Central Dispatch

THE HAWAII FIVE-0 NEWSLETTER

Volume 4 January, 2007 Issue 1

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Destiny
By Joyce Russell

My connection to Hawaii, Hawaii 5-0 and Al Harrington began many years ago. I was a young mother with three teen-agers when I first saw Hawaii 5-0. I certainly had no idea that I would ever travel to Hawaii at that time. And, of course, I never dreamed I would ever meet anyone in the cast.

My life was that of most mothers taking care of a family and home and working a full time job in the office as well. After work and weekends there were kids to drive, tons of laundry, grocery shopping and house cleaning, etc. It didn’t leave much time to watch TV and certainly, we didn’t have enough in the budget for vacations to Hawaii. Somehow, I did manage to catch the Hawaii 5-0 Series once in a while. I enjoyed watching the show. Part of the enjoyment was seeing the beautiful scenery of the Islands where Hawaii 5-0 was filmed. The theme song was exciting. I still get goose bumps or as the people in Hawaii say, (“chicken skin”) when I hear the theme song from the show played.

A few years passed and then “destiny” pointed me in the direction of Hawaii. Our son enlisted in the Marine Corp. He was sent to Kaneohe on the Island of Oahu. I was employed at our local Radio Station, which offered a trip to the Islands with the DJ as host. It took some convincing, but finally my bosses agreed to let me off work to go with the Group. One other woman at the station was also able to get time off to go and room with me. We offered to help with the Group or assist in any way we could. I really was anxious to see our young son; it was his first time away from home. And at last I would be able to visit the Paradise and the people I had only dreamed of over the years.

There were several tragic events in my life prior to the trip. I was very close to my parents and lost them within 3 months of each other. Also, I had a very demanding job and family problems. I was secretary to six salesmen and the National Sales Manager at the Station.

I really needed a vacation.

We arrived first on Oahu and I was able to spend some time with my son. Our local tour guide was Rodney Cazimero. He escorted the group around Oahu and then to Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii. He was a great guide and really gave us some insight about the Islands and the people.

I returned back to the mainland with visions of Hawaii as my constant companion. Hawaii does call. Soon, I quit my job after eight years at the Radio Station and pursued a career in Travel hoping to get back to the Islands. I escorted motorcoach groups around the mainland then took Groups to Europe, the Scandinavian Countries, and the Caribbean. Finally, I was asked to escort a Group to Hawaii for a large wholesaler in Michigan. They said I could take my husband along or a family member. My husband wasn’t able to get the time off so my daughter went with me.

On this occasion I first met “AL HARRINGTON”. The guide in the Islands asked if my daughter and I would like to see the Audrey Myers/Al Harrington combo show. I had never heard of either one but we signed up. We were not disappointed. They took the group by motorcoach first to the Audrey Myers Show. Audrey was often referred to as the Judy Garland of Hawaii. She had a wonderful show everyone thoroughly enjoyed. After her show, the Guide said, “OK cousins, now we’ll go to see Al Harrington at the Hilton Dome”. Again, we boarded the motorcoach and headed for the Hilton. As I said, I had no idea who “Al Harrington” was so I didn’t know what to expect. Soon we arrived at the Hilton Dome. It looked like a giant golf ball. We took our seats, the lights dimmed and the music began to play. It was the theme song of Hawaii 5-0.

All of a sudden this “Al Harrington” was introduced and came out on stage wearing a white jump suit and a feather headband. My daughter said, “Mom, I think that’s Ben from Hawaii 5-0”. I said no, this man’s name is Al Harrington not Ben Kokua. Al introduced himself as the guy in Hawaii 5-0 that Jack Lord would tell “Book ‘em Ben”. He said he had to chase the bad guys and jump the fences to go after them. He joked that he left the show because they kept raising the fences.

We soon discovered that Al Harrington not only was a great actor, he was a multi-talented individual that entertained us with his humor, singing, and dancing as well. He seemed to have a natural ability to relate to each person in the audience on a one to one basis. He reached both genders, all races, all ages, classes and backgrounds. He had an almost uncanny way of knowing just what to say to touch their hearts.

After the show was over the audience was invited to come up to an area to have photos taken with Al. My daughter and I went up and he stood in the middle with one arm around each of us. He asked the standard questions; “Where are you from?, Did you enjoy the Show?”, and then he asked if we were sisters! (Now that’s an old line isn’t it?) I explained that we were mother and daughter and he winked and said, “You look great kid, I wouldn’t have guessed it”. What a showman.

After we returned home, I pursued a desire to put my own tours together to Hawaii rather than going thru a large wholesaler. I wanted to show people the “real” Hawaii. To teach them to love and respect our 50^th State. I wanted them to love the beautiful people of Hawaii and understand a little about the culture rather than just going on a commercial tour. We had private picnics on the beach with local friends and entertainers, and we went places most tour groups never did. God blessed me and my trips became so popular that I was traveling with Groups to Hawaii every six weeks from Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. I included Al’s show as everyone always enjoyed him and his cast. We ended our tours in Waikiki and his show was the frosting on the cake so to speak.

Over the years, Al and I did become friends. When my husband retired, we moved to Hawaii where he got a job managing a condo in Waikiki. I kept busy too working for a large hotel chain arranging optional activities, outer Island trips, etc, for the Hotel Guests.

One year Al and his wife invited us to Thanksgiving dinner at their beautiful home. We were quite homesick for our family around the Holidays and we really appreciated them sharing theirs with us. We also spent New Years Eve one year at their home. The fireworks display was phenomenal. I gazed down at the lights of Waikiki and thought, “This really is paradise”.

Grandchildren started appearing on the scene and the distance from them became too far. We decided to move back to the mainland to be closer and to be involved in their lives.

