Hawaii
IT could well have been another case of the Curse of the Kennedys. State exec Manny Menendez reveals that recently he took Robert Kennedy Jr. to the USS Greeneville at Pearl Harbor as a guest and Cmdr. Scott Waddle showed them around the sub at the base, though they didn't go out to sea. This was before the sub collided with a Japanese fishing boat, killing nine. Menendez, a friend of the Kennedy family, also accompanied Robert to Japan, where they had a meeting with Prime Minister Mori. I asked if it were on a Tuesday, and he looked at me quizzically. You know, I suggested, "Tuesday with Mori"? ... Attorney Earle Partington notes that the Hawaiian flag on the Honolulu District Court building at Alakea and Hotel has stripes that were sewn on incorrectly. Partington is sort of Hawaii's unofficial spotter of incorrectly made or hung flags. ... Greeneville may well
have Kennedy link
The Donnelly line
LONGTIME residents may remember hotelman Howard Donnelly and wife Tia. While I'm not related to either, 30 years ago people used to say, "Hi Howard," when they ran into me. I like to think the opposite was true in his case. He had two daughters, one of whom, Dawn, attended Punahou and then Stanford, where she met and married Jeff Siemon. He became an all-pro linebacker with the Minnesota Vikings. Their daughter, Kelley, has linebacker-toughness, starring for the women's basketball team at the University of Notre Dame despite injuries, and who could be seen on TV with the Irish in yesterday's NCAA game vs. Vanderbilt. ...THE big honor went to Wallace Miyahira, Alfred Yee and UH baseball coach Les Murakami last week when they were inducted into St. Louis School's Gallery of Distinguished Achievers. But all 500 of those who attended the event were given pewter medallions brought back from Rome by St. Louis President Father Allen DeLong ... Hawaii Youth Symphony conductor Henry Miyamura is this year's honoree for the Alfred Preis Award for lifetime commitment to the arts. It'll be presented Sept. 22 at the Hawaii Theatre and the Brothers Cazimero have been confirmed as headliners ... The film on which Grace Adkins and her husband worked, "Dolphins," didn't win the Oscar for best documentary short, but she took it well as she watched the telecast from the W Hotel at the Hawaii International Film Festival benefit Sunday. ...
Birthday boy and girl
SHE didn't get to cast a ballot on where to celebrate her 50th birthday, because Kids Vote Project honcho Dr. Lyla Berg was informed it would be at Don Ho's Island Grill, hosted by the restaurant's "Ambassador of Aloha," Henry Ayau, who happens to be Dr. Berg's boyfriend. ... Then there's philanthropist Dr. A. Jess Shenson, who calls San Francisco home, but who is very generous in his adopted state of Hawaii as well. He and his late brother, Ben, donated Theodore Wores' classic painting, "The Lei Maker," to the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Dr. Shenson celebrated his 80th birthday in S.F. last week, and was surprised when Lea Freidman of Nuuanu showed up bearing gifts of lei and song. After singing "Happy Birthday," she presented Dr. Shenson with a poster of "The Lei Maker" signed with birthday wishes from the entire Academy of Arts staff. She then had to turn around and head home to prepare for her own recital, "Puccini and Pops," Saturday at Orvis Auditorium.
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: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com