland stores. The school wanted to qualify for the chain's offer of computers in exchange for certain amounts or receipts. It was a trick deal, since Foodland had no stores on Molokai. But new Principal Randolph Kobayashi advises me that since the item appeared, they began receiving receipts from people who wanted to help. The result? They now are the proud owners of two IBM computers. Says Kobayashi, "Our faith in mankind, to a degree, has been restored. ... Had you not taken the effort to bring it to the attention statewide, we would be without the computers today. Thank you very much. You have provided Kualiapuu School a very definite positive." That's one of the happiest letters I've received of late. I couldn't be happier to have been of service to Hawaii's educational efforts. (June 1, 1992) ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com