ORAL HISTORY – researcher, Carol Bain
Steve Kurokawa – Notes from Interview 3/24/01
Denny's Auto Repair, 4545 Hanapepe Rd.
PO Box 115, Hanapepe PH 335-5534 (brother is Denny – he owns property across Street too)
Steve remembers the pool hall, but not what it was before. A retail (Muramoto) store was next door, closer to the swinging footbridge side, which also had a taxi stand and shoeshine business in front. The Ajimura store was across the street and the theater. He thinks the pool hall was painted green, but not sure. He knows it had an old-style corrugated roof.
When Steve was growing up he recalls waiting there for his friend to walk to school together in the mornings. The old pool hall was a gathering place. Lots of people would sit in front. There were wooden benches (1 on each side) and he recalls the carnivals and Christmas parade going by on Hanapepe Road. The carnival drew lots of people.
Steve was a teenager in the 1960s and recalls growing up in Hanapepe town until he turned 17 and moved. In his high school days he has good memories about the old pool hall. It was a good place to socialize, especially with elderly Filipino men, when he went to shoot pool.. Steve values the socialization he had at the pool hall, where all races got together.
He knows he was “hustled” by the older men playing pool and gambling, but never too badly. They were friendly. He learned how to play “knock rummy” and “apple” pool game. In the game called $5 Apple, there were 15 balls that had to be shot in sequence; the 5, 10 and 15 balls were the “money” balls and had to be gotten in sequence. The better players could call the pocket too.
He remembers the flood of 1966 and the construction of the flood wall. He saw the boat harbor being built.
Steve?s Dad was a tennis champion in the 1930?s. Steve remembers that the Aloha Theater drew big names like: Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others.
Though Steve's family moved to another part of the island when he was 17, he returned to Hanapepe as an adult and now runs Dennys automotive repair and owns property next door on Hanapepe Road, about (2 blocks from old pool hall). He has been active in the local business association and help organize Christmas parades in the 1970s.
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Steve was very helpful in locating other people to talk to about the old pool hall. He knew Michael Sussman had some of the memorabilia from the pool hall and he knew how to reach Mrs. Connie Aquino, the daughter of Mrs. Malapit who leased the property and also managed the pool hall.
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