Wood Craft
MELVEEN Leed said it was a night she will always remember. "It's my very first (art exhibition) and I hope that it's not my last, said Mel, one of Hawaii's best singers for some 40 years. But "Da Tita's" talent is not limited to singing. Thursday, with the assistance of Kahala Mandarin G.M. Jan Goessing and Carole Kai, Melveen displayed her drawings and "Gifts of the Sea Jewelry" at the hotel. Melveen's art and her vocals were impressive. The former Miss Molokai had the crowd swinging with her jazz and pops, backed by pianist Betty Loo Taylor, drummer Noel Okimoto and bassist Steve Jones. Mel singing "Hiilawe," as her daughter Kaula Naluai and Kimo Kahoano danced hula was special. Unfortunately, Melveen fell outside the hotel and broke her nose after the event. But she was determined to make a gig at the Monarch Room last night and one on Maui today. What a trouper! ... Melveen Leed shows
her art at Mandarin
Food and wine festival
The Kahala Mandarin's first annual Food & Wine festival will have a swinging start Oct. 22 with the music of the Betty Loo Taylor Trio, plus wine, champagne, oysters, caviar, etc., $30. The fest winds up Oct. 31. Chefs are Hoku's Wayne Hirabayashi and Moet & Chandon's Bernard Dance. A six-course feast by Dance Oct. 26 will have courses paired with M&C's private champagne collection. This one is $195 per ...The Honolulu Pops season got off to a rousing red, white and blue opener last weekend at the Concert Hall. Christopher Cross performed in the second half of the concert. But I liked the first half best with the audience singing patriotic songs with the Honolulu Symphony Chorus, conductor Matt Catingub's "In Memory" composed for the terrorist victims, the orchestra's Gershwin standards and the vocals of Teresa Bright. Mark Milton's M&S Brokerage provided wine for tasting and Hilo Hattie supplied aloha attire for orchestra members. Claire Parker Johnson's huge floral displays were beautiful. The Honolulu Symphony season opens tomorrow with conductor Sam Wong and violinist Cho-Liang Lin ...
Get ready for opera
Individual tickets are now on sale as well as season ticket packages for the Hawaii Opera Theatre's "La Traviata," Feb. 1, 3 and 5; "Salome," Feb. 15, 17 and 19, and "Carmen," March 1, 3, 5 and 7. Tickets range from $27 to $95. Packages for all operas start under $80. Call 596-7858 ... The Ala Moana Hotel is donating half of its Oktoberfest ticket sales to the Red Cross for its disaster relief fund. The event winds up tomorrow night ... East Coast California Pizza Kitchen outlets donated food to rescue workers at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the Nationwide Blood Bank. CPK is giving $50,000 to the N.Y. Police and Fire Widows & Children's Fund. It is also matching employee donations up to $50,000 more...D.K. Kodama and his managers -- Ivy Nagayama, Tom Alejado and Scott Miyamoto -- are gearing up for their Halloween party at Sansei, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Also, Ivy says the plate lunch biz is a winner for Sansei. Ivy married Terry Shishido last month ... Ko Olina golf course G.M. Jim Richerson had a photo taken with L.A. Lakers Rick Fox, Derek Fisher and Mike Penberthy when they played Ko Olina last week ...
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