Hawaii
Where Dave’s elbow
prints are permanentYESTERDAY marked the 21st anniversary of the death of restaurateur Fred "Tosh" Kane-shiro, proprietor of the now gone Columbia Inn on Kapiolani. I figure I probably had lunch at the Round Table of the C.I. on 5,000 occasions during the 30-plus years I toiled next door to it. That round table is now the property of Tosh's son, Gene Kaneshiro, and he's putting it on view at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce as part of a work in progress about Okinawan restaurants in Hawaii. He's located some 60 restaurants run not just by immigrants from Okinawa, but from the same small town there, Oroku Aza. One was the predecessor to Columbia Inn, the Times Grill, owned and operated by the Teruya family, owners of the Times Supermarket chain ...
STOCKBROKERS haven't had much to celebrate these days, what with watching the market decline precipitously, so you'll forgive local broker Mike Dorsey if he finds something to smile about half-a-world away. When Tiger Woods shot his disastrous 81 at Muirfield, Scotland during the British Open, Dorsey, a scratch golfer, recalled the one time he played that course, carding a 72. Dorsey playfully concluded that made him nine strokes better than Tiger ...
Book 'em
DON'T get Peggy Buchwach started on the new phone book. In her opinion it "must have been produced by a monkey." For starters, it shows a fax number for her that's about seven years out of date. It shows a number for Regal Travel Offices, long closed, angering would-be customers. She was chatting with former roomie Gay Hickman Sevier, who has her own complaints. The book shows her separately from her hubby, doesn't indicate that one of her numbers is for a fax, and lists a fourth number neither she nor her husband has heard of. To top it all, grouses Buchwach, "the covers are butt ugly" ...THE Hawaii All-Collector's show is Friday through Sunday at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, and one area will be devoted to KGMB's 50th anniversary. Kini Popo, the first person to appear on TV locally, should be there as will Granny Goose, Professor Fun and at least one Mr. Checkers from the "Checkers and Pogo" show ... The Academy Theater at the Honolulu Academy of Arts is being renamed "Doris Duke at the Academy." The opening ceremony celebrating the name change takes place July 30 ... Incidentally, the Academy ran an ad looking for tour guides at the old Doris Duke estate, and 250 people applied for the 24 positions ...
Making it
YOUNG actor Noah Johnson, who was so impressive s the young man in "Equus" at TAG, the Actors Group, is still hard at work in theater. Noah turned 21 in January and moved to Nashville to live with his father. He aspired to saving some cash and seeking his acting fortune in Hollywood, but a funny thing happened. He tried out for and was cast as the lead in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the new, $30 million Renascence Center there, putting L.A. on the back burner. Mother Leslie flew over for the opening which she says was a huge success ...
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