Hawaii
AS expected, the movie about street car racing, "The Fast and the Furious," opened as the No. 1 film in the country. Also, as expected, there was a rash of arrests of wannabes who took to racing in the streets, over 100 in L.A. alone. It brought to mind the late '50s and early '60s when illegal racing took place in Hawaii. Here the daredevils had the sense to vent their speed frustrations at Kahuku airstrip. Some of those involved in those races are captains of industry today, so speed isn't just reserved for future law breakers but for risk takers as well. I recall one involved in the Kahuku races had a police radio. Whenever word of a raid came over the cop frequency, racers would disperse -- if not at top speed at least with dispatch ... Kahuku airstrip hosted
past fast and furiousSORRY to report that one of the nicest guys around, promoter Kimo McVay, is in the critical care unit at Kaiser, battling cancer of the pancreas. He's fought some tough showbiz battles on behalf of his clients but has never had so deadly an adversary as this one ... Peggy Buchwach gave her annual Custer's Last Stand party this week. Among those in attendance were retirees Buzz Schneider (of Buzz's Steak House) and hotelier Jimmy Cockett. Buzz says he's been retired for 30 years and is "bored stiff." Cockett is enjoying his retirement by playing rounds of golf on Maui, now his home ...
NOW that retirement, albeit involuntary, is coming for Gov. Ben Cayetano, he's looking ahead. With no state vehicle or driver, he's in the market for a new car and was seen looking at the Escalade, Cadillac's version of an SUV ...
Got Scruples?
FLYING from N.Y. to L.A. recently, Scruples owner Fred Piluso found himself sitting in the same cabin with comics Louie Anderson and Tom Dreeson, who used to open shows for Frank Sinatra. Never one to be shy around celebrities, he's hosted so many in his Kuhio club, Piluso talked up Hawaii and invited the two to Scruples' 18th anniversary party tonight ...THE peripatetic Marianne & David Stubenberg bought a house in Incline Village, Nev., after moving from Hawaii and then ended up leaving it vacant much of the time while RV-ing around the country. Now they're buying a house in Portland and have put the Incline Village house up for sale. As they were about to head back there, a neighbor informed them of the huge fires in Nevada and how if the winds changed it could bring flames to many homes in the area. Driving down the coastline, Marianne could just envision changing her sign from "For Sale" to "Fire Sale." Luckily, the winds cooperated and the home emerged unscathed, though it didn't do much to support the house's value ...
Lanai kudos
HERE'S one to ponder. Conde Nast Traveler honored the Manele Bay Hotel as the No. 1 on the readers' survey of "50 Best Golf Resorts in North America." Question: Is it even IN North America. Ah, but read closely and you see that category includes resorts in Hawaii and the Caribbean. Not to be outdone, Manele's sister resort, the Lodge at Koele, won the Top Service in Hawaii award in the Travel & Leisure readers' poll ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com