Every week it seems my readers send me interesting memories that my column has brought to mind.

On Sept. 6 I wrote about Elaine Frisbie’s Puka Puka Otea show at the old Queen’s Surf in Waikiki. Moke Strassberg wrote and told me he used to work there.

"Your recent articles on the Queen’s Surf and Puka Puka Otea brought back some fond memories for me. In 1963, I joined them as a musician and dancer," Strassberg says.

"While Elaine Frisbie was the brains and inspiration behind the show, her then-husband, Don Over, was the brains behind the business. He was also the MC of the show and his practical jokes were famous in the islands.

"The last number in each show would involve the dancers and some musicians going out to the audience and bringing people up to learn to dance Tahitian.

"One night during a show, Don told me to get a tall blonde at the back of the audience. It was pretty dark out there but I could see her silhouette. I walked over, grabbed her by the hand and walked to the stage. I could hear all the laughter but didn’t know what it was about until we got onstage and I saw that I had pulled up a 6-foot-tall mahu in drag complete with an "I am a boy" sign on his dress.

"Don walked over to him, told him he looked lovely and asked what his name was. A deep voice said, ‘My name is Roy.’ The audience went wild. During the time I was at Queen’s Surf, so many funny things happened. That was just one of them."

Jack Cione called me after I ran two stories (Dec. 6 and 13) about Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz. Nimitz commanded the U.S. naval forces in the Pacific during World War II. Turns out, Cione knew Nimitz, too, but in an odd way: He taught Nimitz to dance the mambo.

"Before I moved to Hawaii, I owned 12 Cione Dance Studios in Arizona in the mid-1950s," Cione said. "We had the first live dance show on Phoenix television."

It was called "The Jack Cione Show" and was broadcast weekly. Wayne Newton had grown up in Phoenix, and at age 11 became a singer on the show. This was long before his big hit song, "Danke Schoen," came out.

"One day, Chester Nimitz, who had retired to Phoenix, walked into the studio. He had seen our TV show and liked my style of mambo. His favorite musical group, the Perez Prado Orchestra, had a few mambo hits and he wanted to be able to dance to them. ‘Mambo No. 5’ was his favorite song."

Cione says he gave the retired admiral mambo lessons once or twice a week for a year, and he became quite good at it. Nimitz chatted about Hawaii, and Cione decided he wanted to live here one day.

In 1958 Cione and his wife moved to the islands, got into the nightclub business, and he found himself owning the Dunes, his biggest club, on Nimitz Highway.

On Jan. 3 I wrote about President Barack Obama growing up in Hawaii.

Michael Coy said he and his wife lived in Kailua in the late 1970s. "A Saturday night date for my wife and me consisted of a drive into town for a movie and a stop afterwards at the Baskin-Robbins store near the corner of Punahou and King Street.

"One Saturday night in late summer 1977, we were served by a new employee wearing a ‘Trainee’ name tag. He greeted us with a ‘how may I help you?’ and a big smile. He seemed to get more rocky road into a scoop than even the fussiest customer could hope for.

"Within several weeks the ‘Trainee’ became ‘Barry.’ I’m sure that several of our presidents had early work experiences for minimum wage."

He also noted that it is interesting that the future president was born, lived, went to school and worked all within a few blocks along Punahou Street.

When I mentioned this to Cione, he told me that Obama also worked in the Arcadia retirement home on Punahou Street as a busboy and that a framed letter from him now hangs in their dining hall.

I wrote about upcoming anniversaries in my Jan. 10 column. Here are a few more.

Da Big Kahuna’s Pizza ‘n Stuffs, now at the Airport Trade Center, was founded on Puuloa Road 20 years ago in 1994. Zagat named it Best Pizza in Hawaii and in the Top 15 Pizzas in the U.S. in 2013, but it may be more famous locally for its garlic cheese balls.

Bo Peeps Sheepskin is celebrating its 30th and Bess Press is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. It was started in 1979 by Benjamin (Buddy) Bess in a garage in Kailua. Bess Press is most famous for the "Pidgin to da Max" books.

The Honolulu Boy Choir passes the 40-year mark this year. Several of its former members have gone on to music careers, and many have won Na Hoku awards. The Kahala Hotel & Resort turns 50 this year.

Rick Gaffney told me that the Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. It’s the second-oldest saltwater fishing club in America, founded in 1914 in Hilo as the Hawaii Tuna Club.

Also celebrating its 100th anniversary is Kauai High School in September.

Last, in the next few months, I’ll be writing about Tau Moe, who was a famous Hawaiian musician and bandleader around the world but relatively unknown here. And I’ll be writing about the old Kuhio Grill in Moiliili. Do any of my readers have stories to tell about these two?

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Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@yahoo.com