In my last column I wrote about how I learn so much in writing these stories. Here is part two of just some of those discoveries:
High-flying Ho
Don Ho dreamed of piloting a Boeing 747. Ho had been in the Air Force and always thought of himself as a pilot, Adrienne Liva Sweeney told me. She was Ho’s personal secretary from 1968 to 1975.
“When he traveled to the West Coast for recording sessions or shows, he wanted to sit in Row 1, First Class.
In Boeing 747s, there was an upper level. “Don could sleep on the floor on overnight flights. And was dying to fly the big jet. He had a fantasy that something would happen to the pilot and co-pilot. A stewardess would come running down the aisle asking if anyone could fly this plane, and he would be the first to the cockpit.”
Opportunity befalls us
“OK, Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” became an opportunity for Hawaii
The nation watched in horror in April 1970 when an explosion after liftoff put the three Apollo 13 astronauts at risk and canceled their planned lunar landing. They had lost one of their two oxygen tanks.
Somehow they managed to get back to Earth in one piece, but the crisis forced the astronauts to land in the South Pacific. The military brought them to Hawaii where J. Akuhead Pupule (disc jockey Hal Lewis) and actor Jack Lord rolled out the red carpet for the astronauts.
Don Ho and the Aliis entertained them before a crowd of 1,000 at the old airport terminal on Lagoon Drive.
God plays the ukulele
When President Richard Nixon and first lady Pat Nixon attended services at Kawaiahao Church in 1971, reporters broadcast it nationwide.
In his sermon, the Rev. Abraham Akaka said, “let our striving lead to one nation, one world, one humanity, indivisible, with aloha, justice and peace for all.
“We can show people that on God’s ukulele, no string can say to any other, ‘you don’t belong,’ or ‘you must look and sound like me.’
“A one-string ukulele, or one whose strings all have the same sound, would be terrible. Each string must find its right pitch.”
Boy Scout Troop 10 reaches its 100th year
I met with scout leaders of Troop 10 this August. I found out a couple of interesting things I had not known.
One thing that makes this troop interesting to me is that it was founded by Charles Crane (1869-1958), who was scoutmaster of the troop for its first 28 years. Crane was also business manager of the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu mayor from 1938-1941.
Boy Scout Troop 10 occupies a unique home — an abandoned reservoir behind the Kaimuki fire station. I’ve driven by it a hundred times and had no idea it was there.
“The Bowl,” as they call it, was built by the developers of Kaimuki 130 years ago to irrigate the dry and dusty area, but it leaked and was never fully utilized.
It is somewhat circular, about 100 feet in diameter, with walls 14 feet high and up to 6 feet thick. It is made out of rock, brick and concrete. It’s big enough to hold a basketball court. On one side is a covered meeting area.
It’s the only Boy Scout troop in Hawaii that has its own place.
Bathroom break
Former First Hawaiian Bank CEO Walter Dods’ 2015 book, “Yes!: A Memoir of Modern Hawaii,” includes a cute anecdote I liked.
He had built a little two-story building next to the old First Interstate building on South King Street. “We just finished construction but didn’t have tenants. I went in on a Saturday morning to inspect the building, and no one was there.
“I had to pee so I went into one of the bathrooms and shut the door. I finished peeing, washed my hands and hit the door handle to go out. The handle spun 360 degrees. It was busted! No way to get out, and nobody in the world knows I’m in the building.
“I called the First Interstate building next door, tracked down a maintenance man and told him what had happened. Fortunately, I left my building’s main door unlocked, so the guy was able to come up to the bathroom. I slid the key through the crack under the door, he opened it and came in.
“I’m thanking him so much and said let me show you what happened. Like an idiot I shut the door. The guy looked at me funny because now the two of us are trapped in the bathroom! I felt like an ass.
“Then I remembered my son Peter’s business Easy Music was next door. I called, and fortunately there was one kid there before they open.
“He came up and I slid the key under again. He opened it up saw me with his janitor in the bathroom. He must’ve been thinking Peter Dods’ father is the weirdest guy I’ve ever seen.”
How to pour beer
Carl Hebenstreit — better known as Kini Popo to many of you — was the first voice islanders ever heard on TV on Dec. 1, 1952.
Budweiser was a sponsor of one of his shows. Back then, Popo did the commercials live and kept a beer on the set.
“Budweiser sent me to a class in L.A. for two days to teach me how to pour the beer — which is straight down the middle of the glass, not down the side. They said it would break up the gases and release the flavor.
“They said the trick was to pour down the middle, then ease off a little bit. The foam would come up to the top and they wanted a drop or two to run down the outside of the glass.
“My desk had a little hole where I would put the glass down. That was one of my secrets. There was a light underneath that lit the glass and beer.”
The audience could help themselves to cans or bottles of beer. “Times were different then. Doing those daily commercials was one of my more pleasurable moments.”
On one occasion, Popo had his very young son, Ropati, with him in the studio. “We’d done a commercial and I had a sip of beer and then put it down, but my son apparently found the bottle and started drinking it. The director ordered the cameras to get shots of my son drinking.
“Visually it was very interesting. Legally there might be some question as to whether we should be doing that or not. He was clearly underage!”
Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@yahoo.com.
