Hawaii
Wall-to-wall Santas
greet marathonersIT all started some years ago with Don Murphy donning a Santa outfit and greeting runners completing the first mile of the Honolulu Marathon around Murphy's Bar & Grill. The visiting young women from Japan, many of whom ran with their cameras, loved to have their photos taken with Murphy, and often utilized restrooms inside the restaurant which the publican thoughtfully opened. For the past three years, the big red Santa suit has been worn by Chris Benson, owner of C.B. Hennigan's in Los Gatos, who combined the Marathon go-round with a Neighbor Isle tryst. This was the first year I joined the dozen or so folks who annually help Murphy and C.B. greet the crowd of runners, some of whom are decked out as Santa. Oh, did I mention that Benson needs neither a large, white beard or a big, round belly, utilizing his natural gifts. Also on hand at Murphy's this year was the UH mascot, dressed in war paint and carrying a spear. He also starred for camera-totting runners. First by were eight Kenyans who looked as if they were running a 100-yard dash. But after they ignored us, I high-fived so many runners, I thought my right arm would come off at the socket ...
FORMER Commercial Re-cording owner Donn Tyler, who divides his time between Honolulu and Santa Fe, found a recent forecast in the daily New Mexican eerily correct. On Thursday, the paper said, it would be "mostly sunny," and on Friday "partly cloudy." As for Saturday, the paper said "mostly partly." Tyler deadpans, "To their credit they got it right - Saturday was mostly partly." ...
Smallish world
LOSING lieutenant governor candidate Dalton Tanonaka was one of three people invited to Japan to help acquaint leaders of international communities with Japanese business and political leaders -- the others were from Toronto and Seattle. Tanonaka learned a truism of his own -- it's a small world. As he sat down at the business center of the Imperial Hotel to check his e-mail, a mustachioed man sat down next to him. He looked up and there was former governor John Waihee in Tokyo to give a speech ...
Beautiful "Sound"
MY expectations were low when I took in Diamond Head Theatre's revival of the old Rodgers & Hammerstein chestnut, "The Sound of Music." Boy, was I wrong! Greg Zane guest directed the show and lined up seven of the most adorable kids you could imagine to play the children of the Von Trapp family. The youngest, Madeline Suong-Thuy Sault is a second grader at Sacred Heart Academy, the precocious Kim Anderson, both of whose parents are also in the musical, is home-schooled, and the other five are all Punahou students. Hard to believe that Carla Waterfield, who plays the lead role of Maria, makes her musical theater debut as she heads up a strong cast. Honesty requires me to reveal I even teared up a bit at the end of the 50-year-old musical. No wonder its run has already been extended ...
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