january ’09Here it is — a brand new year — a brand new President. No, I did not go to Washington, D.C. but instead co-chaired the Aloha Presidential Inaugural Ball at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. With the assist of former Governors George Ariyoshi, John Waihee, Benjamin Cayetano and their wives, Jean, Lynn and Vicky, we put on a fabulous event to celebrate President Obama's inauguration. Jim Burns represented his dad, Governor Burns, so we had this historic photo taken at the event.
We also had an exceptional evening with the
performers, Willie K, Azure McCall, Jordan Segundo, Jasmine Trias, Nina Kealiiwahamana and Jimmy Borges. We also danced to the Barack Obama Yes We can Band under the direction of Kit Ebersbach. It will be a night to remember for a very long time!
february ’09 
This was the month Hawaii bid farewell to Wayne Harada's three times a week column at the Honolulu Advertiser. Although he "retired", he still has a Sunday column for us to go to for our "Harada fix".
His fundraiser at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center Theatre Complex was superb! Cha Thompson and her crew assembled the finest entertainers who paid musical tributes for four hours to Wayne. We'll miss Wayne — but we still have him on Sundays and in Friday's TGIF!
At the Waialae Country Club, Melveen Leed actually got Governors Cayetano, Ariyoshi and Waihee to come up and sing karaoke with her. At the bi-monthly "Waialae Hawaiian Night" which I've hosted for 15 years, the Tita was able to get Governor Cayetano to sing "Dahil Sa Iyo." Governor Waihee struggled but was funny with his version of Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime." And Governor Ariyoshi, I'm proud to report, was exceptional. His "Kokoni Sachi Ari" was a hit! They were all such great sports — but Melveen had the last say. "I hope you all play golf better than you sing!"
march’09My production assistant, Joanne Corpuz and office manager, Trudy Rawlins worked extra hard this month as we readied the John A. Burns Documentary for rebroadcast and as a statehood commemorative DVD.
We had retired Jim Burns re-shoot the introduction and close the documentary (which was produced earlier in 2000) at PBS. Robert Penneybacker assisted us in directing Burns to do what he doesn't like to do — get in front of the camera. But it was great to finally get my husband to see what my whole life has been about. He said, "I'll stay behind the camera from now on — you can do your thing. But just this ONE time." . . . Thanks, Dear.
This was the month we launched the John A. Burns Statehood Memento DVD. We also re-aired the nearly decade old hour long television special. We decided to do this to honor the man who was considered the "architect" of our statehood bill.
Jim Burns was quoted in the Honolulu Advertiser "We can't know where we're going unless we know
how we got here."For that reason alone, we felt this 50th Anniversary of Statehood was the perfect time to educate Hawaii on the times, how they’ve changed and what we may need to re-learn from the past.
We also attended Statehood Ceremonies at the State Capitol and had the privilege of seeing all the former Governors and their family representatives.
So far, we have received many, many wonderful and warm emails and phone calls for the program and DVD orders. It's exciting to know the legacy of John A. Burns can be as meaningful now during Statehood's 50th Anniversary as it was when it first aired in 2000 during the 25th Anniversary of his death. For more information or to purchase a copy of the DVD, click here.
Finally, this month, we went out to the set of "You May Not Kiss the Bride" to see two of its co-stars, Willie K and Tia Carrere. Willie plays a Tahitian King — he does a great job! And Tia has the role of a sexy cocktail waitress. We got them in a moment of playing 'SWITCH.' Tia talked to Willie about winning a grammy and Wllie K expressed his difficulty "acting" in the film. But combined they sang a stunning version of "He Aloha Mele." Without a rehearsal, they jammed for our Island Moments cameras. You can see this "island moment" on our first Emme's Island Moments for 2009 airing May 28th at 9:00 pm and May 30th at 3:00 pm on KHON 2.