By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Some photographs tell a story. Others beg for a story.

This photo is about a presidential visit to Hawai'i in 1972 and a 5-year-old girl who wanted to give the president a lei.

Attorney Frank Damon is so intrigued with the picture that it hangs in his office. The same photo hangs behind the desk of Advertiser executive editor Jim Kelly. There's a duplicate photo on the wall at Wai-Kahala Preschool.

Where's Michelle now? At age 5, Michelle Moder of nearby Wai-Kahala Preschool tried to give a lei to then-President Nixon as he landed at a Kahala park. Advertiser library photo • Aug. 30, 1972

So here's the photo by Bob Young. The presidential helicopter has just landed at Kahala Park, bounded by Kilauea Avenue and Moa Street. Do you recognize the people getting off the helicopter? It's a star-studded cast of dignitaries.

There's President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, on his right. Between them, in the foreground, is Gov. Jack Burns. He seems to be walking in the wrong direction to greet the president. But then, he was a Democrat and Nixon a Republican.

Henry Kissinger, national security adviser at that time, is coming down the last step. On his right is William P. Rogers, secretary of state. Nixon was on his way to China for the first visit by a U.S. president with Communist Chinese leaders.

Notice that the Nixons are not headed for Gov. Burns. They are making a beeline for fellow Republicans U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong and his wife over on the left. Nobody except Burns is paying any attention to the drama in the foreground.

A little blond girl is running to give her president a lei and a kiss, while two Secret Service men in long sideburns and dark glasses are positioning themselves to protect the president from this security threat.

Damon said somebody had told him that a rope strung across the park kept the people in the background from getting closer.

Dale Faulkner, director of Wai-Kahala Preschool, said the girl was enrolled there at the time. The school is not far from the park. The photo looked familiar. Sure enough, I see it whenever I go to Kelly's office.

The picture is also in The Advertiser library, with a caption that names the girl. She is Michelle Moder, who would be about 36 years old now. I checked the phone book. No Moders listed. But my 1970 directory shows a number for a Steven R. Moder living in Portlock.

If anybody knows the whereabouts of Michelle Moder, you might tell her that a lot of people in Our Honolulu are curious about where she is today.

It is my pleasure to report that the story had a happy sequel. A second picture in our files shows Michelle and Nixon surrounded by an army of photographers while she stands on tiptoe and kisses his cheek with her lei around his neck.