Garvin manages main event of his career — Hawaii Bowl

In 2001, local entertainment businessmen Daryl Garvin and David Matlin collaborated on staging a series of concerts by comedian Margaret Cho. Everything went smoothly, except for one detail: About a hundred people were issued the same tickets for the same show.

“It was a tough situation, but Daryl was totally focused and found solutions,” Matlin said. “Because of what he was able to do, it actually turned out better and we did five shows instead of three.”

Seven years later Matlin hired Garvin as operations manager at the Hawaii Bowl.

“When he applied, I remembered (the Cho concerts),” said Matlin, who was then the game’s executive director. Now, Garvin has that job, after Matlin left to became University of Hawaii athletic director last spring.

Garvin also is responsible for the Diamond Head Classic basketball tournament, and both events are this week.

He never thought while growing up in the Washington, D.C., area that he’d end up with a career in sports. Like most kids he loved sports and music. But he didn’t aspire to become a pro athlete or rock star.

He recalls watching the Army-Navy football game and hearing about a West Point tight end who went to jump school. Then, when a former schoolmate came back to visit, wearing the red beret, fancy boots, and airborne wings, Garvin was sold. He was going to jump out of planes.

He said he’s grateful that in his four years he never had to go to war. But that doesn’t mean his job as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division wasn’t dangerous. Just a few weeks before Garvin’s enlistment was to end in 1982, he was among a massive training airdrop of 2,200 soldiers over the Mojave Desert.

The landing on this, his last of more than 20 jumps, was the hardest. “I dropped like a rock. Feet, then knees, then head,” he said. “When I took off my helmet I saw it had a dent.”

Winds of up to 40 mph hit the desert that morning, and Garvin was among the fortunate; four soldiers died and at least 71 were injured.

Gradually working his way into the entertainment business while in college at Maryland was safer, but in some ways for him just as exciting. Eventually, Garvin became a key associate to Sam L’Hommedieu, a famed concert promoter who brought big-time musical acts and Broadway shows to local venues. Garvin learned all aspects of staging and managing events.

“When I worked for Sam it was still the era of individual promoters,” Garvin said. “When you work for someone smaller (than a corporation) it’s different.”

He moved to Hawaii in 1999, with his wife, Mei Jeanne Wagner, whose family is from here. They live in Manoa, and have a 14-year-old son. Since Kealoha is an avid basketball player and fan, he doesn’t mind spending Christmas at the Stan Sheriff Center watching hoops.

Garvin said he hopes to “build upon the success of what Jim (Donovan) and David accomplished and continue to grow two high profile signature events that showcase Hawaii to a national and international audience.”

And, as any event manager knows, that includes dealing with any of thousands of details that can potentially go wrong … like more than one ticket per seat.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.