Wood Craft
LOUIS VUITTON tossed one of the parties of the year last weekend to officially open its Waikiki store. Gov. Ben Cayetano and Mayor Jeremy Harris helped LV brass Kyojiro Hata, Gary Hahn and Yves Carcelle open the doors. John Lake gave Sparkling opening
for Louis Vuittona Hawaiian blessing. After about an hour of sipping champagne in the store, the smartly dressed crowd was taken to the spacious 20th floor of the nearby Waikiki Trade Center for food and more champagne. Patti Austin sang with the band.
California DJ Marques Wyatt played dance music until 1 a.m. Handsome "Baywatch Hawaii" regular Jason Momoa, only 20, was at the blast and gave a group of middle-aged women a lift by stopping by their table. Another "Baywatch" hunk, Michael Bergin, attended the party as did a new addition to the show, Krista Allen, who played Billie on "Days of Our Lives" for the past three years. Krista will portray a local girl, Jenna Avid, head of the Oahu lifeguards. Assuming the role of her character, she growled: "I'm going to whip those 'Baywatch Hawaii' people into shape. You don't wanna mess with me." OK, OK, Sistah Krista ...
This is a golf swing?
JEFF CHUN, on the fourth tee at Oahu Country Club, was bouncing a ball on his brand new loft wedge like Tiger Woods does. He took a swing at the ball, planning to hit it in the air with the club head. Unlike Tiger, he wiffed. So he tried again. This time the club slipped out of his hands and sailed high, wide and ugly into the pond on Hole 6. The club head plunged into the water with such force that it became lodged in the sediment and only the grip remained above water. Oahu staffers were called to the rescue. One brave employee paddled a boogie board into the waters and retrieved the wedge. Jeff's fellow players -- Gary Wassel, Dennis Francis and Dave Kennedy -- fell to the ground in laughter when the club went airborne ... Wassel is prez of Jardine Motor holdings. One of his key sales people at EuroMotors, Mary Frisbee, has accepted Christopher Lavoie's proposal. Look for a March wedding ...Just two more weeks before critically acclaimed "Miss Saigon" closes on Nov. 28. Joseph Anthony Foronda as The Engineer and the staging are tops in the love story set in wartime Vietnam. Foronda's "The American Dream" number with a Cadillac convertible bringing in "Miss Chinatown" is a smash. The arrival of a helicopter on stage is remarkable ... Amy Hanaialii Gilliom and Willie K, who both have new CDs, perform Friday at the Hawaii Theatre ...
Kahala Mandarin chef Wayne Hirabayashi, Hoku's manager Ivy Nagayama and the staff went all out for Sunday's wine tasting, a benefit for the American Diabetes Association and the Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education. The food spread and California wines were outstanding. Dr. Laurie Tom, whose goal is to find a cure for diabetes, deserves praise for her part in the event ...
Happy anniversary
Two couples marked their wedding anniversaries at the Neiman Marcus formal wear show for men Thursday evening: Dr. Jim and Cherye Pierce, 26 years, and Stu and Victoria Cowan, 10 years. As they have every Nov. 11 for the past 10 years, Stu and Victoria got "remarried," this time by Judge Patrick Yim. Guitarist Zanuck Lindsey, bassist Miles Jackson and Larry Cook on sax and flute played smooth jazz at Neiman's elegant party. Even Mariposa restaurant manager David Nagaishi was serving pupu ...
Ben Wood, who sold the Star-Bulletin in the streets
of downtown Honolulu during World War II, writes of
people, places and things every Saturday.
E-mail him at bwood@starbulletin.com