By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Richard Trugillo of the group Honolulu has fun with
the crowd at Ala Moana's Center Stage. They were entertaining
to benefit the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon.

Telethon goes distance
to fight disease

See also: Island Images

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

At last report, Hawaii raised $351,923 for the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon over the Labor Day weekend.

The two-day island fund-raiser ended with the falsetto voice and distinctive ukulele of Moke Boy as he closed live entertainment with Hawaiian songs at Ala Moana Center Stage.

The Big Island, Maui, Kauai and Molokai also had telethon-related activities monitored during a live telecast by KITV-4, as it aired portions of the national telethon both Sunday night and all day to 5 p.m. yesterday mixed with frequent glimpses of Ala Moana activity.

Televised messages told viewers to make out checks or money orders to the Muscular Dystrophy Association or to call telephone numbers shown.

"All of the money that we raised here stays in Hawaii," said Kathleen Hurtubise, program services coordinator of the Hawaii chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

As the Hawaii telethon wound down, she told a reporter these funds will support summer camps and a clinic at Castle Hospital for muscular dystrophy victims, also purchase wheelchairs and braces for Hawaii people who have muscular dystrophy.

Under a banner that said, "MDA Mahalo to the sponsors of the Ala Moana Jerry Lewis Telethon Site," entertainment went on at Ala Moana Center Stage and an occasional auction raised funds for the cause from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Sunday and yesterday.

The program drew a number of people with muscular dystrophy in wheelchairs as well as hundreds of interested shoppers who stopped by.

For a $3 donation, you could try to make five consecutive putts on a golf putting green to win a prize. For a $10 donation, you could get a haircut or a makeover nail painting. A number of other goodies and prizes were offered for donations.

"We did a really good job today," said entertainer/emcee Al Waterson. "Visually, I see a lot more money in the fish tanks (cash receptacles for donations)."

He shared emcee duties with Tiny Tadani of Oceanic Cable. Tadani has hosted Hawaii telethons for a number of years, Waterson said. Radio personality Chris Reiser and comedian Paul Ogata hosted the Ala Moana show Sunday.