| one | celebrities The Girl Singer 8 Dreaming The Impossible Dream 12 A Loving Tribute 14 One Fine Day 16 | tw e nt y y e ars of hop e and histor y | The Girl Singer Rosemary Clooney’s circle began and ended in Maysville, Kentucky. Clooney began singing as a child, often performing on the corner of Third and Market streets with her sister Betty. She was born in 1928, and by 1945, The Clooney Sisters were getting a regular paycheck singing on radio station WLW in Cincinnati. Rosemary’s talent and warmth of personality caused her meteoric rise from a twenty dollar per week radio career, to starring in her own movie “The Stars are Singing,” in 1953. She remembered her hometown and brought the movie’s premiere to the Russell Theater on Third Street, where she’d sung so many times before, but without the price of admission. She was welcomed with a parade, of course, and ten thousand cheering fans. Those who wanted to see the movie the night of the premiere paid the price – three dollars for a single ticket. More frugal Maysvillians were later able to see the first movie in which Rosemary Clooney starred for less than one-third of that price – ninety cents. There was no doubt as to how many fans came out to see Clooney in 1953, but The Daily Independent couldn’t be sure how many press members were in attendance. ‘There were press and radio people all over the place, and they wouldn’t stand still long enough to be counted. The count went as high as seventeen but there was some confusion as to how many bald-headed men were there,” the paper reported. “Also the exact number of female hats [there were].” Fifty-five years later the memory was still crystal-clear for lifelong Maysville resident Jimmy Meadows. “I was at the corner by Kilgus’ Drugstore all day,” said Meadows in 2008. “My daughter Caren was three years old at the time and I took her down to see her [Rosemary Clooney]. It was a good, fun day. Rosemary talked to everyone. She was as down-to-earth | c e l e briti e s | a person as George (her now-famous nephew) is.” Rosemary wore a long mink coat and rode in a convertible Chevrolet, proclaiming once “Is this really me?” according to a Daily Independent story about the premiere. As her career soared and family grew, there were fewer trips to Maysville, but when something was really important to her, Rosemary came home. It would be another thirty years before Rosemary would entertain hometown fans in person again with an August 1983 concert at Mason County Fieldhouse. “It’s good to be home, to be loved,” she said at the time. “Coming home is something I don’t do often enough,” she said. A career revival was on the near horizon, but a wistful Clooney didn’t seem to know it and chose “Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair,” to express her feelings. “This song is about a singer who strayed and then came home. The fair is over. I’ve come home,” she said. When Hospice of Hope was about to celebrate a decade in Maysville, Rosemary Clooney returned to marry longtime sweetheart Dante DiPaolo in November 1997. It was the right - caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here opposite page - caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here | | | | | tw e nt y y e ars of hop e and histor y | closest thing to Hollywood seen in Maysville since 1953, when her movie premiered. Again, she was back on Third Street, bringing Hollywood to the small river town. It was another joyous occasion in Maysville when Rosemary Clooney returned to St. Patrick Church where she had been baptized in 1928, to marry DiPaolo. Again, the media descended on the tiny river town and friends, and fans came out to wish the county’s favorite daughter happiness in her future life with DiPaolo. Rosemary Clooney was almost seventy years old when the wedding occurred – an indication there is always a new chapter to be written. Her brother Nick Clooney said minutes before the vows, “This is great. This is wonderful. [This] proves love doesn’t have a timetable.” There were lots of famous people on hand, but none as famous as Bob Hope, who held up the wedding and started a bout of regular good-natured ribbing between siblings Nick and Rosemary. Hope entered the chapel nearly fifteen minutes late singing “Get Me to the Church On Time.” Moments before her betrothal, Nick challenged his sister. “Now Rosemary, top that,” Nick Clooney teased. It was a storybook wedding and one of those good news events every reporter likes to cover. “Everybody loves Rosemary,” said freelance photographer Laura Cavanaugh. “This is the kind of thing people enjoy reading.” Maysville is a small town to be sure, but there was never any doubt that no matter how famous Rosemary Clooney got – and she was a legend – she would always come home when it was important. | c e l e briti e s | “I knew whenever she got married, she’d do it here,” said Maysville resident and lifelong friend Blanche Chambers. “She never told me that, but I just thought she’d come back to Maysville.” Her absence from this neck of the woods was much shorter than before, and with the encouragement of cousin Ben Breslin. Presented with the opportunity to save the Russell Theatre, she came back to sing on the same corner, more than fifty years later. “I called her one night,” Breslin recalled, “and said ‘What about a Rosemary Clooney Festival?’ She said ‘Let’s start out by supporting the Russell Theatre, and help get it on its feet.’” Thus the first Rosemary Clooney Music Festival was born. “I used to sing for nothin’ on these street corners. Now, all these years later, I’m doing the same damned thing,” Clooney joked on Sept. 25, 1999. It was the first Rosemary Clooney Music Festival. The Russell Theatre was built in 1930 by Col. J. Barbour Russell at a price tag of one hundred twent- five thousand dollars, and the first movie shown there was “Whoopee” starring Eddie Cantor. Clooney’s premiere was in 1953, and the movie was “The Stars Are Singing.” After it stopped showing movies, the Russell was leased and sub-leased for several years acting as a hamburger stand, video arcade, flower shop, used clothing store and paper filler business. It had been closed since 1983, and was purchased by the Rescue the Russell group in 1996. Just three years later, Clooney sang at the first annual Rosemary Clooney Music Festi- middle - caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here opposite page - caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here | 10 | val, bringing recognition to the historic and unique structure which had been badly damaged by water. She was happy, Clooney said, because she was now singing what she wanted when she wanted. One of her biggest hits “Come Ona My House” was a fan favorite, but Clooney never liked the song and recorded it only at her label’s insistence. When she sang it for her old friends and neighbors in 1999, she told the crowd to enjoy it because it was the last time she was ever going to sing it. Then in her seventies, Clooney said she’d earned the right to sing only what pleased her. Like Maysville’s other favorite daughter, Heather French Henry, Rosemary Clooney also claimed Augusta as home and owned a home there until her death in 2002. She surprised her Augusta neighbors with a free concert at General George Marshall Park the first year of the Clooney festival. Bandleader Matt Catingub of the Big Kahuna and the Copa Cat Pack coaxed Rosemary to the stage. “There’s someone here who wants to sing, and I guess I will let her,” said Catingub. The setting was casual with Rosemary sitting in a large driftwood chair, prompting a good natured jab from her brother Nick from the sidelines. “Where did I get this ugly chair?” Rosemary parroted. “I love this chair. I got it out of your living room.” The tiny river town responded by making her music part of its daily life. The carillon atop Augusta High School was rededicated in the name of the Girl Singer. Using private donations four computer chips containing forty-eight songs recorded by Rosemary Clooney were purchased for the city. Sadly, Rosemary Clooney did not have much time to do what pleased her, and her family had to face what so many had before – the need to provide comfort to a dying loved one. On June 29, 2002, lung cancer took The Girl “I used to sing for nothin’ on these street corners. Now, all these years later, I’m doing the same damned thing.” | 11 | Singer from the world and back to Maysville forever. “Rosemary loved Maysville and this whole area. It was an integral part of her life,” brother Nick Clooney said the day his sister died. “The way she centered herself was to come home to Maysville, to Augusta, to Kentucky. “ “She used to always say flying in ‘This is the only place in the world that has a thousand shades of green.’” Friends that she never forgot and fans that she never met mourned her loss. Lifelong friend Blanche Chambers rode in the convertible with Rosemary during the parade for her movie premiere. The duo stayed in touch even when Rosemary was traveling the world. “Rosemary never forgot Maysville. Maysville was her home and she never forgot it. Most people would have forgotten a little town like Maysville,” Chambers said upon learning of her friend’s death. Her funeral was at St. Patrick Church, and her funeral procession travelled on the streets where she sang as a child. “Rosemary, you are back here at St. Patrick where you were baptized … took first communion … and four years ago, married your Dante. So you are here for the last time, Rosemary, with your family … and at the same time at the gates of heaven,” said Rev. William Hinds during her eulogy. An agreement between the two very close siblings called for the survivor to speak at the other’s funeral. “Here we are, three blocks from her muddy river, in the town she called home, to mourn the days we won’t spend with her and celebrate the ones that we did.” The people had loved his sister, Nick Clooney said, and she reciprocated. “Everyone in their secret heart is saying ‘I knew her best.’ And they are all correct. She connected with everyone from Maysville to Singapore.” | tw e nt y y e ars of hop e and histor y | Here she comes, Miss America She dreamed the impossible dream. Okay. It wasn’t impossible, but if you look at the record, Heather Renee French winning the title of Miss America 2000 did seem a long shot – at least until the pageant started. Though a veteran of numerous beauty pageants (her first title was that of Augusta’s Miss Sternwheeler when she was nine years old), Henry’s luck in the swimsuit competition had always been hard. When she surprised everyone (including herself ) with a win, it seemed an ultimate victory might be in the cards. It was the first swimsuit win for the unassuming beauty queen and because it was hard-fought, it was particularly sweet. In high school French weighed about one hundred fifty pounds and to keep her body in swimsuit competition winning form she ran twice each day. “I just believe in doing the best that you can,” Henry said after the win. “The man who expects nothing is always surprised.” French may have been surprised, but Maysville friend Mary Lou Anderson wasn’t. “She is poised and very in control of herself. We felt she had a very good chance. We were certainly expecting her to do well,” Anderson said after the victory. It just seemed to be in the cards. “Everywhere we went, everybody loved Heather” said Janie Hord, who traveled to New Jersey for the pageant. “People would stop us and say ‘Oh, you know Miss Kentucky?’ We had a feeling that Heather would win.” Heather’s father, Ronnie French, had a good feeling too, but his confidence was bolstered when his daughter remained poised during the interview portion of the competition. “I didn’t have any doubt in my mind after she got through the interview,” he said. Once crowned, Heather Renee French became an instant celebrity, and her surprised parents shared in her newfound fame. The moment the title was revealed, security guards surrounded the Diana and Ronnie French to whisk them off to post-pageant events. “I don’t know what I expected,” her mother said. “I thought she’d win, they’d sweep her off, and we’d come home and have a normal life.” Heather did not make it to the Miss America Pageant until her third try. That attempt almost didn’t happen because her father fell so ill before the deadline for application to the Miss Kentucky pageant French almost decided not to compete. Ronnie French was in a coma when the time drew near to enter the Miss Louisville pageant, and according to her parents, Heather Renee almost decided to hang up the pageant gear. Her father, however, was such a large part of her inspiration and so decidedly in her corner, Heather Renee threw her hat in the ring. A win at Miss Louisville was necessary to move onto the Miss Kentucky pageant where she would make the third time the charm. Though out of the coma, Ronnie French was still in the hospital on a respirator, recovering from pneumonia, when his daughter competed for the first time knowing her parents were not in the audience cheering her on. French’s father Ronnie is a disabled veteran of the Vietnam War and was the inspiration for her platform of bringing help and awareness to caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here | 12 | | c e l e briti e s | “I’ve never seen a Miss America have an impact so quickly.” America’s homeless veteran problem. Her issue was personal and her efforts continue today through the Heather French Foundation for Veterans. She testified before Congress in an effort to increase VA hospital funding and shine a light on the shameful problem of homeless veterans. Though our country prides itself on never leaving our wounded on the battlefield; Heather French said soon after she was crowned technically that isn’t true. “Well, the reality is, we have, and it’s time to go into the streets and bring them home.” She thrust herself into her platform. “I’ve never seen a Miss America have an impact so quickly,” said then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. She is Kentucky’s only Miss America and was greeted with parades