One man's gift of grab brings toys, joy to all
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer
The man in the "Viva Las Vegas" Elvis T-shirt hands an orange stuffed animal to 4-year-old Maninoa Tufono before turning his attention back to the "Toy Shoppe" crane game, targeting another prize.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
It's 7 o'clock Monday night and 64-year-old Donald Throgmorton is intent on emptying the "Toy Shoppe" at Anna Miller's 24-Hour Restaurant in Pearlridge, something he said he had done four times since 10 p.m. Friday.
Donald Throgmorton fishes out stuffed toys from this machine at Anna Miller's restaurant and passes the toys out to children. At 50 cents a try, he said Monday that he had spent at least $3,000 since Friday.
The machine holds 55 toys when it is full.
Throgmorton, of Pearl City, is a disabled glass factory worker who moved to Hawai'i five years ago from Wisconsin. He gives away the toys because it makes him feel good.
"Me and my wife were not fortunate enough to have children. I love little children. I watch their expressions when I give them a doll and it makes me happy," he said.
Albert Tufono, Maninoa's dad and chairman of the Hawai'i Paroling Authority, smiled as Throgmorton handed a prize to another child. "It's always good to see nice people doing nice things," Tufono said.
It costs 50 cents per try to get a prize, and Throgmorton said Monday he had spent at least $3,000 since Friday.
"Toy Shoppe" is a primary outlet for Sugarloaf, the nation's second-largest retailer of stuffed animals, and the games are stocked with 55 stuffed toys, said Jack Woodard, general manager of Sugarloaf of Hawai'i.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
"We've never experienced that in Hawai'i," Woodard said of Throgmorton's run. "It takes a commitment from the player."
Throgmorton hands out toys to Mary Ann Randel, 9, and her brother Matthew, 5. He says he gives them to children because their expressions when receiving the toys make him happy.
Lani Pangilinan, an assistant manager at Anna Miller's, said she cannot recall seeing one person "wiping out" the game's prize supply before.
Throgmorton said he has also purchased 3,000 yellow ribbons to honor American soldiers in combat and plans to give those out.
Throgmorton said he came to Anna Miller's with friends Friday for supper and began playing the machine at about 10 p.m. It took him six hours to empty the machine the first time. He returned at 1 p.m. Saturday and twice cleaned out the prize load. Throgmorton went back to Anna Miller's at 1:30 p.m. Sunday and left behind an empty machine at about midnight.
He played the game most of the day Monday, and was back at it yesterday.
Throgmorton, who is legally blind, loses his smile when he finally agrees to talk about why he's doing this.
"Doctors have told me that my wife (Hazel) of 37 years has no chance of coming out of the hospital (alive)," he said. "Right now, the saddest thing for me is to think about her. There's nothing I can do for her. We both love children and doing this just makes me happy."
Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.
