Hawaii
Where were you,
when whatever ...EVERYONE old enough to have a memory remembers where they were when momentous news breaks. When John F. Kennedy was killed (and again, oddly enough, when John Lennon was gunned down by a man from Hawaii), I was with old friend Don Robbs. I was taking a bathroom break from the Columbia Inn Round Table when the U.S. attacked Baghdad, returning to ask what's happening and being told war had broken out. With the terrorism at the World Trade Center a year ago tomorrow, it was easy. Like most people in Hawaii I was in bed in deep sleep. The phone rang shortly after 3 a.m. and a friend who rarely sleeps said, "Turn on your TV." I was groggy, but realized it must be something important. "What channel?" I asked. The response confirmed the worst: "It doesn't matter." It was on all the channels, of course, and my friend and I stayed on the phone for more than an hour comparing reports and watching the ultimate tower collapse. It was a day few will forget, and in my case, my birthday being on 9/12, it was a non-celebration of the first order ...
THAT volunteer group behind "Gifts of Aloha" managed to wrap up 3,500 gift bags full of T-shirts, CDs, mac nuts, Hug McBears, Kauai Kookies and Kona Joe's Kona Coffee, plus "Live Aloha" bumper stickers to stress the point of caring. A connection for baskets to hold the goodies fell through, but up stepped Teresa Howe of Island Heritage who came up with 3,500 Hawaii-themed gift bags as a replacement ...
Reliving Sept. 11
THE various TV networks seem to be going overboard to outdo the others in looking back on 9/11 coverage tomorrow, ABC alone devoting 15 hours to mark the anniversary. Emme Tomimbang's locally produced "Hawaii to New York -- the Aloha Spirit Lives" only takes an hour but is well worth watching again. It'll have an encore presentation tomorrow on KGMB at 10:30 p.m. ... And "The Guys," created by locally raised director Jim Simpson (son of Anne & Jack Simpson) and starring his wife, Sigourney Weaver, is playing at the Toronto Film Festival. Simpson's movie also is about the heroes of that fateful day ...ALOHA Festivals has its kickoff Friday on the steps of Iolani Palace, and the Downtown Ho'olaule'a will follow. An Aloha Week ribbon will get you anywhere. Then on Saturday, the Ho'olaule'a moves to Waikiki and a 55th annual floral parade will take place down Kalakaua Avenue ... Bob Sevey, the one and only "Walter Cronkite of Honolulu," is coming to town this week to narrate a film about KGMB-TV ...
Tribute to Henry
The first annual Steinlager Henry Ayau Men's International Canoe Race, a 32-mile open ocean event, will feature more than 600 paddlers from Hawaii and around the world on Sunday. The race begins at Hawaii Kai and ends at Ko Olina Resort & Marina. A post-event party and awards ceremony will be held at Ko Olina's shoreline park. The race is a tribute to one of Hawaii's greatest open ocean athletes, Henry Ayau, and designated proceeds will be donated to Hui Lanakila, the Oahu canoe club of which the late Ayau was a founding member ...
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