Fire Station, pepah route and 25¢ soda machine

Aw man, I can't believe they knocked down the Fire Station. The official name was McCully-Mo'ili'ili Fire Station, and it was a broad structure that covered a wide space on the corner of University Ave and Date Street, it was an oasis of sorts. Lots of grass. Lots of space in the back, where the firefighters stayed in shape by playing volleyball. (That big net was up at least once a week.)

There, in the back, is where Mr. Wong came to drop off newspapers for us guys who had paper routes. My route began across the street, on Date, and included Terrace Towers and a bunch of apartment buildings and cottages behind Terrace on Kamoku Street. It was only to 60 to 65 papers, but it was spread out and took more time than a similar number of papers in the condos like Ala Wai Plaza.

I "inherited" the route from Vonn Rasmussen, who was a cool guy. His family lived in Terrace Towers, and he had the route wired. He could reach the fourth floor with a fling. I couldn't do it, even in eighth grade and throwing the skinny Saturday paper. The railing always blocked me, and after five, six, seven tries, my newspaper was all hemmajag. The route wasn't easy when there was basketball and baseball practice right after delivery, and then bill collection after practice. It's no wonder my grades hit the skids that year. I did meet a lot of cool customers and even cooler stray cats, though.

But meeting at the Fire Station was always cool. There were about eight or 10 other carriers there, including one my best friends growing up, JJ. One of the best things about the wait was the soda machine. It was over behind the kitchen, and that old machine cranked out sodas at just 25¢ each. One of the old Ala Wai gang, Peter, remembers that RC Cola came out of that machine. I just remember the Diamond Head sodas. Grape. Orange. Good stuff and most importantly, cheap.

I wonder where that machine is. I can't imagine where it could be now. The image of the Fire Station, the back area and the soda machine are ingrained in my brain. Somehow, an ice cold 25¢ Diamond Head grape soda tasted so much better in 1978 than anything possibly could now.

Epilogue: No more fretting by me. The old fire station will be replaced by a new $4.5 million fire station.

Some notes from the Old School

Peter, one of the original Ala Wai Park lifers, suggested these places for the Ala Wai Soul lists:

• Fastop. During college, I won a contest that gave me $5 worth of free food each week for a year. I was a sucker for the pecan pie slices, but after awhile I got tired of those and even the hot dogs. The Ala Wai boys, though, never tired of any free food.

• Parker Books. We would catch the bus to Pearl City and check out the comics. An older African-American man owned the place, and along with Kam Swap Meet and the monthly Comic Convention at Mo'ili'ili Community Center, was one of the stops for any comic collector back in the mid- to late-1970s.

• Kam Drive-In. We saw some films there, can't remember what. As I mentioned, my biggest memory of the place was all about comics. JJ and I would meet up after delivering Sunday morning newspapers and take the bus from Mo'ili'ili to Kam Drive-In. Comics were kept in low-grade plastic covers back then and the sun would practically melt them enough that you could smell it. Mylar was a few years away. I often spent more money at Fun Factory next door at Pearlridge than I did on comics. Spent $19 once. That was a tragedy.

• Froggie's/Jelly's. Froggies was another comic-book landmark. I wasn't there much, but all the comicholics I knew went there a lot. Some of them got into the Dungeons and Dragons games, including my brother, Kimo. I'm not saying they were dorks and nerds. That wouldn't be my place.

• Masu's Massive Plate Lunch. Right by Ala Moana. Massive is right. We often got there late (no car) and took whatever they had left, which was usually the ono and sweet teri chicken, and also the hearty chili. Masu's eventually relocated to Liliha, but the owners retired a couple of months ago. The newspapers and TV stations gave Masu's their proper due.

• Kewalo's lunch wagon. Peter is big on this memory, but I hardly ate there. May or may not still be there.

• Likelike Drive-In. Again, Peter is fond of the place. An alternative to Zippy's for a late-night scarf, he writes. I'm no fan of LIkelike, though. The food is average at best.

• Diner's. Excellent nomination by Peter. The locations were on Beretania near Mo'ili'ili Field and even Kalakaua near the old police station. For us broke kids, the $1.25 hamburger special was a must. The chain shut down several years ago, essentially replaced by the much more successful L&L Drive In chain.

Kimo notes that the most unique thing about the old soda machine at the fire station was that it was an original RC Cola soda machine. Most people have forgotten that RC Cola regularly beat Coca Cola and Pepsi in taste tests. I liked RC pretty good, but not enough to miss it like I missed 7-Up. Good thing they brought 7-Up back recently. Still the best of the lemon-lime sodas.