WEBVTT

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As I was saying, that every time
the senator came to Hilo,

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this tradition started.

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He had to eat Cafe 100 beef stew
whenever he was in Hilo.

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So that was a way that he kept in touch
with my family, with the café,

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and when I look back, it was over 60 years
that he came every time.

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What was even more astounding to me
was when he became

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the president pro tempore of the Senate
and he had all these bodyguards,

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they would come here.

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Three cars would come here,
one car in the front, his car,

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then the car behind,
and they would stop.

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He would eat beef stew,
ask about the family,

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sit around in the back room,
and then he would leave.

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There were times
when he couldn’t come to Hilo,

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so his aide would have to bring
the beef stew to Kona

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so he could have it!
[laughs]

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If you ask him why he did that,
he would say it just was

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a part of his tradition
and it brought him good luck.

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So we were honored, and all the employees
knew who Senator Inouye was.

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We may not know who the governor is,
but we knew Senator Inouye

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because he came here
every time he was in Hilo.

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(interviewer)
Would he call in advance?

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Of course, his office would make sure
that everything was ready.

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I know Maggie came,
I know his son Ken came over the years.

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We were all honored to meet his new wife.

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It became such a part of the routine,
it was not like… [laughs]

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When you think about it now,
this was a very important man coming.

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It was so natural for us, and he would
of course ask about the family…