Sign-waving M.D.
to rescueMAYBE I'll have to temper my distaste of political sign wavers, who I always felt were likely to cause accidents. An incident in Waikoloa on the Big Isle has demonstrated the upside of sign waving. Dr. Fred Holschuh, a candidate for State Senate from the Big Island, was out waving signs when he got word of an accident just down the road -- not caused by his sign waving, incidentally. He and another volunteer waver, who by chance was an off-duty paramedic, sped to the scene of the crash and assessed the situation, caring for the two people involved until an ambulance arrived. There were no cameras or reporters at the scene, so the work of Dr. Holschuh, who happens to be an emergency physician and last year was president of the Hawaii AMA, went unchronicled ...
ALSO on the Big Island, this is the time of celebration in the Old Cook House. That is to say, Bill Cook, the ex-everything -- reporter, adman, DBED director, flack -- turns 70 on Sunday. And since he came to Hawaii 35 years ago, in 1963, that means he's now spent half his life in Hawaii. Meanwhile, he and wife Patti, who runs Cook's Discoveries (made-in-Hawaii goodies) in Waimea, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary Monday. And since Patti is now 50 -- though she'll be furious I mentioned it -- it means she's been married to Cook for half her life ...
Hawaiian pub grub
IT was a moment worth preserving when Hawaiian Airlines this week opened its new drive-through check-in facility at Honolulu Airport. New Hawaiian V.P. for airport services Bob Fishman was monitoring traffic on opening day Wednesday, and as part of the promotion of the new facility, customers were given a Burger King certificate good for free french fries. Nothing like a drive-through window featuring Fish and chips! ...SPEAKING of Hawaiian, I ran into Maria Finazzo, whose dad, Paul Finazzo, used to be president of the airline but who's since moved on, to another mainland carrier. Maria stayed with Hawaiian and is currently flight engineer on DC-10s flying to the mainland. And it's a safe bet she's the best looking flight engineer in the fleet ...
AND since we mentioned the fleet and carriers, we may as well segue to a trio of fast movers and shakers calling themselves the "Three Musketeers," Al Souza, Gerry Wong and Carl Smigelski. The other day they found themselves in the unusual position of going from zero to 150 mph in two seconds flat. The three were among a group of VIPs (including the third highest ranking officer in the Chinese army, General Gong) flown from Hickam to the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk north of Oahu. When they got there they were hooked, literally, on landing. While on board, they witnessed flight operations with takeoffs and landings by F-14 and F-18 fighter planes, enjoyed lunch and then were catapulted off, which is where the zero to 150 mph came into play.
Terra cotta is in
SEVERAL containers arrived from China this week and inside were 300 of those life-size terra-cotta soldiers found in Xian. President Clinton visited Xian on his recent China trip and saw the display of 8,000 figures uncovered so far, each, oddly enough, with individual features. The 300 shipped to Hawaii will be the first to be shown on American soil. They'll be on view Aug. 7 to Oct. 31 at the Chinese Cultural Festival at the Shops at Dole Cannery. Some consider the vast array of terra-cotta soldiers in Xian "the eighth wonder of the world." ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
His columns run Monday through Friday.Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.