Last week I gave out awards to several people who, I feel, made, preserved or shared Hawaii history in a way that makes Hawaii the special place it is. Here’s Part 2. (Click here here for Part 1).

Partners in peanuts

When Morley Theaker became general manager of the Sears store on Beretania Street in 1951, a little old lady named Teru Isomura sold boiled peanuts on the Young Street sidewalk nearby.

One rainy August day, Theaker invited Isomura to bring her peanuts out of the deluge, under Sears’ big marquee.

“She did, and from that moment on became known as ‘Mama Sears,’” Robert Miller wrote in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. “Theaker learned that Mama’s husband, Gisaku, was a veteran drawing a meager $80-a- month disability pension. Since he was constantly in and out of the hospital, he couldn’t work.”

Eight years later, Dillingham began building Ala Moana Center. The company needed an anchor tenant, a big store to entice customers and stores away from what had been Honolulu’s traditional shopping district — downtown — and persuade them to come to what had been a swamp just 40 years earlier.

Liberty House, the major retailer downtown, turned them down, as did Macy’s, Marshall Field’s and Allied Stores. In desperation, Dillingham turned to Sears.

Negotiations between Sears and Ala Moana Center came down to one final point. Theaker insisted the peanut vendor come along with the move. Ala Moana said “no sidewalk vendors” was part of the lease.

Theaker put it all on the line. “If Mama can’t sell her peanuts, Sears stays where it is.”

Ala Moana relented and agreed to make her the lone exception to its “no peddlers allowed” rule.

And that’s how Teru Isomura became the only sidewalk vendor allowed at the new Ala Moana Center. She set up her stall at the Piikoi entrance of the store, taking care of “her boys and girls,” as she called her customers.

For that, I give Morley Theaker and Teru Isomura my 2021 Partners in Peanuts Award.

Polynesian entertainers

The most interesting, delightful and longest-serving Polynesian entertainers in Hawaii are Jack and Cha Thompson. They met at Farrington High School and married in 1966.

They launched Tihati Productions in 1969, when they took over at Duke Kahana­moku’s nightclub at the International Market Place when Don Ho was on a mainland tour. Their shows spread to all the major islands, conventions and even to the White House. In their spare time, they raised 12 children: four of their own and eight hanai.

Before COVID-19, they had 14 shows going. Recently, they were back up to 11, Cha told me, although she and Jack have given Tihati Productions to their kids. “I’m very busy for someone who doesn’t have a job,” she told me recently.

For their 52 fabulous years, and many more to come, I give them the 2021 Polynesian Entertainers of the Year Award.

Theater historian

How many theaters have we had in Hawaii? Would you believe, since the 1840s, it’s over 300! So says Lowell Angell, who has taken it upon himself to preserve the memories of theaters, their names, locations, owners and even photos of them.

Angell played a central role in saving the Hawaii Theatre downtown and moving the organ from the Princess to the Hawaii Theatre in 1969. He’s also been very generous in sharing his knowledge with my readers. For that I give him the 2021 Theater Historian Award.

Public service excellence

In August I wrote about La Ronde, which opened in 1961 atop the Ala Moana Building. It was the first revolving restaurant in the U.S.

John Henry Felix and chef Alphonse Bell partnered in the enterprise. Prior to that, Felix had worked for hotelier Roy Kelley and then was Gov. Bill Quinn’s chief of staff.

Felix has done far more than anyone I know to contribute to our state. He served four mayors and four governors in his 91 years. He was a City Council member for 16 years and has served on over two dozen nonprofit boards such as St. Francis High School, Seabury Hall, Hawaii Red Cross, March of Dimes, Boy Scouts of America, Junior Achievement and the Civil Air Patrol.

Felix is Hawaii’s oldest active Eagle Scout and is the author of six books. He was a founder or owner of eight companies, including Borthwick Mortuary, Academy of the Pacific and Hawaii Medical Assurance Association. A few of them, such as Hawaii Public Radio, began in his office at La Ronde.

Felix has dedicated himself to serving the people of our state, and for that I give him the 2021 Public Service Excellence Award.

Outstanding islander

One of the most interesting people in Hawaii is Kalo Mataele-Soukop.

Kalo left Tonga as a teenager in 1957 to study at BYU- Hawaii, then called the Church College of Hawaii. She danced at the Laie Hukilau that evolved into the Polynesian Cultural Center, and is the first woman and Polynesian to sit on its board of directors.

When she married airline pilot Harry Soukop in 1975, over 3,900 people attended the reception at the Neal Blaisdell Center.

Kalo danced three to four shows a night, hurrying from one show to another. Don Ho said she had the “fastest okole in Waikiki.” She saved her money and helped bring her 12 brothers and sisters to Hawaii and over 1,000 others from Tonga.

For that I give her the Outstanding Islander of the Year Award.

Entertaining teacher

I knew Al Harrington as an entertainer. He had his own show in Waikiki for many years and starred in “Hawaii Five-0” as well as in other TV shows and movies.

I didn’t know he was a well- respected history teacher and coach at Punahou School. When he died in September, many of his former students wrote to tell me about him.

Barbara Jurkens told me she was in his European history class. “He was my very favorite teacher ever. It was honestly the first time I found anything about history to be interesting. He just was an amazing presenter of information,” she said.

“At the parent-teacher night meeting, he impressed my folks with his passion for his subject and his students. My mother came home and told me that Mr. Harrington said that if it took him standing on his head to make the students pay attention to history, he would do it. ‘And he would!’ my mother exclaimed.”

For that, I give Al Harrington the 2021 Most Entertaining Teacher Award.

Congratulations to all the 2021 award winners. If readers want to nominate someone for the 2022 Rearview Mirror Awards, please email me about them.

The Rearview Mirror Insider is Bob Sigall’s now twice-weekly free email newsletter that gives readers behind- the-scenes stories that wouldn’t fit in the column and lots of interesting details. Join and be an insider at rearviewmirrorinsider.com.