Hawaii
1969: Kimo McVay
name-drops galore on
‘Sinatra Night’THE WEEK THAT WAS
THE irrepressible Kimo McVay took in "Sinatra Night" in Las Vegas, giving him the opportunity to name-drop like never before. Traveling in a caravan of Caddy limousines from the International Hotel (Nancy Sinatra) to Caesars Palace (Frank Sr. at 10:30) to the Frontier (Frank Jr. at 2 a.m.) was a party that contained more than a few big names: Sammy Davis, Burt Lancaster, Yul Brynner, Danny Thomas, Michael Landon, Bill Cosby, Pat Henry, Bill Dana, Stanley Myron Handleman, Jose Greco, the Osmond Brothers, Peter Nero, Willie Pep and Kimo. And we'll bet that even in that crowd, no one got a word in edgewise with Kimo around. (Sept. 23, 1969) ...GEN. Kendall Fielder finds "Tora! Tora! Tora!" historically accurate in most respects (including his line about a message from Washington being double talk) but says the business of a park getting in the way of the Kahuku radar station and no phone being available there when it was completed is fiction. (Sept. 29, 1970.) ... In last week's Time magazine, which for some odd reason arrived this week, author and critic Penelope Gilliatt is credited with concocting the following: "Doc, note, I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod." In case you're still puzzling over it, read the quote backward -- it's one of the longest palindromes you'll ever see. (Sept. 28, 1971) ...
MANY Hollywood celebs island-bound next month for a Kuilima Perusal -- and yes, we did strain just a bit for that pun. Slated to play in the Connie Stevens tennis tourney at Del Webb's North Shore resort Oct. 20 and 21 are Lloyd Bridges, Jim Brown, Bob Conrad, James Franciscus, Peter Lawford, Ross Martin, Dan Rowan, Elke Sommer and Miss Stevens, plus some others to be announced. Connie is also bringing her Las Vegas revue to perform at a dinner Oct. 20, and for once the $100 per plate collected won't end up in some politician's pocket or coffers. Instead, it'll go to the Children's Plastic Surgery Hospital in Saigon. Wonder if Bobby Riggs has been invited? (Sept. 27, 1973) ...
WHEN Frank Hardcastle arrives in Honolulu at noon tomorrow, he'll be met by a brass band -- the 200-piece Pearl City High School Band, no less. How come? Hardcastle is the president of the Rose Festival in Pasadena, and the Pearl City band has been invited to march in the Tournament of Roses Parade, so they're giving him a preview. (Sept. 23, 1979) ... A last-minute entry in the big cockroach race Andy Bumatai is hosting Oct. 10 at the Blaisdell Arena comes from comic Bill Dana, who's naming his entry "Roachard Nixon." Sounds like a man who knows his bugs. (Sept. 24, 1982) ...
THE wedding date is set for Dec. 9 for Rita Gormley, editor of Aloha magazine, and Jim Ariyoshi, the look-alike brother of the governor ... Kona resident Charles "Bud" Dant is off to Indiana next month to stage a jubilee concert of the music of Hoagy Carmichael. Dant is musical director, producer and arranger for two concerts -- one in Indianapolis Oct. 18 and the other at Indiana University's homecoming football game Oct. 20 in Bloomington. Starring will be Phil Harris, Alice Faye, Chris Schenkel (of ABC), Randy Carmichael (Hoagy's son) and Forrest Tucker. Dant has lined up a 60-piece symphony, 18-piece swing band, seven-piece jazz ensemble and the Singing Hoosiers, a 125-voice chorus, to perform 25 of Hoagy's hits. Hoagy brought Dant to IU in 1927 where he wrote and played the first arrangement of "Stardust," and Dant plans to re-create it at the concert. (Sept. 26, 1984) ...
GOULASH should have been on the menu at the Kahala Hilton's Maile Restaurant last night. It was a reunion (for the first time in over a decade) of local artist Balazs Szabo and his auntie, known throughout all of her various marriages by her maiden name, Zsa Zsa Gabor. She's been visiting her with her latest hubby, a European count, which means, I suppose, that despite her numerous husbands, she hasn't lost count. (Sept. 24, 1988) ...
"The Week That Was" recalls events culled from Dave Donnelly's
three-dot columns over the past 30 years.
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com