Last week I presented the first of my 2023 Rearview Mirror Annual Awards. They honor those who made, preserved or shared Hawaii history. Here’s Part 2 of those I feel deserve special recognition.
Community Impact Award
One of the greatest threats to the well-being of all of us who live on Oahu was the accident that spilled 19,000 gallons of fuel from the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
The underground facility was built during World War II to protect fuel for ships and planes in the Pacific. When full, the 20 tanks could hold 250 million gallons in total.
Unfortunately, most of Oahu’s water comes from underground aquifers that lie about 100 feet below the fuel tanks. Leaks from the aging storage facility could poison Oahu’s drinking water supply.
For 80 years we were fortunate. Fuel leaks did not penetrate to the aquifer. In May 2021 our luck ran out. Human error caused 19,000 gallons of fuel to spill. The Navy’s water system, which serves nearly 100,000 military personnel, was compromised.
Military families complained that their tap water smelled of chemicals and gasoline. Some residents experienced rashes, diarrhea and nausea.
The Navy seemed to be less than transparent in its response. The spill was less than 1,000 gallons, they initially said. They were vague in response to questions as their “investigation was ongoing.” They wanted to continue using the aging facility.
The Board of Water Supply’s manager and chief engineer, Ernest Lau said, “As an island community, we feel a deep sense of kuleana to make this situation right. We want to restore our water resource, now and for future generations, and ensure all Oahu residents have peace of mind.”
Lau and the Board of Water Supply strongly criticized the military’s management of the crisis and pressured the Navy to recognize that the facility’s time had come and gone.
The BWS implemented operational changes, such as the closure of three nearby wells, to maintain a reliable supply of clean water for Oahu’s population, prevent a water shortage and avoid mandatory conservation measures.
Finally, the Navy agreed on a defueling plan. “It has been a long, hard battle,” Lau said, “but we are making progress, largely through the efforts of our collective voices. We must continue to advocate to protect our most precious resource and never give up,”
In December the Navy reported it had removed all but a residue of fuel from the 20 massive tanks.
Lau’s outspoken advocacy for protecting the island’s underground water supply seems to have moved Oahu past what could have been a massive tragedy. For that, I give him the Rearview Mirror Community Impact Award.
Storyteller of the Year
Emme Tomimbang grew up in Kakaako with her single father, Tommy. She sang on street corners, at community gatherings and at political rallies with a hat in front for people to toss money. That helped pay for their food, clothes and housing. “She was adorable and everybody loved her,” longtime friend/media consultant Lynne Waters told me.
She had her own radio show on KISA (AM 1540) when she was in her teens, and put herself through Leeward Community College and UH Manoa. In 1975 she started at KITV, doing the weather, hosting afternoon movies and doing whatever was needed of her.
By 1985 KITV made her the country’s first Filipino American female TV news anchor.
Her first “Emme’s Island Moments” in 1994 featured the musical group Hapa, actor Jason Scott Lee and surfer Rell Sun, who was battling cancer as well as waves.
“Emme’s Island Moments” are engaging, one-hour specials that feature Hawaii people who’ve affected the islands for the better.
“This is a new phase in my television career,” Tomimbang said at the time. “The show is unlike anything seen here before. It’s casual, loose and fun but also in-depth and serious.”
Her interviews have included Barack Obama, Paul McCartney, Bruno Mars, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Mick Fleetwood and Imelda Marcos.
She helped local chefs Alan Wong, Roy Yamaguchi, Peter Merriman and Sam Choy launch Hawaii Regional Cuisine to local and mainland audiences.
Since 1994 she’s produced more than 80 shows and specials. Her recent update to “Willie K: Life on Stage 4” was shown over the Thanksgiving holidays.
Hawaii is lucky to have her, and for all she’s done for the islands, I present her with the Rearview Mirror Storyteller of the Year Award.
Marketer of the Year
I taught marketing at Hawaii Pacific University for 15 years, and I appreciate great promoters. Tosh Kaneshiro, owner of the Columbia Inn, was one of the best restaurant marketers Hawaii ever had.
Here are two examples of his creativity. In the mid-1960s he offered any Hawaii Islander baseball player who hit a home run a free steak dinner. Tosh also had a banner made and set in right field at Honolulu Stadium on King Street. It said “Columbia Inn. Top of the Blvd.”
The sign had a big puka, about 4 feet in diameter, with a net behind it. Any Islander who hit a home run through the puka won $1,000 (about $9,000 today). Only one did, but the banner was one of the most discussed in town, every time a ball was hit near it.
Tosh took Wisteria restaurant owner Roy Asato to a Los Angeles Dodgers game. They made a bet. If the Dodgers lost the game, Tosh would deliver six cases of beer to Asato’s Wisteria restaurant in a wheelbarrow from Columbia Inn.
If the Dodgers won, Asato would have to transport six cases of beer to Columbia Inn at Kapiolani Boulevard near South Street. It was a little less than a mile away.
The Dodgers lost and Tosh had to deliver. “My father and his friends made it into a big parade,” son Gene Kaneshiro said.
“Ed Doty, who owned Eagle Distributors, hired a Dixieland band, which played in an old Budweiser delivery truck, and he hired cheerleaders from UH.” Reporters loved it.
You and I have surely made bets with friends. But did any of them ever generate media coverage and publicity?
For his prowess as a promoter, I bestow on Tosh Kaneshiro and Columbia Inn the 2023 Marketer of the Year Award.
Humanitarian of the Year
Catherine “Kitty” Yannone (1954-2023) was a 26-year-old mother in 1980 when her 11-month-old son was hospitalized at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children with spinal meningitis.
“I noticed another mom wearing shorts and a T-shirt whose son was next to mine in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit,” recalled Yannone.
“She was in the same clothes every day, and I never saw her eat. She was a Big Island single mom who had been flown to Oahu with her very sick child, and she had only $5 in her purse, the clothes on her back and nobody to call.
“She was surviving on free coffee and snacks from the hospital vending machine. I invited her to come up to my place near the hospital to shower and get a bite to eat.”
Then she noticed many others around her faced similar challenges. Some neighbor island parents were living out of cars in the hospital’s parking lot.
Yannone took her concerns to hospital president Richard Davi. He convinced her to partner with Susan Entz and McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawaii to start a Ronald McDonald House in Honolulu.
The idea was to create a “home away from home” for families of hospitalized children. Yannone helped raise more than $2 million to make it happen. In 1987 the first Ronald McDonald House opened in Manoa. Yannone was its staff person and spokesperson.
The young housewife was later offered a job at Communications Pacific, which had been hired to help with public relations while the project was under development.
In 1998 she bought the company, and under her guidance it became Hawaii’s leading integrated communications firm. Yannone was a guest speaker at my marketing class at HPU on many occasions, and a mentor to many.
For her efforts on behalf of all of Hawaii, I give Kitty Yannone the Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Mahalo to all of these awardees for all you have done to make Hawaii a better place.
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Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com or sign up for his free email newsletter at RearviewMirrorInsider.com.
