RABBITS being known as prolific reproducers, the Hagadone Printing Company chose Chinese New Year's and the "Year of the Rabbit" as the theme for its Open House party. All Hagadone employees wore red or Chinese garb to the affair, and even Austrian-born G.M. Erwin Hudelist wore a Mandarin jacket. Mona Wood had nothing to wear so she ducked into Maunakea Marketplace, picked out a Chinese number, put her hair in a high ponytail and sped to the party. She must have had the right look, because people called her "Mulan" all night. Dr. Robert Look put on a Narcissus display but -- get ready -- at one point everyone had to stop Look and listen to a pair of Chinese fortune tellers, Clifford Wong and Raymond Yoshimura. Okay, nobody said they were "authentic" Chinese fortune tellers ... Hagadone fete
a hoppy affair
HERE'S a switch: While the Beach Boys sang, "Help me, Rhonda," here we have Rhonda asking for help. The mono-monikered singer from Down Under did a show for Oceanic Cablevision at the Ala Moana Center Stage and somehow left behind a bag in which she had several cassettes, many of which contained unreleased material she's working on. If anyone finds it, the singer can be reached at 236-7104 ...
Way to go, Joe
THE San Francisco Bay area firm of Critchfield Mechanical has done several major air conditioning jobs in Hawaii -- the new Convention Center and Aloha Tower among them -- something for which owner Joe Critchfield is grateful. And when local pal Puna Chillingworth put the arm on him for a contribution while working on the Aloha United Way campaign, Critchfield sent a substantial check, saying he wanted to give something back to the community. Good things happen to good people. Contracting Business, the national trade magazine, has selected Critchfield Mechanical as its "Contractor of the Yea." ...NOT long ago I ran into Gov. and Mrs. Ben Cayetano at Alan Wong's restaurant and she thanked me for an item I'd run about VASH, the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii. She indicated she appreciated the good work the organization has been doing helping visitors who become the victims of crime here. Now she's taken a further step -- the newest VASH board member is Vicky Cayetano ...
INCOMING: Joli Kansil postcards from Hanoi where he's teaching school for a few months that the capitol is charming, resembling the 1920s with nicely preserved French Colonial buildings ... And Cynthia Yip, off doing another TV special in the Far East, writes from Bangladesh that she's visiting a remote village getting footage of isle doctors helping the desperately needy. Still, she reports it's so crowded and dusty in Dhaka, she can't wait to get to the cleaner air of Laos. But wouldn't the air be Laos-y there? ...
Just say Aloha
TIRED of hearing that overused and increasingly ineffectual invective known in polite circles as "the 'f' word," Hank Taufaasau has instituted a 25-cent fine for anyone uttering the word in Hank's Cafe Honolulu on Nuuanu. This is the lead story in his new four-page "Nuuanu Street News" letter. Thus far, he informs me, he's collected $27 in fines and at the end of February will donate all the money collected this month to the River of Life Mission. He suggests when you pound your thumb with a hammer, you "just say Aloha." Or if you find your car has been towed, "just say Aloha." And if you find your plastic is maxed out at your favorite bar, "Just say Aloha." And if you don't, he will! ...
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.