Hawaii
ZOO director Jack Throp called to say the height of the doors in the giraffe's house is being lowered from its present 24 feet to 12 feet so we'll get a better perspective on the size of the animals. It also means that the 16 1/2-foot giraffe must duck when he goes into his house. And it also means that Gov. Burns, instead of having the second-highest doors in the state, will, at 15 feet, have the highest. (Jan. 28, 1969) ... 1969: Zoo’s giraffe house
gets some remodelingWHAT'S in a name? Or a nationality? Apparently nothing, insofar as the Japanese Jaycees are concerned. The club's president is a Filipino, Toy Arre; the Cherry Blossom Queen Pageant committee chairman is Carl Whitford; head of the West Show is Dick Fo; chairman of the press kickoff program is Ray Reyes; and publicity chairman for the festival is a fellow named Peter Nip. (Jan. 30, 1970) ... It's hard to believe that skin merchant Jack Cione is gaining worldwide fame for having a group of guys take off their pants to bring you a drink, but he is. Carol Wilkes, an English girl now living in Hawaii, has just returned from a visit back home where she discovered that her hometown paper, the Wolferhampton Express & Star, carried a front-page story about Cione and his naked waiters at the Dunes. What's more, the News of the World, a tabloid with a circulation of about 5 million throughout England, also carried the story. (Feb. 2, 1973) ...
COMIC Andy Bumatai came up with the best line of the week when he took the mike at the star-studded Gabe Baltazar anniversary celebration at the Cavalier last week. "There are so many stars in the audience," said Bumatai, "that it looks like 'Baltazar Galactica.'" (Feb. 4, 1979) ... When Cavalier bartender Sandy Kilbey went out on the sun deck of her Nuuanu condo to look after the plants she was keeping, the door slammed shut and she was stuck there. Since the door was locked from the inside, there was nothing to do but wait until she was missed and located. A neighbor saw her standing near the edge of the deck and assumed she was about to do the Big Plunge. Police were called, and they arrived with the building manager who opened the door and shouted, "Don't jump, don't jump!" An embarrassed Sandy explained it was the farthest thing from her mind, and beat a hasty retreat. (Jan. 28, 1981) ...
WE'LL see if life imitates art when the Honolulu Zoo Hui stages its Zoofari Feb. 17. Martin Denny is reassembling his old gang of 30 years ago (Arthur Lyman, et al.) to do some "Quiet Village" revisited numbers, including realistic bird calls by Augie Colon. The hui hopes to get the zoo's multitude of birds to join in the singing, and if they're asleep, says Zoofari chairman Polly Steiner, "We'll wake 'em up." (Jan. 29, 1985) ...
THE host of Chicago's hottest TV magazine show, Oprah Winfrey, will tape two shows Sunday from the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, and to the surprise of nobody, special guests will be members of the Chicago Bears here for the Pro Bowl. The shows will air Feb. 4 and 5 in the Windy City on WLS-TV. Winfrey, you may know, was also featured in the film "The Color Purple." (Jan. 28, 1986) ... So why were all the Secret Service guys prowling around Ross' Recycled Appliances shop on Nimitz Highway yesterday morning? And what was that six-car motorcade that pulled up in front all about? The shadow knows: the king of Tonga, King Taufa'ahau Tapou IV to talk to owner Ross Wigney about setting up a similar shop in Tonga. The two talked for about an hour and Ross ended up suggesting that if someone in Tonga wants to establish such a shop, he'd be happy to act as a consultant and provide the merchandise. The king stopped off in Honolulu en route to Washington to visit with President Reagan. (Jan. 29, 1987) ...
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