Question: Is Lee’s really closing? We love their custard pie.
Answer: Lining up to buy pies at Lee’s Bakery & Kitchen is a Thanksgiving Day tradition for many Oahu families, but it won’t happen this year. The popular Chinatown shop will be closed Nov. 20-23, unable to fill overwhelming demand for its custard, pumpkin and pumpkin-custard pies around the holiday, said owner Eric Lee. However, Lee’s Bakery & Kitchen is not closing permanently; it will have regular hours until the four-day closure and will reopen the following day. Also, it expects to be able to meet demand for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Lee said.
The bakery doesn’t have enough workers to handle the Thanksgiving rush this year, which in the past has seen about 3,000 pies sold in one day, according to an article in Honolulu magazine from 2019. Employees prepare all year for the holiday — each pie crust is made by hand — and this year “we just didn’t have the manpower to do it,” Lee said by telephone Wednesday.
With no preorders, customers typically lined up hours before the bakery opened on Thanksgiving to ensure their family’s homemade favorites wouldn’t be sold out by the time they reached the counter of the small King Street shop. Kokua Line has received Mahalos over the years from customers grateful that a customer ahead of them shared their bounty or bought a pie for them.
Even with the bakery closed on Thanksgiving, Lee said he won’t be taking it easy that day — “we’ve got to get ready for Christmas and New Year’s.”
Another popular source of Thanksgiving pies — Kaneohe Bakery — did close permanently, in 2021, after nearly 70 years in business.
Q: My long-term handicap parking placard expires in March 2024. How soon can I renew it?
A: The state Disability and Communication Access Board will process a completed application 60 days prior to expiration of the current placard. You can submit your renewal form earlier than that, but it will be held for processing until the 60-day threshold, according to DCAB’s website.
The renewal form requires the signature of a physician or advanced practice registered nurse. The signature is valid for six months, so don’t send in the form any earlier than that.
For more information, see health.hawaii.gov/dcab/.
Medicare counseling
The State Health Insurance Assistance Program, known as Hawaii SHIP, will offer in-person sessions at two public libraries to help people understand their Medicare options. “This service is free and unbiased, so you won’t be sold a Medicare plan,” SHIP says in the announcement.
Call 808-586-7299 or contact Hawaii SHIP via its website, hawaiiship.org, to schedule an appointment to speak to a counselor about your current Medicare coverage or to compare plans for 2024. Counselors will be at the Nanakuli Public Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, and at the Pearl City Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 29 and again from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 1.
Kokua Line receives many complaints from readers beset by misleading Medicare come-ons, or worse, outright scams. Rather than responding to unsolicited calls, emails or texts, kupuna should seek genuine information themselves, through reputable organizations and programs such as SHIP. The Medicare website, medicare.gov, is another option.
Medicare is federal health insurance for people 65 or older and certain other individuals.
Mahalo
A heartfelt mahalo to the firefighters and helicopter pilots who are fighting the fire in Mililani Mauka. I live in Mauka and can hear the helicopters leaving Schofield Barracks in the morning and returning in the evening. Beneath the quiet facade of our community, there is a lot of anxiety about the fire, especially when the winds increased. It is so comforting to hear the helicopters and I say a silent prayer to thank and bless them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving our community. — Mauka resident
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
