VASH keeps
aloha aliveNOT everyone in Hawaii has the aloha spirit, which is one reason VASH came about. VASH stands for Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii and does its best to ease the burden of those victimized by bad boys who ought to be locked up. And since theft takes no holiday, VASH was busy in the past couple of weeks. Honcho Darrell Large was vacationing on the mainland, but his large shoes were filled by VASH board member Tim Haverly, who's also director of security for the Marine Surf Hotel. When Japanese honeymooners Mr. and Mrs. Hiroe Mitsuhashi of Chiba landed in Hawaii and arrived at their hotel too early to check in, they parked their rental car at Kapiolani Park, locked it and went for a walk. They were shocked on their return to find all their possessions gone. HPD officer James Cavanaugh called VASH and Haverly responded by sending volunteer Haruko Moberg to translate and help the befuddled couple. She also took them shopping for essentials and arranged for them to be guests at the Legends in Concert show. Small though VASH's efforts may seem, it showed some in Hawaii still exude the aloha spirit. Gov. Ben Cayetano might take note of VASH's efforts ...
JUST learned of the deaths of two old time isle broadcasters. Former KGMB disc jockey George Kennedy, active on both radio and TV in the '60s and '70s, died on the mainland where he'd been living in recent years ... And Norman Reyes, who did the news on several isle TV and radio stations, died this week in the Philippines at 75 ...
News time
GREAT timing at KHON-TV! Their vow of starting the news "on time" was less than a week old when a power outage caused its delay Wednesday. And while the station did begin the 10 O'Clock News on time the other night, it didn't end until 10:37 thanks to that "news banter" so popular around the country these days ...SPEAKING of which, former isle newsman Jim Manke says he's surprised nobody's brought up the fact that starting the news on time is nothing new in Hawaii. Back when Bob Berger owned KHVH-TV, now KITV, he made a stab at on-time programming, even installing a clock on the set and having the news begin as the second hand swept around to mark 10 O'Clock. This was in the days of Mason Altiery, Ken Kashiwahara, Al Michaels etc. The experiment didn't last long as Cec Heftel, owner of KGMB-TV, won the stiff competition for dollars by loading commercials between show breaks and starting the news late ...
IKAIKA Communications owner Mona Wood got a late Christmas gift while lunching at the Kahala Mandarin. She admired the "Swiss Hawaiian" watches jewelry designers Bernard & Helen Hurtig were wearing, and Mrs. Hurtig shocked Wood by taking hers off and presenting it to her as a a gift. She should have hung around the porte-cochere after that, admiring Porsches ...
Just call him Zorba
GREEK restaurateur Aaron Placourakis was particularly attentive to one party dining in the Wine Rack room at Sarento's in the Ilikai the other night. Film star Anthony Quinn had brought in his second family for a holiday celebration and though he's not Greek, Tony played the Quinn-tessential Greek, Zorba, in the movies. Lots of "oopah" in the air ... The following night Gov. Cayetano took over the Wine Rack with wife Vicky and friends and you can bet he also got VIP treatment from Placourakis. Honorary Greek for a 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.