Wood Craft
Melveen Leed, who suffered a heart attack Tuesday at Loyal Garner's funeral, says she's feeling well and heads for Vegas Dec. 6 to sing. Doctors have OK'd the trip. "You can't tie this Tita down," Melveen said Friday. "I had a scare but I'm OK now. I'm gonna slow down and smell the roses or smell the armpit," she laughed. "I will never lose my sense of humor." Mel wants to thank everyone for the many cards, flowers and calls. She was impressed that Sen. Dan Inouye faxed her, saying, "I think of you all the time." Describing the heart attack, Melveen said during chapel services she heard Loyal's voice say, "Sing the Lord's Prayer now." So she went up to the priest and told him and returned to her seat. "That's when the pains started," she said. "When I got up to sing I saw Loyal's smiling face. When I returned to my seat, the pain was really bad as I was missing her so much. The rest I don't know." Melveen will stay with her cousin, Alika Borge, in Vegas. "He'll be my nurse," she said ... Melveen feeling good,
leaving for Vegas gig
Hirono lauds pairing
"Two fine institutions get together, Morton's and the Symphony," said Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono at the reception the famed steak-house chain held Tuesday to benefit the Honolulu Symphony. Waiters and waitresses kept flowing out of Chef Marc Lincoln's kitchen with platters of steak, shrimp and more. Strolling violinists Rani Gepnen and Jason Pell performed. Morton's brass John Bettin, Allen Bernstein, Klaus Fritsch and Jill Humphrey, and managers Greg Omotoy and Zyron "Just call me Z" Schoniwitiz were beaming. Ruth's Chris G.M. Al Hosoi and Chef Todd Wells showed up. They plan to return for dinner with Randy Schoch, isle Ruth's Chris Steak House owner. Hmmmm ... Brandon Silva was the $2,500 winner at Kincaid's Sunday, ending the restaurant's 25-year festivities. Kincaid diners on Dec. 15, 22 and 23 get trolley seats for city Christmas lights tours ...
Eleanor's Vegas jackpot
Eleanor Chow Otake of East Oahu Realty was about to board a bus to the airport from her Vegas hotel when she put a quarter in a slot. She hit the jackpot and quarters began spewing. "Sylvianne Young was calling me on my cell phone, telling me the bus was about to leave," Eleanor said. Eleanor was frantically scooping up quarters but they kept coming. Finally, she told a couple they could have the quarters and she ran for the bus. "They looked at me as if I was crazy," Eleanor said. When she reached San Francisco to join Myra Brandt and Margaret Murchie, they got on her for not staying to collect all the coins, worth a few hundred dollars, and taking a cab ...Slim Carlos Barbosa-Lima, originally from Brazil, and Hawaii's husky Byron Yasui could be called an odd couple but they are right in tune when it comes to classical guitar duets. Carlos is a great classical guitarist and Byron is well known in isle music circles. They performed on their rare Andres Caruncho guitars at Kuniakai and Takiko Azuma's party last Saturday at a Kahala mansion. Among the guests were Jean Ariyoshi and daughter, Lynn, Sony Hawaii President Ryozo "Ree" Sakai and Sony exec Don Kim. Cyd Asakura danced "Lahainaluna" as Keith Fukuda and Yasui sang. Bob Asakura was a smooth emcee ...
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