This week I thought I’d share several stories that readers told me in the past few months. Newspapers often have stories about crime, political divisions or problems we are facing. Rearview Mirror tries to balance that out with more lighthearted topics.
Today’s column begins with a boy who became an assistant demonstrator to yo-yo champ Barney Akers in the 1950s. Then we’ll learn about how the Royal Waikoloa hotel on the Big Island was “christened” with kimchi.
After that we’ll explore whether birds have a preference for Toyota Camrys. And we’ll finish by sitting around the piano with Charles K.L. Davis and a song about an itch that was hard to scratch.
Yo-yos
In May I wrote about the F.W. Woolworth and S.H. Kress stores in Hawaii. One aspect of the story was yo-yo champion Barney Akers, who made personal appearances at several of those stores. He traveled the country for Duncan Toys, teaching kids how to play with the toy.
Akers was one of the best players of his time. He may have trained more professional demonstrators than any other person in the art of the yo-yo. His assistant in Hawaii was 12-year-old Richard Lee, who grew up with his adoptive family in Kaimuki.
“Mr. Akers made me a jacket with all of the yo-yo emblems on them,” Lee said. “I wasn’t paid but Akers did buy me lunch. Akers would carve children’s initials in the wooden Duncan yo-yos they purchased. He gave me a knife so that I could also learn to engrave initials on the yo-yos.
“Akers came seasonally to Hawaii from New York. He was like a father to me, one that I never had. I’m fortunate to have met him and was able to be his assistant. He was a true gentleman.”
Lee won the state yo-yo championship three years in a row, from 1951-53. He recalled that he and Akers were on the “Checkers & Pogo Show.”
Kimchi christening
When I’m out in public, readers often mention recent columns that grabbed them . One column from July that garnered a lot of interest was about that spicy side dish kimchi.
Alison Beddow said, “In the 1980s I worked at the Volcano House. At the time, it was a Sheraton property. One of the employee perks was that on your birthday you were gifted with a stay at their newly built property in Waikoloa.
“The Sheraton Royal Waikoloa hotel marked the beginning of the Waikoloa Beach resort development. Described as a ‘sparkling new gem,’ it opened in the summer of 1981.
“For my birthday in November, I booked a room for myself, husband and two children. Of course, we brought our own food, as dining options then were few and expensive. After checking in, we carted our suitcases and bags of groceries to our room.
“Unfortunately, during the three-hour drive from Volcano, the condensation on the bottle of kimchi had softened the brown paper bag. Right in the middle of the lobby, it fell through the bag and BAM! It hit the sparkling white tile floor and shattered.
“Glass and kimchi went everywhere! And the smell!
“I wonder if the higher- ups ever got wind that the locals had ‘christened’ their hotel.”
White bird
There’s a kolea on my street I’ve named “Percy the Plover.” He’s recently returned from Alaska, and readers have told me they have spotted plovers in their neighborhoods as well.
Ken Fujii in Hilo said his avian companion is a white egret that regularly takes rides with him on his Toyota Camry.
“When it sees me enter my car, the bird flies onto the hood and then perches on the windshield wiper blades. He stares through the front window, watching me.
“When I start the engine, it stays there, and as long as I drive down my residential street very slowly, under 15 mph, it will stay on my car and take a ride with me. All the while, the breeze is ruffling its feathers, but he just stays there, enjoying the outing.
“Once I speed up, the wind gets too strong and the bird flies away. But the next time I get into my car, there he is again.”
Toyota Camrys
Dianne S. said, “Ken Fujii’s egret story has me thinking that they like Toyota Camrys! Not just any Toyota Camry, but red ones! I used to have a Toyota Camry. It was Barcelona Red (I loved the color!).
“I live and work in the Pauoa area. When I would go to work, there was an egret that would ‘stalk’ my car. Not anyone else’s, just mine. There were other Toyota Camrys there, but my car was the ‘blessed’ one. Maybe it liked the color.
“I would find an egret on the roof of my car, sitting there like it owned it. One day I was at the intersection of Pauoa Road, Lusitana Street and Kanealii Avenue at the stoplight when I saw an egret flying toward my car.
“I thought, no way it was going to land on my car, but sure enough, it did. It landed on the roof of my car while I was waiting for the light to change! It had to be the same bird from my workplace!
“When the light changed, I moved and it flew away. Later, it was back on the roof of my car when I got off work!
“I no longer have that red Camry and no longer have to worry about the little (or should I say big) gifts the egret left for me!”
Charles K.L. Davis
Michael Lilly’s grandparents were Henry and Una Walker. He remembered being his grandmother’s escort for a 90th-birthday party for Mary Pflueger at her home in Niu Valley in 1983.
Pflueger and her sister, Harriet Lucas Cassidy, owned much of Niu Valley, which was subdivided in the 1950s.
Entertaining the family that evening in her garden was the famous singer Charles K.L. Davis, Lilly recalled.
Charles Keonaonalaulani Llewellyn Davis (1925-1991) was a child prodigy who learned piano at the age of 2. Davis was a 1951 winner of “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.” He performed at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and the White House, and released over 20 albums.
“Mary Pflueger had a ribald sense of humor and was thrilled when Davis sang ‘When you’re feeling mane‘o,’” Lilly said.
“Mane‘o means ‘itch,’ but in that song he’s referring to a carnal itch.
“Davis’ brother, Francis, danced a lascivious hula as Davis played piano and sang, ‘When you’re feeling mane‘o. When you’re feeling mane‘o. What fun, when you know how it’s done. What fun, when you know how it’s done.’
“It brought the house down.”
Rick Fell also knew Davis. “I had the pleasure of hosting Charles K.L. Davis and his brother, Francis, in my home for several months in the mid-1970s. They were distinctly different but devoutly loyal to each other. They were both a pleasure.
“Every morning when Charles got up, he would bellow ‘good morning’ in his tenor operatic voice that would shake the walls.”
Davis returned to Hawaii in 1968 when his mother needed care. For the next dozen years, he performed twice a week at Kemoo Farm in Wahiawa.
Dave Donnelly wrote about him in 1980, saying: “Before each song he usually tells a story about it, so his audience gets a bit of Hawaiian history with their entertainment.
“Davis is a little bit of a rascal and always does a few naughty Hawaiian songs, such as ‘Mane‘o.’ The way he handles them, with his big, round expressive face beaming, is delightful.”
Karen Peterson Parnell also met Davis. “My parents lived in Hawaii from 1932 to 1971. They loved Charles Davis and had many of his records. My sister, Carol, a Leilehua 1950 grad, and I, a Waianae 1963 grad, took our mother, Viola, back to Hawaii in 1984.
“We took her to Kemoo Farms for dinner, one of our family’s favorites. She was elated. Davis was performing that evening, and she was beyond thrilled to interact with him. He even played a request for her and let us take a picture of them together!”
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.
