Old Kapahulu a
By John Berger
musicians’ playground
Special to the Star-BulletinEmma Veary embodies such regal ambience in concert or when talking to fans that it's hard to imagine her trying to milk a goat, sneaking into a movie theater, surfing, or jumping off a roof with an umbrella for a parachute. She admits to doing all that growing up in Kapahulu.
"Kapahulu was a wonderful place to grow up," she said. "There were these great swings at Paki Park, and whenever I was late coming home from elementary school my mother knew she would find me there. And it was near the beach. We spent our lives in the water at Queen's Surf, Public Baths and the Natatorium, Kuhio Beach and Sans Souci."
Veary and her friends would be starving by the time they had to go home so they'd walk through the Waikiki Bird Park (now the Honolulu Zoo) and try to knock some dates off the palms for a snack.
Such recollections will be shared Saturday when Veary is the guest of honor as Dick Rodby presents "A Salute to Kapahulu and Emma Veary," a luncheon show at the Hawaiian Regent Hotel. Alan Akaka, Sonny Kamahele, Gary Aiko and Kaipo Asing will perform as the house band. Rodby is encouraging anyone with Kapahulu ties to share their stories.
Rodby is a Kapahulu alumnus by marriage. His wife, Joan, is the granddaughter of Charles Martin, who settled in Kapahulu in 1890 and took the lead in developing the area into a neighborhood.
Veary was born in the Duval Street home of entertainer Emma Bush. "That's how I got the name," she explains. She recalls the '30s and early '40s as a magic time. The kids often slept out in the front yard with no cares or worries. They could play in Palolo Stream, hike around the lower slopes of Diamond Head over by Ruger Market, or watch the cows and goats and pigs that were kept up around Monsarrat.
"We knew all the beach boys because my mother worked at the Natatorium with Walter Napoleon and they put her in charge of the lifeguards," Veary says of her days as a surfer girl.
"I was like a 98-pound weakling so I could stand on their shoulders and it was like no weight for them. My sister was a little pudgier, and with tandem surfing lighter is better, but when I wasn't singing we spent all of our time at the beach."
Sometimes the kids used their imaginations and created toys and games out of what they found around them.
"There was that stick-em bush in Kapahulu. We used to get Carnation or Pet milk cans, and we'd get that glue (from the plant) and put it on the bottom on the can and step on it. We'd make them like high heels, walk down the block clank-clank-clank."
The Veary family moved several times, almost always staying within Kapahulu. "Mother used to help the kids who were on the verge of getting into trouble, and my brother would have all his friends over, so our home was always full of young people.
"We'd have 21 guys sleeping in the living room -- Johnny Castillo, Jimmy Kaku, Richard Kauhi -- so we grew up with wealth of musical talent around us. During the war years in the blackout we'd all sit out in the yard and play music."
Kapahulu Theatre was another of the kids' favorite hang-outs. Veary recalls sneaking in with a little help from her sister.
"Johnny Castillo and Jimmy (Kaku) used to be the ticket takers. You could go to the movies and stay all day for 11 cents. I was kind of quiet if you can believe that, but my sister was kind of jokey. The guys would say they'd let us in if we gave them a kiss so I'd push her up front and she'd kiss what's his name on the cheek and while she was kissing him I'd sneak in!"
Sometimes the kids would save up their pennies and make a little extra money collecting and returning bottles for the deposit money for movies in "town."
"Seeing a movie at the Princess Theatre, the Hawaii Theatre, or the King Theatre was really big stuff, but we usually didn't have enough money to take the bus both ways and have crack seed."
The solution, walking home.
For kids growing up in Kapahulu, even the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was an adventure. Veary's family was living on Winam Avenue at the time, and she and some of the other kids went over to the McKeague's house and climbed up on the roof for a better view.
"We could see the black puffs in the sky and were watching all the stuff going on. Our parents were yelling at us to get down but we all wanted to watch."
Veary now lives on Maui but says she'll always be a Kapahulu girl at heart. "We still run into people all the time that we grew up with. We'll look at each other and start laughing and say, 'Remember when ... ?' and talk about all the great times in Kapahulu."
Community celebration
What: "A Salute to Kapahulu and Emma Veary"
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