Hawaii
HAWAII has been the training ground for many sports broadcasters. Coming to mind are "Monday Night Football" play-by-play man Al Michaels, new baseball Hall of Fame inductee Harry Kalas, and big time baseball broadcasters Hank Greenwald, Mel Proctor and Ken Wilson. But what about the guys who couldn't rise to the top in Isle TV and radio, but did so in bigger markets on the mainland? Ralph "The Razor" Barbieri couldn't hold a job in Hawaii, but is now a highly visible, quotable and paid sports radio host in San Francisco. And now comes word that Rob Fukuzaki, former weekend sports guy behind Robert Kekaula on KITV, has hit it big. The KABC sports backup is taking over as sports anchor at KABC, ranked No. 1 in L.A., and will host the ESPN Zone in Anaheim, the live show prior to Monday Night Football in L.A. Sports of sorts practiced
first in HawaiiTHE honcho of FXproduction, Hugh O'Reilly, took Elle Magazine's lifestyle editor, Emily Dougherty, to lunch at an unlikely eatery, the Kakaako Kitchen. She must have liked it because after hearing O'Reilly's pitch on Hawaii being a great visitor destination, she agreed to hire him to do a feature highlighting Hawaii in an upcoming issue. And the two agreed to lunch again, this time at Tao Restaurant in N.Y., where O'Reilly will serve as an "Ambassador of Aloha," hoping to land new high-profile features on Hawaii in other publications. He also plans to visit Ground Zero on 9/11, marking the first year anniversary of the World Trade Center's destruction by terrorism ... And now that the remains of former isle resident Heather Ho, pastry chef at the Trade Center's Windows on the World restaurant, have been positively identified, her S.F. boyfriend, Dan Roorda, will also be there for ceremonies. He'll be traveling with pal Howie Mayser, first bartender at the Hard Rock Cafe in Waikiki ...
Cum laude lassies
HAWAII beauty Liane Mark recently was crowned America's first ever Miss Intercontinental at the Intercontinental Pageant. Liane, who graduated cum laude from Iolani and is a 1999 Yale grad, will spend her year of service with the National MS Society raising awareness of multiple scherosis, a disease that's struck her ... Heather Singleton graduated cum laude from Manhattanville in White Plains and now has a real estate license and is helping her boss, Don Eovino, prepare two $3 million homes for an open-house kickoff Aug. 21. She's the grand-daughter of Hawaii's once premiere party giver, the Merry Go Round lady ... And finally, Scotti Keahelani Rovzar, daughter of former Isle ad exec Donna (Rovzar) Merrill, attended UH for a year and spent two terms at the University of Sienna in Italy before becoming a cum laude Duck ...
Musical sendoff
THE celebration of the memory of late musician John Norris will be a musical feast. Jimmy Borges is putting together a band to play the cornetist's jazz favorites at Church of the Crossroads Aug. 24 and the Crossroads musicians are performing Norris' favorite serious work, the Faure "Requiem." The service begins at 10 a.m. with music to follow. And you can bet you'll hear "The Saints Go Marching In." ...
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