By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

All together now! We're going to sing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" for Becky Kendro, executive assistant at the Pacific Health Research Institute. In spite of terrorism and the anthrax scare, her 'Iolani Palace Christmas tree ornament now hangs on a tree in the White House.

Back in 2001, Kendro and three other Hawai'i artists were selected to send an ornament representing a famous place from our state to decorate one of the White House Christmas trees.

Other ornaments included Kawaiaha'o Church and the Queen Emma Summer Palace. Kendro made 'Iolani Palace out of foam core, pearl-headed pins, bamboo skewers for flag poles and poi cloth from Kaimuki Dry Goods used to squeeze water out of poi.

She sent her ornament to Washington, where it was put in quarantine during the anthrax scare. About a month ago she got a call from the White House informing her that 'Iolani Palace is out of quarantine and up on a tree.

Kendro flew to Washington on business but was unable to see her ornament. However, the White House sent a picture.

Erling Hedemann at Hakalau, about two miles up the slope on Mauna Kea, has sent me the perfect Christmas gift for a kama'aina who has everything: an antique kolea decoy.

"My Dad and my uncle used to hunt plover (kolea) in the 1930s," Hedemann recalled. "Us kids would set the decoys. I remember flights of plover on O'ahu. They would come in low over the water at Waimanalo while we were lobster fishing."

Hedemann is very annoyed at the hunters who are shooting kolea illegally on his property and thinks they should be arrested. "I reported the shooting," he said. "The game wardens said they believe in education, not enforcement."

Why doesn't some bistro take a holiday season hint from the old Young Hotel Roof Garden downtown? This is what happened around Christmas in 1916, as quoted in The Advertiser:

"At midnight all the lights on the roof garden went out ... electric horns at each end of the garden blew for five minutes. Fern baskets hanging along the middle blazed out with red fire.

"Then all of the lanterns were lighted again and three lovely dancers were discovered on the platform bearing baskets of flowers, the contents of which they scattered over the company present."

The ultimate holiday bash this year had to be the Hawai'i Pacific University Christmas party at the Pacific Club: half a dozen gourmet food stations, almost as many bars, 1,000 guests, a quality cross section of Our Honolulu. HPU President Chatt Wright shook hands with every one of them. He should be in great shape for arm wrestling.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.

Correction: Erling Hedemann's name was misspelled in a previous version of this column.