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Loving Care
Colombian Community
shows support for teacher injured in accident
Shawn Daley, Editor
April 1, 2004
As soon as Paulina Chavez
heard about fellow Colombia
native Maria (Otero) Cabrera,
she knew she had to do some-
thing to help.
Cabrera had come to the
United States from Bogota in
August as part of the Visiting
International Faculty program.
She had been teaching at Salem
Elementary School for just a few
weeks when she was involved in
a car accident that left her in a
coma for two months.
Her husband, Jose, and three-
year-old daughter, Michelle,
were in America just four days
prior to the wreck.
So when Chavez recently
found out that the family need-
ed help raising money for air-
line tickets to Colombia she
The “Auction of Solidarity”
was a way for members of the
local Colombian and Latin com-
munity to rally to the aid of the
Cabrera family.
Pre-Colomhian style jewelry
and crafts were sold to help the
family buy another plane ticket
and pay some mounting medical
expenses.
“We had a lot of people here
and a lot of American people, too,
said Chavez. "I've also had a lot of
people call me at home to
see how they could donate
money. So we are pleased.”
Although returning to
Colombia will be difficult for
the Cabreras, the family hopes
the support of family and
friends at home will help
Maria’s recovery.
“Some people are asking ‘why
don’t they stay here?”’ said
Chavez. “But who is going to
take care of Maria? She is not
able to recognize everybody and
it’s like she has holes in her
mind.
“She can’t feed herself or do
other things alone. She needs
someone to take care of her.”
If you would like to help the
Cabrera family call Chavez at
637-5862 or Sandra Haecker at
387-5964.
Green
bounces back strong after early exit from show
Hilary Caryl Russell,
Staff Writer
April 1,
2004
Apex High School graduate
Heather Green may no longer be
competing for a record contract
on the USA Network’s
“Nashville Star,” a country ver-
sion of “American Idol.”
But that doesn’t mean this
blonde beauty is down and out
or that she’s giving up on her
dream of becoming a well-
known country singing artist.
“I think my family and friends
were more disappointed than I
was about not getting through to
the next round,” said Green.
“But every single time I went up
there, there was something in
me that said don’t get your
hopes up, don’t get too excited.
I am just so thankful to have
made it as far as I did. lop 20
ain’t bad for the U.S.A.”
Green was selected out of
thousands of contestants to
compete on the show and then,
unfortunately, voted off by the
judges.
Although Green felt good
about her performance, she said
she didn’t have a good feeling
after catching a look at one of
the judge’s faces.
“When I finished the song I
thought I did it, but after looking
at the female judge and seeing
the scowl, I thought that’s it.”
However, this minor setback
has led to multiple job offers
and mobs of support from the
very public she’d hoped to
spend the duration of the show
entertaining.
“I’ve done a bunch radio tours
and interviews and I’ve gotten a
lot of feedback from people who
couldn’t believe that I didn’t
make it and that’s made me feel
great,” she said.
“I started getting phone calls
the day after from people in
Chicago and in Atlanta... obvi-
ously from people who didn’t
agree with the judges,” she said.
Green said she’s back in the
studio, writing songs and has
been hired to do session work
with different writers and artists
who ask her to work on their
demo albums.
Working as a full-time model,
Green was also hired to star in a
Hank William Jr. video that was
shot this week.
She also appears in a film with
“The Passion of the Christ” star
Jim Caviezel, this month, titled
“Stroke of Genius,” about
famed golfer Bobby Jones.
Green plays Jones’ number
one fan in the film.
“I am doing ads for a spa in
Alabama and lots of commer
cials, so Pm back on the trail
again,” she said. “And I’ve real-
ly gotten more exposure from
being on ‘Nashville Star’. So it’s
been great.”
Modeling and acting aside,
Green said she’s thrilled about
being back in the studio with her
mentors and friends.
“I am so excited about going
back into the studio with Gary
Baker, who wrote “I Swear,”
and Walt Aldridge with
Universal South Records.”
“They are really excited about
my songs, which is flattering
because I mean, they’ve written
number one songs. So I am writ-
ing songs with them. And I
wrote one last week with them
and though I’ve written over
100 songs, I think this is the best
one to date.”
