Helen Chock, 1917-2007

Helen Chock, the owner and matriarch of Helena’s Hawaiian Foods, died last week Friday. The photo above comes from her obituary in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. She would have been 90 years old on July 27th.

Her restaurant is more than 60 years old. I was a relative newcomer, becoming a “regular” only in 1994, at the original restaurant on North King Street, near Farrington High School. At the time, I was working at KHNR/CNN Radio, and once I started coming in on a regular basis, Helen and the waitresses would try to greet me by name. Except they couldn’t remember my name, but they knew where I worked. So they called me “CNN” for a few years.

Helena’s is a place where you don’t go for the ambience; you go for the food. I would go once every week or two for the pipikaula; the lau lau; the lomi salmon with raw fish and limu; the squid lu`au; the fried butterfish collar; the Maui onions and the haupia that came with every meal. There was a spell last year when I wasn’t able to drop in for a few months. When I returned, Helen greeted me from behind the cash register and we talked story for a little while. When I was done eating and got up to pay my bill, she looked at my check, put it on the spindle, and said simply, “Next time,” without letting me pay. That was the only time she did that, but she knew I’d be back. And frequently. And I was.

The last time I saw her was probably May, just before she was diagnosed with cancer. The last time I was there was last week Thursday, the day before Helen died. Her daughter, Elaine Katsuyoshi, told me she was sleeping a lot in the hospital, and sometimes wasn’t aware of what was going on. But there was a sense that the end was near, that her time was done, she was ready to go and her restaurant was in good hands. And it is: her grandson, Craig Katsuyoshi, has been doing the cooking, and will continue to run Helena’s.

Condolences to her family, especially to Elaine, Craig, and his sister Charlaine. A celebration of Helen’s life will be held Saturday, July 21 at Nu`uanu Memorial Park and Mortuary, with visitation from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., followed by services.

Meantime, the restaurant will reopen Tuesday, July 17.

Mahealani And The iPhone

Would you believe there were people in line at the Apple store at Ala Moana Center before five o’clock this morning to get the iPhone? Of course you would. Mahealani was there with some live reports.

LOST blogger and tech geek (I mean that as a compliment) Ryan Ozawa also has been posting about standing in that line.

I know we’re probably playing to the hype, but, did you get an iPhone? Do you like it? Hate it? Regret it? Let us know. Leave a comment by clicking just below the post. We may read some of your responses on the air.

A Story Behind An Island Image

This morning we had an Island Image from a viewer named Jojo, with the caption, “Mr. Paglinawan’s 5th grade class says alola to Ben.” Dan and I thought, well, they were saying aloha to me. Not so. A viewer, Cheryl, e-mailed and explained that the Ben in question is actually in the picture. (When you click on the link, look for the kid in the back with the sleeveless light blue shirt.) Ben and his family are moved to Arizona last Friday, and his fifth grade class threw him a going-away party. Thanks for the info, Cheryl.

Island Images has been a popular feature on the newscast and the Web site since it started. You really should check out the photos if you haven’t done so already. And it’s very likely that each one has a story to go with it.

Happiness Is A Warm Puppy Licking Your Face

Photographer Kevin Matsumoto and I were sent to cover the “debut” of four beagle puppies born to one of the dogs in the State Department of Agriculture’s Dog Detector Corps. You may have seen these dogs at the airport, sniffing arriving luggage for unwanted fruits, plants and animals, like snakes.

It’s a puppy pilot project. The state usually has to find a good detector dog, usually from another country. The price tag per dog can run to $1,500 or more. So there was an arrangement made with a local breeder to have one of his male dogs mate with “Nari,” one of the state sniffers.

Three of the two month-old pups (Ko`i, Sparky, and the lone female Daisy) are headed to foster homes, where screened foster parents will raise them for the next two years. They’ll determine whether the little beagles have the right personality and temperament for the job. The fourth pup will go to the breeder for a career as a father. The breeder will get to name him.

And you can’t help but fall in love with them. Another reporter mentioned to me that we could say just about anything in our voice tracks for the stories we’d put together on the puppies; no one would be listening anyway, since the puppies would get all the attention. Ko`i came up to the fence of his enclosure when I approached for a close-up look. The state agriculture inspectors overseeing the puppies said I could pick him up. We seemed to bond, especially when he ended up licking my face on-camera, which I didn’t mind at all.

Call it a cushy assignment, but we get sent to floods, fires, car crashes and the like. It isn’t often we get to do a story like this one. Even Kevin stopped to hold a puppy for a while when he was done shooting video. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave, and neither was I.