and thousands of wellwishers when she returned with the crown to her double hometowns of Augusta and Maysville. Speaking at her alma mater Mason County High School soon after she won the crown, French stressed to the students that dreams sometimes do come true. “See, this dream is tangible,” French said holding the tiara aloft. “Everybody has a dream. Whatever you dream, you can be.” She credited the communities where she was born and raised with the realization of her dream. “I am my church. I am my community, the people who carried me on their shoulders – they’re the real award winners. I think it’s ordinary people who d o extraordinary things.” She lived in Maysville from the time she was nine years old, but was born and spent her early years in one of the area’s other small river town, Augusta. The celebration began there the moment she was crowned. “Everybody in town was watching the pageant,” then-Augusta Mayor Wendell High said. “After it was over, the phone started ringing and everyone was saying how great it is.” Before long, a neighbor knocked on High’s door and said everyone was gathering on Main Street in celebration. The celebration spurred a bonfire and soon the hotdogs were being roasted over it. “It’s funny,” High said, “But everyone in Augusta must keep hotdogs on hand in their freezers.” Augusta’s former Mayor Louis Habermehl was also part of the spontaneous celebration and would later be tasked with running the homecoming cel- ebration. “Everyone just started pouring out of their houses whooping and hollering and saying ‘Can you believe it?’” Habermehl said shortly after French’s big win. That was with no planning, however. When the native daughter returned with the crown the whole town came to welcome her and present her with a rare gift – the promise of a street bearing her name. Augusta City Council made the decision quickly, but it would be months before the red tape was sliced through and Heather Renee French Boulevard was dedicated. By that time French had agreed to marry the commonwealth’s Lt. Gov., Steve Henry, with a ceremony planned only days after her reign as Miss America 2000 ended. It was mid-July when French returned with her fiancé noting the already long name – Heather Renee French Boulevard – would be longer soon. “He’ll [fiancé Steve Henry] be going ‘we need to add a Henry behind that,’” French joked at the ceremony. She had been the reigning Miss America for almost one year when the street was dedicated, but appeared unspoiled by the experience. “I stopped traffic,” French exclaimed. “It’s so unreal to see my name on this sign knowing I grew up here. I must have run by this way about | 13 | a thousand times when I was four and five years old.” Her reign would end in three months after the street unveiling. The wedding two weeks later. The marriage marked the first time in Kentucky’s history a lieutenant governor took wedding vows while in office. It had been a century since November 1900, when Governor J.C.W. Beckham became the only governor to marry while in office. The Henrys were married on October 27, 2001, at the historic Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville. French wore a silk peau de soie ball gown created by New York designers Sherri Hill and Gene Speas. Her “something borrowed” was a diamond tiara from Belgium which had also been worn by Princess Diana. The couple now has two daughters and Steve Henry, an orthopedic surgeon by profession, is currently outside the political arena. But the street in Augusta and signs entering Maysville are constant reminders that Heather Renee French always will be Kentucky’s Miss America. “Now she’s not only our daughter, she’s everyone’s daughter,” her father noted soon after she was crowned. caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here | tw e nt y y e ars of hop e and histor y | | c e l e briti e s | A loving tribute she listened to the president rattling pans in the kitchen, Rosemary called Nick from The White House to tease him.” “At this very moment I’m in the White House, and the President of the United States is scrambling eggs for me Nicky! It’s a hell of a long way from Maysville, Kentucky,” Rosemary said at the time. The Henrys did renovation work to the home and added a living space to use when they’re in town. Like Clooney, Heather Henry feels at home when she’s in the tiny river town. “We (Clooney and Henry) could breathe here during our hectic schedules,” Henry once said. She said her friend would be amused, but grateful for the fuss. “If she were here, I think Rosemary would be looking at all of this and laughing at me. She would also be flattered by all the attention.” They belonged to different generations, but Rosemary