Immigration
service at workYOU'D have to say that the trio of balloonists who landed in waters off Kahuku on Christmas Day were the richest drifters to find their way to Hawaii. British billionaire Richard Branson and his well-heeled American companion Steve Fossett, with Swedish engineer Per Lindstrand, had no intention of setting down here, of course. And Branson was amazed at his reception. He told people here how great it was, but he had a different story for the Times of London. It was "surreal," Branson said, that when he arrived on land by rescue helicopter he was greeted first by a U.S. immigration official who demanded to check his papers. Looks like the immigration boys might have seemed a bit Grinch-y, having to work on Christmas Day. "I thought he was joking for a minute," Branson said, "but he really demanded that the correct procedure be gone through." Can't have any illegal aliens settling here, billionaires or otherwise ...
KITV'S Tina Shelton had a good feeling that the Coast Guard would take good care of the trio of visitors, as they were being looked over by an Angel. That would be Angel Deimler, who was the public relations agent for the Coast Guard who was keeping the press apprised of the situation ... Branson, who lost 27 pounds during the balloon trip, flew off to Necker Island to spend the New Year holiday with his family. Why Necker? Easy -- he owns it! ...
Ol' Shep
LAST week was a busy one for Shep Gordon, the music producer and entertainment entrepreneur who lives on Maui. He was in Phoenix for the opening of fellow Maui resident Alice Cooper's new eatery, Alice Cooper'stown, then flew in to be at the pre-opening party of Don Ho's Island Grill (which he co-owns) in Aloha Tower Marketplace with another host of stars. In his pocket he carried an Internet version of USA Today picturing Coop and a story about the Phoenix opening ... As for Ho, he seems excited about having another eatery named after him, especially when it has excellent fare prepared by restaurateur Mark Ellman of Maui. Nephi Hannemann also dropped by to see the place and Raymond Kane is getting set to perform there New Year's Eve from 9:30 to 1 a.m. ...ALSO at the Ho opening was Ray Bickson, G.M. of the Mark Hotel in New York. He was in town for the holidays and was there with his mom, Joan Bickson and sister Nalani. He said that while hotels may be hurting in Hawaii, the Mark has enjoyed its best year ever in 1998 ... It was a particularly happy Christmas for Havana Cabana co-owner Stuart Lee. The brother of actor Jason Scott Lee became a daddy on Dec. 23 when Holly Pontes gave birth to Drake Robert Kanoa Lee ...
Getting 'Satisfaction'
BRANSON and company weren't the only folks dropping into the North Shore in recent days. Dick Carruthers revisited Ken Anderson and Drop Zone Inc. to make a few sky dives. It was at Drop Zone that Carruthers learned how to jump from planes back in February when he was here with the Rolling Stones for their "Bridges to Babylon" tour. Carruthers is video coordinator for the Stones and on tour he's been playing some of Anderson's sky-dive videos on the Stones' huge screen. His first words to Anderson when he walked in the door was "Start Me Up," the Stones song used as a theme for Microsoft's Windows 95 TV ads. Anderson was happy to do so, since he was practicing for the Santa and the Three Elves jump into Aloha Stadium for the Aloha and Oahu Bowls doubleheader Christmas Day ...
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: donnelly@kestrok.com.