Hawaii
You could win a custom
composition, plus dinnerEVERYONE tries to come up with something different for a charity auction, and you have to realize the Honolulu Symphony has come up with a one-of-a-kind auction item for Saturday's Symphony Ball, "Bach, Beethoven & the Beatles." For one bidder, who likely has a romantic streak, Honolulu Pops conductor Matt Catingub has agreed to compose an original arrangement or composition just for him or her and then perform it at a Pops concert next season. Four concert tickets are included for that momentous evening, which will conclude with dinner with Matt and Vicky Catingub at Morton's after the show. Let the bidding begin! ... Also at the Symphony Ball, Linn Sol Albert and Marilyn Trankle spent hours coming up with just the right song title to match the item up for bids. One example: To describe the experience of flying with former F-15 pilot Clint Churchill and going through 28 maneuvers in an aerobatic aircraft, the ladies have named the item "Twist and Shout." ...
ONE person who doubtless got a kick out of watching funny outtakes from NBC shows, seen here Tuesday night, was Society of Seven leader Tony Ruivivar. His son, Anthony Ruivivar, who's featured in the network's "Third Watch," appeared on the show both flubbing lines and reacting to flubbed lines thrown his way ... And it was nice seeing Georgia Engel, the former isle actress, in the "Mary Tyler Moore" retrospective. She's put on a bit of weight -- who hasn't? -- but still seems just as sweet as when she was at UH and made a name for herself playing Georgette on Moore's hugely successful series. She was the perfect foil for Ted Knight, who played news anchorman Ted Baxter ...
Sentimental "Journey"
HAWAII Public Television's "Journey of Honor" has been nominated for a Northern California Area Emmy Award, which will be presented Saturday night at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Filmmaker Stuart Yamane follows a dozen AJA vets from Hawaii on a historic return to the World War II battlefields of Italy on a trip put together by Bob Jones. The film was recently honored with a showing at the Smithsonian in Washington, and in the next month will be seen in major cities across the country. It will air on Hawaii Public Television on May 26 ...
Name to remember
THE Star-Bulletin's op-ed page this week contained an article that leapt out at me. Headlined, "The most important man you've never heard of," it dealt with one William Wilberforce, a member of Britain's House of Commons who fought for 20 years to abolish the country's slave trade and, once that was accomplished, continued his campaign until 25 years later, as he lay on his deathbed, Parliament passed the bill abolishing slavery in Britain and all the colonies. That was in 1833, decades before Abraham Lincoln followed suit. This was an eye-opener for me, since my maternal grandfather's full name was William Wilberforce Kirkpatrick. I always thought his parents, my great-grandparents, simply liked odd names. Now I know better. My grandfather was born in 1849, which means his parents were contemporaries of Wilberforce and so proud of him that they named their son for him. Now I'm proud of them ...
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