Hawaii
By Dave Donnelly
Monday, September 16, 1996
The first, but not the only, Noel
THE first Noel. And the second. And the third. Here it is mid-September and we're already talking Noels. It all started with the Schiller Group's politically risky ad for Maui Jim sunglasses, in which two LOL's ("little old ladies," an equally risky sobriquet), apparently from New Jersey, were pictured. A headline read, "To protect yourself from ozone depletion, either wear our sunglasses or ask all those ladies in Jersey to stop using so much hair spray." If you think that curled the hair of certain New Jerseyites, you're dead right. New Jersey Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg wrote the Schiller Group taking exception to the ad, and copied her state's governor, Christine Todd Whitman. The account supervisor for Maui Jim, fortunately, is also a woman, Noelle Baker, and she has been fielding calls galore both from New Jersey and New York, including the New York Times, about the letter ...
BUT that was just the beginning of a weird tale. The adwoman then got a call from Mililani resident Noel Baker Minami, who hails from Shipbottom, N.J., a little island off the Jersey coast. Apparently her hometown newspaper assumed the Noelle Baker mentioned in the news stories was their own Noel Baker who now lives in Hawaii. They did a sidebar story on "local girl makes national news over New Jersey ad flap." Noel and Noelle each got a laugh over the remarkable coincidence and the New Jersey Noel wasn't the least bit offended. And if that's not Christmasy enough for you, Noelle told Noel there is one more Noelle Baker in town, her daughter, who works at Starr Seigle. Does Hilton Hawaiian Village G.M. Noel Trainor know about these women, or did he in fact train them? The mystery continues ...
Leilynne Lau
CURRENTLY in Sarajevo with the United Nations group overseeing the national elections in Bosnia over the weekend is localite Leilynne Lau, Punahou '89. Both a Truman and Fulbright scholar, Leilynne is employed by the World Bank in Washington, but plans to return to college following her Bosnia assignment ...
A Salonga in my heart
THE not-to-be-missed production of "Les Miserables" currently at the Blaisdell Concert Hall is even better than the previous production there a couple of years back. One reason why is that Lea Salonga is superb in the role of Eponine, and she's just as nice offstage as she is talented on it. When I saw her after the show she took delight in introducing me to her mother as "the man who wrote about me when I was 10." Iolani Spanish teacher Guia Melo had tried to contact the singer through channels to see if she'd speak to the school's Filipino Club, but had no luck. Then, while Melo was having coffee at Liberty House, she overheard two women speaking her native language, Tagalog. She looked up and there was Lea and her mother. Gathering up her courage, she made her pitch. Lea said she'd be delighted and her mother guaranteed she'd been there to talk to the students. And she did, speaking to a packed Iolani amphitheater ...
BUMPED into Osaka D.J. Bob Zix, who's on-air name is Kamasami Kong, at the downtown Ho'olaule'a, and he was embarrassed to tell me he'd been here a week and had to leave the next morning, but unfortunately had forgotten to pick up his clothes, all of which he'd deposited at the dry cleaners, and it was closed on Saturday. So off he flew to Japan, empty suitcase in hand. That ought to puzzle anyone who might inspect his bag! ...
Barbie-san etc.
Joyce Richards
GIRL Scouts honcho Joyce Richards has lined up some exceedingly rare items to put up for bid at the benefit antique auction and ice cream social to be held Saturday at the historic Waterhouse Home and Girl Scout Hale in Nuuanu. There are items such as an 18th century French wine press, a 19th century schoolhouse clock, an early 1900s Hawaiian quilt, a 1920s gas enamel stove and a 1941 Red Cross War Manual with tips on what to do if war breaks out. Oh, yes, there's also a Japanese Barbie Doll. For more info call Val O'Brien at 595-8400, extension 213 ...
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 at donnelly@kestrok.com.
Hawaii by Dave Donnelly is a daily feature of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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