Hawaii
1971: Duke Kawasaki puts his
musical skills to workSOME of Lin Loo's old classmates at McKinley should get a hoot out of watching her Forbidden City opening Dec. 2. The exotic dancer was known during high school days as Vernon. (Oct. 15, 1970) ... Duke Kawasaki, who was a bit of a musician before becoming a politician, was visiting the home of House Speaker Tadao Beppu, who complained his piano needed tuning. "No problem," said Duke, who phoned his wife, got her to hit a note on his piano and then tuned Beppu's instrument. Now we know what they mean about politicians being in tune. (Oct. 14, 1971) ...
GREEN Rainbow: After submitting a record bid of $250,080, KHON-TV was awarded television rights to UH Rainbow basketball games this year, and GM George Hagar was quite happy when he left yesterday's meeting on the Manoa campus where the bids were unveiled. But when he reached the toll booth and was told he'd have to cough up 20 cents for parking, Hagar couldn't resist quipping, "I just dropped a quarter of a million dollars up here, and you still want 20 cents?" Dick Grimm (whose name seemed particularly appropriate after his bid of $203,000 on behalf of KITV came in well under the winning bid) offered to ante up the piddling sum for the jubilant Hagar, but George insisted on paying his own way. KGMB owner Cec Heftel, who submitted a bid of $203,000 -- incredibly identical to Grimm's -- left the meeting unsmiling, his scarcely concealed plan to control sports broadcasting in Honolulu thwarted, at least for the time being. (Oct. 16, 1973) ...
THE Aloha Week parade was a smashing success, according to a certain 5-year-old and his crusty father. We particularly liked the high school bands, which were excellent. But all could take a lesson from the drummers of Roosevelt who established the greatest jazzy marching beat you've ever heard. That, and the swaying of the sousaphones, led to our ranking Roosevelt No. 1. (Oct. 20, 1975) ...
CENTER-PIECE: A resident of Honolulu since before Ala Moana Center was built, I've never heard the line Christie Adams swears she heard on a bus. A tourist, wondering if he'd reached his destination, asked her, "Is this Alimony Center?" (Oct. 19, 1976) ... When Sylvia Wang, owner of the new King Tsin restaurant in King's Alley, took Miss Hong Kong, Rowena Lam, to dinner at Bagwell's 2424 in the Hyatt Regency, they were late getting there. Seems they were wandering around the 24th floor of the hotel looking for the restaurant. The 2424 part of the name signifies the hotel's address on Kalakaua, and not the floor Bagwell's is on (which causes one to wonder if the guests in Room 2424 are often besieged by folks looking for Bagwell's). (Oct. 19, 1976) ...
JETTING off to L.A. for another picture-taking session with Playboy magazine is Kailua High grad Denise Michele Tom, the idea being to feature her on yet another cover -- this one an "East Meets West" theme. Denise was Playmate of the Month in April 1976, and one of three Playmates on the cover of the October issue. (Oct. 20, 1977) ... At a fund-raiser for state Senate hopeful Ann Kobayashi, the Grand Old Party was livened up by some grand old partygoers -- members of the Makua Alii firefighters, a group of retirees who won the national senior softball championships recently in Las Vegas. (Oct. 15, 1979) ...
YESTERDAY, as you already know, was Columbus day -- OK, we call it Discoverer's Day in Hawaii, but we know what it really is, don't we -- the Oct. 14 issue of People carried a story about Christopher Columbus. No, not the explorer, but the Spanish Naval Academy graduate who is the great-grandson (14 times removed) of the Italian sailor who discovered America ... The current Columbus was in Hawaii some years ago when he captained the three-masted Juan Sebastian Elcano, a Spanish training vessel. A luncheon for Columbus was held at La Ronde, the perfect spot to celebrate the explorer who proved the world was round. (Oct. 15, 1985) ...
"The Week That Was" recalls events culled from Dave Donnelly's three-dot columns over the past 30 years. Donnelly continues to write his Hawaii column Tuesdays through Fridays in the Star-Bulletin.
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