Hawaii
THE kind of e-mail you love to receive: "You have been sorely missed! Your column is the first thing I read ... although I don't know a soul you talk about, it's always interesting. Glad you're back! Aloha, Shirley Sadowski, Lompoc, CA." Well, now there's a name here she might recognize ... Bob Corboy correctly criticized for calling PacBell Park "PacCom Park." Up until my latest S.F. trip I still referred to it as Candlestick ... Still, S.F. Examiner columnist P.J. Corkery, whom I've never met, took note of my sitting at the Buchanan Bar & Grill with Herb Caen's longtime assistant and referred to us as "two greats of the column biz, Carole Vernier and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin's Dave Donnelly." ... Corkery made it two in a row the next day when he recalled our introducing former Miss Hawaii USA Heather Hays around town when she was seeking her first job in the TV business, mentioning that it seemed to have worked because she's now the anchor of the news on the Fox station in Dallas, sixth largest market in the country ... Ex-Miss Hawaii USA
is now Dallas news anchorREPEATING as the young star of Ballet Hawaii's "Nutcracker" this year will be 10-year-old Roxanne Cassidy, dancing Marie. She brought a pair of pink toeshoes with her to the S.F. Ballet performance last week and took them to the post-show reception at Bali-by-the-Sea to get the principal dancers and Hawaii's own Amanda Schull to autograph them. Roxy was decked out in a gorgeous red dress created by designer Anne Namba, who just happens to be her mom ... Nobody ever accused Tiffany of selling cut-rate gems, but we had no idea that people got weepy over spending big bucks for their goodies. But how else can you explain the phone book's yellow pages (thanks Geraldine DeBenedetti) listing Tiffany's Maui store as being in "Wailers Village." ...
Back by popular demand
IT took the Academy of Arts 53 years, but they've asked hula legend Nona Beamer back for a repeat performance. She last appeared there on Aug. 9, 1948, and will reprise some of her old favorites there on Nov. 3. Nona will show some slides from that '48 show, and would love for any tutus who were in that show to contact her and perhaps appear on stage with her again. She can be reached through hanai daughter Maile Beamer Loo at 285-8684 ...THE "face" of the fifth annual French Festival of Hawaii is 17-year-old Punahou student April Hale, winner of the 2000 Chanel model search, which won her a modeling contract and photo shoot with Seventeen Magazine. While her crown will be passed on to this year's 2001 winner, April will continue to grace the runway at this year's Fashion Ball, featuring haute couture by Chanel and Christian Lacroix and the Spring 2002 Ready-to-Wear collection by Christian Dior ...
Big shoes to fill
SOME may consider it a thankless task, but to Karen Meyer it's an opportunity of a lifetime. She's been selected to follow Ron Bright as Director of the Castle Performing Arts Center. Meyer, who used to be known in theater circles as "Karen Palmer," has worked on and off with Bright for 20 years, and knows his reputation as the best director of musicals in Hawaii cannot be matched, so she's wisely selected as her first Castle production, Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," a non-musical. It opens Nov. 9 and plays two weekends ...
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