Last week I began my annual two-part review of things I learned in the course of writing this column in the past 12 months. In this column I’ll look at how Hawaii was two hours and 29 minutes off West Coast time; Castle Junction; and a couple of local boys who excelled at kicking footballs on the mainland.
2 hours and 29 minutes
One of the more interesting people I met through my writing was Alan Lloyd, a pilot and engineer. He and I talked about many things, but one that I struggled to understand was that, he said, Hawaii was two hours and 29 minutes off the West Coast time 100 years ago.
In 2022 I decided to look more closely into it. I learned that 80 to 120 years or so ago, time was often set at the various plantations. Managers there often wanted their own unique time and tried not to collaborate with neighboring plantations.
In 1947 the territorial legislature decided to conform with Pacific Standard Time. That happened at 2 a.m. June 8, 1947. Hawaii Standard Time was advanced by 29 minutes.
That made the time difference between the Pacific Coast and Hawaii two hours instead of two hours, 29 minutes.
Why is this important? For one thing, Lloyd pointed out to me, we mark the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack at 7:55 a.m. Dec. 7, 1941.
But because we adjusted Hawaii time in 1947, that presents a problem. If you want to be precise, Lloyd said, the 7:55 a.m. bombing in 1941 is not the same 7:55 a.m. today. We’re off by 29 minutes!
By his calculation, for those who want to be exact, that means the attack on Oahu began at 7:26 a.m. Dec. 7, 1941.
Lloyd had a mind that enjoyed those kinds of topics. I feel I understand it better this year, but I can’t explore it any further with him, as he died in 2016. This column will have to be a tip of the cap to my old friend.
If readers know more about this, please let me know.
Castle Junction
I also explored this year why Castle Hospital is not located at Castle Junction.
Castle Junction is where Pali Highway, Kamehameha Highway, Kalanianaole Highway and Auloa Road meet on the Windward side.
What I found is that the name “Castle Junction” was applied to that intersection around 1932 and referred to Harold K.L. Castle’s offices, which were located there.
Some called it “Castle’s Junction,” and others called it “Castle’s office junction.” His Kaneohe Ranch offices are still there, along with the Castle Foundation.
Castle Hospital opened three decades later in 1963. It’s at Waimanalo Junction, 2 miles makai of Castle Junction. And today it’s called Adventist Health Castle. I don’t know whether that eases the confusion or strengthens it.
Place-kickers
Moving on to the Rearview Mirror sports page, this year I wrote about two outstanding local football place-kickers who made a big splash on the mainland: Bill Pacheco and Reggie Ho.
One of the surprises for me this year was learning that Hawaii has had many top-ranked football kickers. I’m aware of at least six standouts: Henry “Honolulu” Hughes, Jason Elam, Peter Kim and Roy Gerala among them. I’ll write about some of them in 2023.
Bill “The Knee” Pacheco was a graduate of Saint Louis School. He played for the Hawaiian Warriors in 1948 in the Pacific Coast Football League.
In late July 1949, Pacheco tried out for the San Francisco 49ers, who were in the All-American Football Conference at the time. He was 33.
Dan McGuire, former Oakland sports editor, wrote, “Every place-kicker is known as ‘The Toe.’ Our boy Bill is entitled to more distinction. Let’s call him ‘The Knee.’ Anything but ‘The Toe’!”
‘The Knee’ cartwheels
“The Knee” arrived in San Francisco carrying a spear, wearing a cardinal-and-gold Hawaiian cape and helmet, and singing “Song of the Islands” in a booming baritone.
“I have come to lead the 49ers out of the football wilderness,” said “The Knee” as he graciously saluted the open-mouthed writers and sang a chorus of “Little Grass Shack.” Reporters and photographers were agog.
After two weeks of training camp, the 49ers held an intrasquad game at Kezar Stadium. More than 20,000 fans, the largest crowd ever for such a preseason affair, turned out.
His team won the game 28-0, and “The Knee” kicked four extra points. He went off the field turning cartwheels after each conversion.
Pacheco didn’t make the 49ers, so he returned to Honolulu and created the Hawaiian 49ers, a local football team that was unbeaten in its first two seasons.
Pacheco co-owned the Oasis Night Club on old Waialae Road makai of UH, where a Public Storage is today. He continued to play in University of Hawaii vs. alumni games until he was 64!
Reggie Ho
I also wrote about a 5-foot-5-inch, 135-pound Kaneohe lad named Reggie Ho, who kicked four field goals for Notre Dame and beat Michigan 19-17 in 1988.
Notre Dame was ranked 13th in the nation in preseason polls, and Michigan was ninth. Over 59,000 fans packed Notre Dame Stadium.
Ho also had played football at Saint Louis School, which went undefeated in 1983. It won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship and the Prep Bowl.
Ho then went to Notre Dame, where he studied premed. He decided to try out for Lou Holtz’s Fighting Irish football team and made the team. Michigan was the first home game of his senior year, and the first time he got to start.
Notre Dame scored first. Ricky Watters returned a Michigan punt 81 yards for a touchdown. Ho kicked the extra point.
At the end of the first quarter, Ho kicked a 31-yard field goal to extend Notre Dame’s lead to 10-0. He kicked two more, a 38-yarder and a 26-yarder, to give Notre Dame a 16-14 lead.
Michigan then kicked a 49-yard field goal to retake the lead, 17-16. Only 5:39 remained in the game.
Notre Dame mounted a 71-yard drive to the Michigan 26 but was stopped. “We could not quite get in the end zone, and we called upon Reggie,” Holtz said.
On fourth down, with 1:13 to go in the game, trailing by a single point, Ho attempted his fourth field goal of the day.
“It isn’t very often that Notre Dame turns its fate over to a 5-foot-5-inch, 135-pound kicker,” the TV announcer said as Ho lined up. He sent the ball through the uprights to give Notre Dame a 19-17 lead. The Fighting Irish had upset the Wolverines.
“He ended up kicking four out of four field goals,” Holtz said, tying the Notre Dame record.
Reggie became a folklore legend at Notre Dame. That game is now known as “the Reggie Ho game” at Notre Dame. The school was undefeated in 1988. Ho ended up making nine of 12 field goals and 32 of 36 after-touchdown points that season. Today he is a cardiologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.
I love hearing about people from Hawaii who made an impact beyond our shores, and Pacheco and Ho certainly did. You made us all proud.
Those are some of the things I learned in 2022. I hope you enjoyed reading Rearview Mirror this year and that there are several things you learned as well. Have a merry Christmas.
Bob Sigall is the author of the five “Companies We Keep” books. Send your stories, comments, suggestions or questions to Sigall@Yahoo.com.
