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Hawaii

Dave Donnelly


1969: Meter man
becomes a hero
in the face of a fire


METER man Don Ginden was working near Sandy Beach recently when he heard calls for help from a burning house. He dashed inside, carried out an elderly crippled man, went back for his wheelchair and returned a third time to cut off electrical power to adjacent houses. Well done! ... A black entertainer was recently introduced to a trio of young ladies at the Kahala Hilton: Kay Ahearn, Kay Lund and Kay Swenson. He arched his eyebrows and said, "Kay-Kay-Kay?? Is this a conspiracy?" (Aug. 15, 1969)

SOME 40 people gathered yesterday morning in the old, closed-down Manoa pharmacy that now houses Tip Davis Jr.'s Spectrum filmmaking headquarters, to see the films -- avant-garde and oldies alike -- that will be shown at this weekend's FACT '70 film festival at the H.I.C. And who should show up but two policemen, answering the call of neighbors that there were "a lot of suspicious people" congregating in the building. Probably the first time the police have barged into a room of people watching a Mae West film in a long, long time. (Aug. 13, 1970) ...

A GROUP of 150 persons -- members of something called VIB Tours -- will be spending Christmas and New Year's at the Kuilima Hotel. Things should be pretty interesting at the Del Webb resort around then, since VIB stands for Vacations in the Buff and all 150 are nudists. Welcome to the White Whale Lounge. (Aug. 14, 1973) ...

THE writer said it well when he wrote of the president that "his error was sheer stubbornness in refusing to admit a mistake. He viewed the case only in its political implications, and he chose to handle the crisis which faced his administration with an outworn political rule of thumb: Leave the political skeletons hidden in the closet and keep the door locked. He denied outright the evidence in front of him." Pretty savvy, right? The author was Richard Nixon, writing of Harry Truman in the Alger Hiss case in his book "Six Crises." (Aug. 14, 1974) ...

STAR-BULLETIN political wrier Doug Boswell should be answering to the name "Ace" these days -- after 30-plus years of golfing, he shot his first hole-in-one at Mililani on the 160-yard 6th hole. His assessment of the accomplishment. "It was a junk shot." But he took it, nevertheless. (Aug. 13, 1976) ...

HERE'S a Statehood Recognition Award for Golf Digest. A researcher from the magazine called John McDermott at 6:30 one recent morning to check on rates he'd listed in an article on the best golf courses in Hawaii. The young lady researcher asked who in the United States she could depend on to verify the information. McDermott explained (not too tactfully, he admits) that Hawaii has been a state now for nearly 25 years and that she could call the HVB after 8 a.m. The feature the travel writer did for the magazine will appear in the October issue. (Aug. 11, 1983) ...

YESTERDAY was Harry Weinberg's 75th birthday, and the multimillionaire businessman got a cable from Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin. It read, "My sincere mazeltov on your 75th birthday. May you be blest with many more years of good health, happiness, strength and satisfying endeavor for the sake of Israel and Klal Yisrael." Weinberg and Begin met last year when the isle business tycoon visited Israel. (Aug. 16, 1983) ...

WANT to save $1,200? The Kapalua Bay Hotel has lowered its price on 1945 Petrus from $2,800 to a mere $1,600 per bottle. (Aug. 12, 1986) ... While Tony Roma's assistant manager, Dillon Wood, hails from London, he still feels patriotic on holidays. Consequently, he'll be handing out free Hawaiian or American flags to all who eat at his three rib restaurants over the Admission Day weekend. (Aug. 14, 1986) ...

HAWAII filmmaker Edgy Lee will present a free screening and lecture on her documentary "Papakolea" at the Lodge at Koele on Saturday as part of the Lanai Visiting Artist program. The documentary has won numerous awards, most recently the 1994 Corporation for Public Broadcasting Silver Award for independent programming. (Aug. 10, 1994) ...




See the Columnists section for some past articles.

Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968. The Week That Was runs Sundays and recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns. Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com

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