By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Let's catch up on the news in Backyard Honolulu. I have a photo from Frank X. Marino in New York who writes, "At 85, I happened upon this photo of a lovely lady who was kind to those of us who came to O'ahu soon after Pearl Harbor.

"She was the wife of a Dr. Chang and the mother of two teenage girls. I recall a visit to their home on Kane'ohe Bay and most of all an invitation to dinner at a residence on Kapi'olani Boulevard.

"Ten other enlisted men sat at the table when the commanding general walked in. We all jumped to our feet but Mrs. Chang admonished us that there was no rank to be found at her table. If she has grandchildren, they ought to know how much happiness she gave to many of us far from home."

The family can call me at 525-8073 for the 1942 photo.

Cecilia Blackfield has some news for all of you whose first home was a tract house in Hawai'i Kai built 50 years ago by Bill Blackfield; three bedrooms, one bath, 900 square feet, $12,500, $25 down. Those upgraded houses now sell for a million. And not only in Our Honolulu.

Blackfield also built 187 affordable houses in the Bel Aire subdivision near San Francisco. He named the streets after himself, his wife, his four daughters (Pamela, Harriet, Karen and Claire), and son Leland. Cecilia Blackfield reports that the houses now sell for $850,000.

Masaharu Saito of Wahiawa took grandson Cory to enroll at Harvard. The family decided to eat at the Hula Moon Cafe in Boston after reading about it in this column. Guess what? It was closed. Saito says the Hula Moon is open only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

After reading about The Advertiser's new company shirt, Bill Null in Tacoma, Wash., looked in his closet and, sure enough, there was an Advershirt. "Nancy bought it for me when we lived on Guam and bought yardage for herself to make a dress. This shirt is one of my favorite island shirts and still looks good after 20 plus years and numerous washings."

Nunn writes that the shirt has an article about bubonic plague taking its toll in Hawai'i; one about Duke Kahanamoku datelined Stockholm, 1912; and a short article about the tsunami that smashed the Islands on April 1, 1946. This Advershirt celebrated the 125th birthday of the paper, founded in 1856.

Honolulu dentist Bill Vogt, who lives on Moloka'i, has gotten himself on the bad side of a wild turkey. He tells a hair-raising tale of how she attacked him and scratched his face with her claws and beak. When she sees him, she puffs up. He avoids her or picks up the cover off a garbage can to use as a shield. And we all thought Moloka'i was a place of contentment and aloha.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.