A secret too well kept
Hill and Knowlton CEO Kitty Lagareta was mysteriously missing from the Royal Hawaiian Rotary luncheon Tuesday where it was announced she was to be this year's YWCA LeaderLuncheon honoree in May. As president-elect of the Rotary for the year 2000, Lagareta had signed out of the office to go to Rotary. Office workers who'd kept her honor a secret for three weeks breathed a sign of relief. But when Kitty left for the Rotary meeting, she'd hitched a ride with fellow Rotarian Gae Bergquist, who knew nothing about the surprise. Gae talked Kitty into attending a Linda Lingle speech at the Bishop Street Exchange Club instead, figuring they could make up their Rotary absence on Thursday. So at the Tuesday meeting, H&K staffers Christina Kemmer and Julie Ames stood helplessly by as Caroline Ward Oda and Sue Doyle did their pre-arranged sketch honoring no-show Kitty. Ah well, thought Kitty when she finally got wind of things, at least she knew her staff could be trusted to keep a secret -- even from her ...
AS Havana Cabana owner Bryan Uy put out some complimentary sashimi pupu, he proudly announced he'd caught it with Capt. Randy White and first mate Mike Murphy on the "Maggie Joe." It was, said Uy, the biggest marlin caught this year. "How big was it?" asked the impressed audience. "Four hundred twenty pounds," said Uy. That didn't seem very big, someone suggested, but Uy deadpanned it was only their third marlin caught this year ...
Tales of Details
PERHAPS the most rounded model around today, and I mean that in every sense of the word, is Rebecca Romijn Stamos. She looks great both on the cover and inside the January edition of Details magazine, and actually sounds bright, witty and fun-loving on TV talk shows. But another feature in the magazine is the "Sex-O-Meter," which has a thermometer type graphic purporting to range "From red hot to what's not." Coming in dead last is the 1999 Spice Girls calendar, but at the very top of the meter is Malia Jones, described as the "surfer/model from Hawaii (who) gives new meaning to the phrase 'wet 'n' wild.' Hang a perfect ten!" ... The same issue of Details has a "Fantasy Islands" feature which singles out Maui's Ho'okipa Beach for windsurfing and Little Beach for sun-bathing au natural. They also list Internet address for locating info on these and other island wonders online ...OH, Canada: Those ubiquitous "small world" items don't just happen when islanders run into other islanders half way around the world in strange places. It can also happen to Canadians in downtown Honolulu. That's what happened Tuesday when Daniel Nelson, a performer from Toronto who's appeared in many stage musicals, signed up to take a guided tour of the historic Hawaii Theatre. Also signed up that same day was Belinda Benko, who works for Eagle Eye Entertainment in Toronto, but who'd never met Nelson until they were introduced by volunteer theater docent Don Conover ...
Hard drive
WHILE many of the greatest golfers in America are teeing off today in the Mercedes Championships at Kapalua, many tongues are wagging about another lover of links who's not such a great golfer, but is known for his hard drive. That would be Bill Gates of Microsoft fame/infamy (choose one) and the hot rumor is he'll be flying into Honolulu to play Waialae on Monday, before the Sony Open gets under way. Bill knows Sony. In fact, he's one of the few people in the world who could probably buy it if he chose to ...
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.