So, Green may not have made
waves her first time in
Nashville, but who needs
Tennessee when she’s headed
for the stars.
For information about. Heather
Green, go to www.heather-
green.us
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AHS class ring returned
to owner 10 years later
Apex man lost ring while snorkeling in
Florida in 1994
Mary Jekielek Insprucker,
Contributing Writer
April 1, 2004
“My class ring represents
what I was going through at the
time,” said Jonathan Still.
“It is a snapshot of who I was
and has great sentimental
value.”
This emotion propelled Still’s
gratitude when his Apex High
School (AHS) class ring was
found after being lost for nearly
10 years.
“I lost my ring when I was
snorkeling in Key West in
1994,” explained Still. “When
my girlfriend surfaced, she acci-
dentally knocked my ring off
my finger.
“Some scuba divers went in to
look for it, but they couldn’t
find it.”
Bob Goodreau, a retired
Captain for the Key West Fire
Department, was able to do
what those scuba divers could
not.
A few weeks ago, he found
Still’s ring off a road about a
mile down from where Still
snorkeled 10 years earlier.
“I was on my scooter and
when I stopped at a red light on
US 1, I saw the ring lying on the
side of the road,” said
Goodreau. “I was in traffic, so I
just put it in my pocket until I
got home."
Once there, Goodreau exam-
ined the ring and saw it was
from Apes High School. After a
30-second Google search for
AHS, he had the information he
needed to contact the school to
find out who its owner was. The
staff stepped ih to help solve the
mystery.
“All he knew was that it was
from the class of ‘89 and had the
name Jonathan on it,” said
Susan O’Neill, lead secretary at
AHS since 2000.
The yearbook staff found four
Jonathans, so it became a
process of elimination. Working
with Data Manager Cheryl
Brown checking AilS and the
Central Office data, O’Neill
began calling possible candi-
dates.
“One person was eliminated
because his ring was not lost,
and the other had a different
name spelling.” said O’Neill.
When she contacted Still’s
mother, who was easy to locate
because she was still living in
the same house, the mother
said she did not think her son
had a class ring, so it could not
be his.
Just as O’Neill was about to
call the last hopeful, Still,
whose mother informed him
about the phone call, contacted
AilS and told them it was
indeed his ring.
“It was interesting and excit-
ing to be a part of this,” said
O’Neill, whose mystery solving
skills may have developed in
her youth.
“I loved Nancy Drew myster-
ies and always asked for them
for Christmas.”
Born in Michigan, Still attend-
ed AHS when his family moved
to North Carolina. He said he
had given up on ever finding the
ring.
“So much time past; I figured
it was home to some sea crea-
ture at this point.”
Still said he was upset when
he first lost the ring, especially
during his first time snorkel-
ing.
“I was angry and said a few
things I should not have. But I
sure felt the loss for a while. I
paid over $300 for it and except
for my watch, it was the only
jewelry I wore.”
Although the thirty-two-year-
old plans to have the ring serv-
iced by the company he bought
it from, he said it did not suffer
any major wear and tear.
“It is in surprisingly good
shape, probably better than if I
would have worn it all these
years. "
When he tells this story to his
friends and co-workers, Still
said, “They are blown away.
They think it’s wild and my
mom still can’t believe it.”
Goodreau asked nothing in
return for his kind deed.
“Now that I’m retired, I don’t
have as many opportunities to
help people like when I was a
firefighter,” said Goodreau. “So
it was great to help someone
again and so it was good for me,
too. It was the right thing to
do.”
“I said I’d seed him some
Omaha Steaks to thank him,”
said Still, who has been a net-
work engineer for MCI for the
past 10 years. “But he said then
he would just send me some
lobster and shrimp.”
This friendly joking along
with offers for each other to visit
may mean Still found more than
just a treasured class ring.
Indeed, he may have found a
friend.
Still is on his way to vacation
in Hawaii where he plans to do
more snorkeling.
“But don’t worry; I won’t
wear my ring this time.”
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