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Wood Craft
Ben Wood
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COURTESY ANN KRINITSKY
Honolulu Symphony musicians Stuart Chafetz and Ann Krinitsky celebrated their honeymoon in June on the Danube River in Budapest -- 10 years late. They were too busy working after their 1997 wedding to take time off, they said.
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Isle writer's love story told in 'Chicken Soup'
Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, is approaching, love is in the air, and Cupid is at work, firing his romantic arrows.
Robert Russell of Kailua-Kona got into the love thing, writing a short story that has been published in "Chicken Soup for the Soul Love Stories -- Stories of First Dates, Soul Mates and Everlasting Love," the latest book in the New York Times best-selling "Chicken Soup" series.
Robert's piece, "Watching From a Doorway," is about how observing a married couple communicate showed him what love is all about, said "Chicken Soup for the Soul" creators Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.
The "Chicken Soup" duo also found a few youngsters who fired a few zingers, rather than arrows, about love and marriage. Excerpts from, "Through the Eyes of a Child," in "Chicken Soup" read:
When is it OK to kiss someone? "The rule goes like this," says Howard, age 8, "if you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do," according to "Howard's Rules of Kissing."
What do you think your mom and dad have in common? "Both don't want any more kids," claims Lori, another 8-year-old.
What is the right age to get married? "Twenty-three is the best age, because you know the person forever by then," says Camille, who is worldly and knowledgeable at age 10.
And this is my favorite. It's from 9-year-old Craig. The question tossed at him was, What would you do on a first date that was turning sour? He said: "I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns." That Craig is one cool kid.
Music of love
Cupid's arrows have already struck a romantic chord with a number of
Honolulu Symphony musicians who are married or engaged.
Married couples: Associate principal concertmaster Claire Hazzard and trumpet man Don Hazzard; assistant concertmaster Judy Barrett and principal bassoon player Paul Barrett; Laurilyn Butin, second violinist, and Wade Butin, principal horn player; Katherine Hafner, first violinist, and Ken Hafner, trumpet; Mark Schubert, associate principal trumpet, and Amanda Schubert, first violin; Wu Hong, principal second violin, and Nancy Shoop-Wu, first violin; and Ann Krinitsky, second violin, and "good old" Stuart Chafetz, who beats the skins as principal timpanist.
Several couples got married or engaged since last season: John Gallagher of the bass section and Hye-Chung Kim met at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Manoa and were married there Sept. 22. The new Mrs. Gallagher is a nurse who came to Hawaii 15 years ago from Korea. Her 7-year-old son, David, is learning to keep the beat on the bass.
Steven Flanter, associate principal viola, married Charlene Ide Aug. 20. Charlene plays and teaches flute and works with the charitable nonprofit Na Lei Aloha Foundation.
Principal violist Mark Butin and flutist Claire Starz will marry June 5 at Central Union Church. Mark and Claire met in the symphony and discovered they were both from suburbs of Houston. Mark is in his 10th season with the orchestra; Claire has been in the orchestra three years.
Cellist Karen Bechtel is engaged to Steven Parker, a retired naval officer, whom everyone calls Parker. They have not yet set a wedding date. Parker prefers pops, but lists Brahms as his favorite classical composer. His new interest is swing, make that swinging clubs at golf school.
Newcomer Amy Taylor, associate principal flute/piccolo, sadly had to leave her fianc in Chicago when she joined the orchestra on a one-year contract. Her guy is Stephen Orejudos, who plays trumpet for jazz and swing bands in the Chicago area. He also toots his horn for opera orchestras. Amy and Steve will set a date when they determine whether their future home will be Honolulu or Chicago.
Ben Wood, who sold the Star-Bulletin in the streets of downtown Honolulu during World War II, writes of people, places and things in our Hawaii. E-mail him at
bwood@starbulletin.com