By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Six women were having dinner at Fisherman's Wharf. One of them said to their waitress, Maria Yamada, "You've been working here a long time."

"Fifty years this month," she said in an Italian accent.

So today we will celebrate a historic occasion in the art of waiting on tables. Maria Yamada went to work at Fisherman's Wharf the year it opened. She has been waiting tables since the Democrats came to power in Hawai'i.

Maria has waited on Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Onassis, Red Skelton and Duke Kahanamoku. Elvis Presley came in through the back door from a movie set at Kewalo Basin where he was making "Blue Hawai'i," playing the role of a fisherman.

She was the favorite waitress of Spence and Cliff Weaver, who parlayed a World War II hot dog stand into the biggest restaurant chain in the state, Spencecliff. They picked her to wait on President Lyndon Johnson when Gov. Jack Burns hosted him at Washington Place.

The president autographed Maria's forehead for a news photo that was printed from Kaka'ako to Italy.

You'd never guess she's 72. When I asked for an interview, she insisted on taking me to lunch at the Hau Tree Lanai. Jim Nabors was at the next table. Maria said, "Mr. Nabors, my girlfriend swims in your pool. Would you mind taking a picture with me?"

She handed me the camera so I turned photographer. Then Nabors took a picture of Maria with me.

Maria was less concerned about herself than about me getting enough to eat. She boxed up half of her club house sandwich for me to take home. "I'm getting fat," she explained. "One hundred twenty pounds. I used to weigh a hundred."

The golden age of Maria's career came in the 1950s and 1960s when she led children — who are now business executives — to the Treasure Chest at Fisherman's Wharf and let them pick out a whistle or a hat or a balloon.

She also misses the dishes that gourmet chef Saby Yamaguchi used to whip up: mahimahi papilote served in a paper bag and cut open with a knife at the table; lobster thermidor served on a flat board; 'opakapaka Florentine served in a casserole dish with peanuts underneath and cheese on top.

In Italy, she said, she fell in love at age 16 with Mori Yamada, a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Her brother wouldn't let her get married. Maria waited until she was 18 and came to Hawai'i. At first, she'd catch a ride from Kaimuki to the old airport terminal where she waited tables at the Sky Room. When Fisherman's Wharf opened in 1952, she moved there and has become diva of the dining room.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-0873.