About the same time, Al Harrington decided to retire. The last show was by invitation only. We felt quite honored to have received one. His family and friends gave some beautiful tributes to Al and when he finally spoke there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. They too moved to the mainland. Hawaii lost a treasure when they moved.

We did keep in touch over the years and when Al moved to California, we visited him there several times. The last time I saw him was in San Diego in September 2005. We flew out there to surprise him and support him as he received the PIFA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Now after all this time, “destiny” has again called me back to Hawaii. A mutual friend of mine introduced me to a local Attorney and his wife in March. They asked me to come to work for them two days a week in their Travel office. I had been retired for some time when I finally decided to accept the position. Recently I saw an article about a new Ship sailing in the Islands. I made a few calls and have a small group of people that I will escort in January to take the cruise.

At 69 years old, I really can’t understand where all the years have gone. Time is very precious at this point in life. I have been very involved writing my Children’s Book relating to Hawaii. It too has been a dream of mine to write a fictional book about Hawaii incorporating some the historical facts as well. A lecture series is also in the planning to visit local schools and teach our mainland children to love and respect our beautiful 50^th State and her people as my own grandchildren and family does. I just pray that God will give me the health and time to finish this project. My book is called:

Hawaii Kids

Star & Ben

By Tutu Joyce

It should be available soon!

I understand that Al has moved back to Hawaii. We haven’t heard from him since we returned from San Diego that September. It is strange how our lives have gone full-circle and how “destiny” brought us together 30 years ago to develop a long friendship. Perhaps we will see each other again in January.

With aloha,

Joyce Russell

(Tutu Joyce)

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In August 2005 I mentioned I would try to include articles from the original Hawaii Five-0 Fan Club’s newsletter. Here is another one I thought everyone would enjoy. If any of the original members of the Iolani Irregulars who would like to share their stories or copies of the old newsletter please contact me at tw1151@comcast.net.

ADVANCE PROGRAM INFORMATION

CBS TELEVISION NETWORK – 51 WEST 52 STREET, NEW YORK, N. Y. 10019

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

For Station Management only

SERIES: HAWAII FIVE-0

TITLE: “The Singapore File”

AIR DATE: November 19, 1969

IN BRIEF: McGarrett is called to Singapore by a terrified girl he is seeking as a witness to a local murder.

THE ACTION: A man known as Victor attacks Nicole Wylie’s date in a Singapore bar when she refuses to dance with him. Suspecting the man has been sent to kill her because she was a witness to a Honolulu gangster killing, Nicole flees from the bar. The girl places a call to McGarrett in Honolulu, begging him to come to her assistance, and offers to testify against the killer, a racketeer named Ravasco. McGarrett flies to Singapore and meets Nicole, but before they can leave, two local police officers hired by Ravasco make an attempt on their lives, forcing McGarrett to kill them in a gunfight. Nicole convinces McGarrett that he will be detained by local police to explain the killings and she will be left at the mercy of Ravasco’s men if they turn themselves in. McGarrett books passage for Nicole and himself on a freighter bound for Manila. Ravasco manages to put a killer aboard the ship, but when he makes an attempt on McGarrett’s life, he is knocked overboard and lost at sea. McGarrett and Nicole leave the ship prior to arriving in Manila, and when Chin Ho appears in Manila, he has a message to join them at a religious shrine outside the city. Victor, who has learned of their plans, sets a trap with two accomplices at the shrine. The surprised McGarrett manages to hold Victor and his men at bay in a gunfight until Chin Ho arrives. In the gun battle Victor is wounded, one of his men is killed and the other surrenders. Nicole returns to Honolulu to testify against Ravasco. (Based on viewing.)

PRODUCER: Leonard Freeman CAST: Jack Lord

James MacArthur

DIRECTOR: Robert Gist Zulu

Kam Fong

WRITER: Robert C. Dennis Marj Dusay

Peggy Ryan

Freda May Bird

Daniel Leegant

Dick Brady

Bob Wood

Affiliate Relations

JKA

Ag

7/2/70

****NOTE: Spelling errors were found in original transcript and left as they were to conserve original content. - from Editor of the Central Dispatch

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A word from our sponsors:

Anyone interested in copies of Hawaii Five-0 episodes (mostly all full versions) can contact Barbara Brindle at 105 Warren Road, Sparta, NJ 07871. Barbara does not have an email address so you’ll need to phone her at 973-729-9232. Her rates are reasonable and she’s very reliable.

Ron Evans, owner of e/p Partners, www.networksplus.net/caseyguy/epPartners.htm, also offer VCR tapes of Hawaii Five-0, Jack Lord and James MacArthur, among others. His email is caseyguy@networksplus.net.

Karen Rhodes, author of Booking Hawaii Five-0, would like contact from anyone who has purchased the unauthorized DVD set being sold on the internet by dvdavenue.tv or anyone else. I'm specifically interested in getting a look at the episode guide they advertise to go with the DVD set, to check for possible copyright infringement. Contact Karen at bitbucket001@comcast.net

Hard copies of the newsletter are available.

The Hawaii Five-0 Newsletter is available in print form. Membership is $10 per year for four issues (foreign subscriptions are $14.00 US funds). Checks for membership may be made out to Annette Nixon/H50FC. You can contact Annette at Spinkick@colint.net and ask her for her mailing address. Any additional financial contributions are always welcome. The newsletter will be available on the 15th of January, April, July and October.

Submissions, which are always welcomed, to the newsletter can be emailed to me at tw1151@comcast.net. Deadlines are one month before each issue. You can find the Central Dispatch on Terri’s Jack Lord Connection located at www.thejacklordconnection.com.

See you in April, 2007

Be There! Aloha!