Hawaii
This Hawaiian flight
was a little battyONE passenger on a recent Hawaiian Airlines flight from Kona to Honolulu insisted on flying upside down. Yes, you read that right. The passenger was housed inside a custom-built carrier tucked inside a cloth pouch. It was a Hawaiian Hoary Bat, the only one in captivity, discovered in July by a Kona resident who notified the Three Ring Ranch, a non-profit, USDA licensed exotic animal sanctuary above Kona. The ranch nursed the bat to health before turning it over to the Zoo, where it'll receive continued medical care. And who better to accompany the Hoary Bay on its journey than Dr. Ann Goody, the ranch's curator ...
FORMER Star-Bulletin food editor Harriet "Rusty" Thomas recently celebrated her 80th birthday, following by just over three weeks that of husband Tommy Thomas, 86. The young woman who is a care-giver for Thomas, Kelly McArthur, reports Rusty loves this column, but her eyes aren't what they used to be so Kelly reads it for her "religiously." So a belated "Happy Birthday" to a daily reader ... And Ron Cruger, former This Week Magazine publisher, moved to Southern California some time back, and ex-Milici Valenti Ng Pack V.P. Norm Blackburn is now living in Northern California, in Santa Rosa. But Cruger reports the two e-mail each other regularly, and inevitably one of them asks, "Did you read Donnelly yesterday?" Nice to see online readers as well as subscribers ...
Banks shot
Billy Banks, tour manager for Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, played golf at Koolau and while the weather was to his liking, the terrain wasn't. After losing countless golf balls, Banks quipped, "I didn't know the Marquis de Sade had designed a golf course." ... Then there was the small pipe found at one country club that was suspected may be an exploding device of some kind. Authorities took no chances, and destroyed the thing ...SOME golf stories are humorous, such as the runaway golf cart at Kunia. While one golfer was standing on the tee, his cart took on a life of its own and sped off down a hill. It disappeared into a ditch overgrown with tall grass, then just as suddenly reappeared and headed off toward the next green, colliding with the cart being used by two men who were putting. One guy behind them thought about yelling "Fore," but figured that applied to errant golf balls, not carts. The self-propelled cart, after careening into the parked vehicle, spilling clubs and covers all over the place, continued on its merry way until a young man on the next tee chased it down and brought to a halt. Everyone had a good laugh, and there were no injuries ...
New kid on the block
MAKANA is only 24 years old, but has already established superstar status, filling the Hawaii Theatre to capacity last weekend at top dollar prices. Guest star Willie K got a standing ovation after his solo spots, nervously urging everyone to sit down so as not to steal Makana's thunder. The youngster also got a standing "O" after his show, redolent with diversity, something at which he excels ...
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