21 March 2007
FARON YOUNG, FORTY-NINE YEARS AGO: In March 1958 Faron and Hilda made their first trip to Hawaii. Hubert Long arranged a ten-day tour of Oahu military bases for Ferlin Husky and Faron, with Patsy Cline as an opening act. Hubert tried to include the wives on tours whenever possible. He told Betty Husky and Hilda, “This would be a nice trip; you girls need to come.” For Hilda, a 20-year-old mother who usually stayed home with two babies, this provided her and Faron a second-honeymoon opportunity. “Hubert was always really good about looking out for me,” Hilda says. She described their two-story hotel in Waikiki as “very Hawaiian” and right on the beach. Tiki lamps were everywhere in the native-looking A-frame hotel and its gardens. “I loved it,” she says. “It was a great place.” By their next trip, a gigantic hotel had been built next door.
LETTERS: None this week