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Kean Idol Winners Announced | Napper Receives Prestigious Award Kean Idol Winners Announced
Ammons attends Shaler High School and is the son of Nancy and Richard Ammons. He sang “Fly Me to the Moon.” Katz is employed by Verizon and performed an operetta “Romance” and was accompanied on piano.
Michael Caye, 8, is the son of Amy and Dennis Caye and is a second grader at Highcliff Elementary School. Josselyn Fester, 7, is the daughter of Michele and Rob Fester. She is a first grader at Ingomar Elementary School. They performed a tap number to “Great Balls of Fire.” Taylor Green, 16, is the daughter of Alisa Green and Ralph McElhaney and is a tenth grader at Butler Intermediate High School. Annie Rosellini, 16, is the daughter of Lucy and Jaime Rosellini and is also a tenth grader at Butler Intermediate High School. They performed a contemporary number to “Color Blind” by Counting Crows.A total of 138 contestants competed in the 2008 Kean Idol. Northern Connection magazine is a proud sponsor of The Kean Idol and wishes to congratulate all those who competed, especially this year’s winners! Napper Receives Prestigious AwardBy Rosemary Garrity Since 1990, when her close friend Carol Weiss Friedman died of breast cancer, Diana Napper has dedicated an inordinate amount of time and effort toward the goal of finding a cure for breast cancer. She established A Glimmer of Hope Foundation to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research, especially in the under-forty population.
“When reviewing the nominations submitted, what caught our attention was how truly incredible Diana Napper has been through the years, particularly this past year,” said Arthur Scully, Vice-President of Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation. For those who know her and all the work that she does, this is certainly a well deserved honor. Unfortunately, the incidence of breast cancer in young women is increasing. The percentage of young women developing breast cancer is relatively small in comparison to what occurs in older women. However, when cancer does appear in these young women, it is often very aggressive. Since many young women never do breast self-exams and rarely have other diagnostic exams, the cancer often is undetected and can have devastating effects on the women and their families.
Guiding Light Stars Support “Reach to Recovery”By Rosemary Garrity What could be better? For hundreds of women who attended the Reach to Recovery event on April 6, meeting their favorite Guiding Light stars and supporting a breast cancer initiative was simply a dream come true. For Guiding Light fans, having Jeffrey, Frank, Josh and Reva there was very special. People came from Maryland and New York simply to see them. These actors came to Pittsburgh to support this event and were available for conversation and photos at a “meet and greet’ session. Many of the attendees had their pictures taken with their favorite actors, had lunch, enjoyed a fashion show and learned more about breast cancer from some survivors who spoke.
Frank Dicopoulos, who plays Frank Cooper on the soap, made this possible. Frank, who still has family ties in the Pittsburgh area, brought his co-stars to Pittsburgh to help raise awareness about breast cancer. “My grandmother had breast cancer and my mother-in-law had breast cancer, and this is a disease that I want to eradicate,” Dicopoulos said. “It’s taken too many good people.” He met Lisa Edmonds, the executive director of The Young Women’s Breast Cancer Foundation at a charity event and decided to support her cause. “The actors really supported our goal and the foundation and stepped up to the plate more than we could have imagined,” Edmonds said. This foundation has a goal to educate as many women as possible about breast cancer and the importance of early detection. When the foundation sponsors events, the funds that are raised are donated to the Reach to Recovery program offered by the American Cancer Society. This program matches survivors with women who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. The survivors can offer these women the kind of support that they need because they truly understand what these women are experiencing. For more information call 412-490-9808. |
After weeks of competition, the winners of the 2008 Kean Idol Amateur Talent Contest were announced. On April 11, Alex Ammons, a 14-year-old from Shaler Twp. won the Kean Idol Audience Choice Vocal Award at the Kean Theatre. Winning the Greg Maggio Judges’ Choice Dance Award was Deborah Katz, 20, of Pittsburgh.
On March 30, the winners of the dance competition were announced. The duo of Michael Caye and Josselyn Fester (left) of Pittsburgh won the Audience Choice Dance Award, while Taylor Green and Annie Rosellini (right) of Butler won the Greg Maggio Judges’ Choice Dance Award.
A few weeks ago, Napper was selected and honored as the fundraiser of the year and received the prestigious Elisabeth B. McCullough Award at a volunteer recognition luncheon held at the Pittsburgh Golf Club sponsored by Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC.
Napper has committed her efforts toward funding research studies with this population in mind. She sponsors several fundraisers every year and monies raised are earmarked for research. In the past seven years, she has raised over $400,000 for breast cancer research at Magee. Her successful Bid for Hope event is held annually with Alan and Julie Faneca most recently co-hosting the event. This year, Heath Miller and his wife Katie will succeed the Fanecas as hosts. The event will be held, once again, at Grille 36, on October 27. At this fundraiser, fans are given the opportunity to have footballs autographed by many of the Steelers players who support this cause. There are also many exciting auction items available to win at the event. It is a real crowd pleaser. 
For more information about A Glimmer of Hope, go to 
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