Readers reminisce on Pawaa, Maryknoll, free-form freeway

Two weeks ago I asked my readers if they had any stories about Maryknoll School.

Dr. Henry Oyama told me he attended Maryknoll from 1937 to 1949. “The Maryknoll Sisters were a fantastic group of dedicated and caring teachers that we were privileged to have as our instructors and mentors,” Oyama said.

“During my 12 years, we were required to dress in khaki trousers, white shirt with long sleeves and a necktie.”

I mentioned that trenches were dug into the campus lawn during World War II to provide shelter in case of enemy attack. Oyama remembers falling into one of the trenches while making his way home in the dark in the early morning.

“Boys Scout Troop 42 met in the basement of Bachelot Hall and we slept over during the ‘blackout’ period during war.

“We were fortunate to have an incredible scoutmaster, Rudolph Silvia, an alumnus of Maryknoll. His twin brother entered the Maryknoll priesthood. Rudolph took us on weekly hikes or camps into the Koolau Mountain which he knew so well.

“We learned to respect the land and experience so many spectacular sights and sounds. Rudolph respected and loved the land, which he treated as sacred — a remarkable and memorable individual.”

Oyama also commented on my article last year about the Pawaa area.

“Your past article about the area of King and Kalakaua brought back fond memories.

“Our family was an early settler on Kalakaua Avenue. We had two buildings on our property. We rented part of the front building to reknown painter Howard D. Hitchcock (whom I mentioned in my article recently about the S.S. Manchuria running onto the reef off Waimanalo).

“The rear building was rented to Warren Kealoha’s family. Kealoha was a gold medal winner with Duke Kahanamoku in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics.”

Last month, I wrote about several local boys who played with or against the Harlem Globetrotters.

My friend and fellow author David Heenan mentioned the teams in his new book, “Hidden Heroes.” It explores the person or group that makes the main character look good.

Abbott needed Costello. Johnny Carson needed Ed McMahon. Fred Astaire had Ginger Rogers. The jokester needs a straight man.

A team like the Globetrotters needs a team to play against. When they came to Hawaii, it was often against a quickly assembled group of all-stars. On the mainland, it was often against a team called the Washington Generals (named in 1952 in honor of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower).

“No professional team is a better testament to the virtues of second-best than basketball’s Washington Generals,” wrote Heenan.

“In their 63-year history they would become the sorriest team in the history of sports. Their spectacular losing streak against the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters exceeded 16,000 games.

“The last time they won was Jan. 5, 1971, when the Generals’ 49-year-old owner-player-coach Red Klotz hit the game-winning shot in a 100-99 overtime thriller.” After that fluke, the Generals remained winless until Klotz “disbanded” the team in 1995, renaming it the New York Nationals. The team has assumed any number of names since then, occasionally playing as the Generals, but hasn’t beaten the Globetrotters since.

Playing the role of the victim, the foil, the loser, for six decades, the Washington Generals helped entertain the world.

The Washington Generals always play their best and never try to lose, it just works out that they do. Fans come to watch the Globetrotters not the Generals, Heenan asserts.

Former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon said, “You never lose when you bring joy to people, when you put a smile on their face, it lasts forever. So if anyone calls them a loser, they’re missing the whole point. When a Globetrotters game is over, folks never remember the final score. People remember the laughter.”

“The most difficult instrument to play in the orchestra is second fiddle,” composer Leonard Bernstein observed.

Chip Davey remembers that when he first came to Honolulu in 1968, the freeway wasn’t finished. The Kalihi end was open, Davey says. The Waialae side was open, but the freeway was not connected in the middle.

“Traffic would come barreling down the freeway Ewa-bound from Kaimuki and have to make an abrupt right merge from three lanes and go down into one lane at Pensacola Street where there was a traffic light.

“More accurately, I think it was at the Townhouse condo. Then the ramp came up on the other side — back into three lanes from one and resume towards Kalihi. It was exciting.

“Going Diamond Head on the way back, traffic was routed down Kinau Street for about two blocks. Visualize going maybe 40-50 miles an hour and then roaring down Kinau, in a residential neighborhood.”

I have heard that in ancient Hawaii a commoner must not permit his shadow to fall upon a high chief. I wondered when that changed.

An article in the November 1919 issue of The Friend (“The oldest newspaper west of the Rockies”) provided an answer.

Kawaiahao church considered putting second-floor galleries in the church to accommodate the crowds that thronged their Sabbath services.

The problem was that this could place the common people above the king.

“Kamehameha III was a man of great sense and quick wit,” the article said. “He settled the question at once by saying, ‘It will not injure me unless the galleries fall.’”

Bob Sigall’s latest “The Companies We Keep 5” book has arrived, with stories from the last three years of Rearview Mirror. “The Companies We Keep 1 and 2” are also back in print. Email Sigall at Sigall@yahoo.com.