Clooney and Heather French Henry had more in common than not. They shared the title “favorite daughter” in both Maysville and nearby Augusta, Kentucky and a friendship that transcended age. Henry was named Miss America near the time Rosemary Clooney began her annual music festival in Maysville and performed during the event’s second year. Clooney became Henry’s mentor and they had a close relationship until Clooney’s death in 2002. To pay tribute to their friend, Heather and husband Steve Henry purchased the Riverside Drive home Rosemary Clooney kept in Augusta since 1980, and created a museum in her honor. The museum has amassed an extensive collection of Clooney memorabilia, including the largest “White Christmas” collection in the world, the blue dress Clooney wore in “Sisters” and the dress she was wearing when President John F. Kennedy cooked her breakfast. “It was Jan. 29, 1962, at the White House, and someone mentioned that they were hungry,” Heather Henry said the story goes. “So the president (Kennedy) headed to the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves and cooked eggs for everybody.” Always close to her brother Nick, Rosemary Clooney called him in the middle of the night to give him the “can you believe it?” news. “As middle - caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption opposite page - caption will go here will go here caption will go here will go here caption will go here will go here caption will go here will go here caption will go here will go here “If she were here, I think Rosemary would be looking at all of this and laughing at me. She would also be flattered by all the attention.” | 14 | | 15 | caption caption caption caption caption | tw e nt y y e ars of hop e and histor y | One fine day It was déjà vu all over again when George Clooney brought the premiere of his movie “Leatherheads” to Maysville on March 24, 2008. Like his Aunt Rosemary, who in 1953 premiered her first starring film “The Stars Are Singing” in the small river town, George Clooney chose Maysville for his movie’s first showing. “The Stars Are Singing” premiered at the Russell Theatre on Third Street. George chose the recently restored Washington Opera House on Second Street for the premiere of “Leatherheads.” Though separated by nearly half a century, the shows created the same kind of excitement and world notoriety. Maysville resident Phillip Manning heard all the way from Iraq. “I couldn’t believe it. My friend is a petroleum worker located currently in the Middle East. He called the other day telling me how he read about George’s return to his hometown for the premiere. He read a story in The Arab Times. That just amazes me.” Most of the excitement was closer to home. People in Clooney’s hometown of Augusta, where his parents Nick and Nina still live, are likely still pinching themselves. “Coming from Augusta it’s the biggest thing you can think of. It’s the talk of the town,” Aaron Linville said. People travelled from miles around to catch a glimpse of Clooney and co-star Renee Zellweger walk the red carpet – some had seen his aunt’s parade and movie. “The Clooneys have always been so good to their hometown and it just shows how much family and closeness means to them. It’s special to me in that when I was seven, I got to see Rosemary’s premiere here in Maysville,” said “Leatherheads” ticket holder Jerry Gore. “I was six years old and waited for hours to see Rosemary Clooney in person,” said Maysville resident Laura Turner. Universal Studios released only two hundred seventy-five seats to the premiere. Tickets were extremely hard to come by but one industrious Saint Patrick School senior hit the big score. “I couldn’t seem to get anywhere with the city when I called to inquire about tickets,” Casey Baldwin said. “It never really dawned on me that tickets would be hard to come by. When the city avenue failed, I decided to call Universal in California. I finally was connected to some people who could help. I guess I just called the only place I could think of. I think they were a little surprised, but after a little prodding, I managed to talk to someone there at the studio into a ticket. Now that I look back on it, I realize how hard caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here | 16 | | c e l e briti e s | that is for people to believe.” A few other high school seniors were just as lucky, but didn’t have to be quite so crafty to score tickets. Four tickets were given to high schools to raffle in Mason and Bracken counties. Students from Clooney’s alma mater, Augusta Independent School, had a unique connection. “One of our school board members went to prom with George and said he’s the biggest clown she’s ever known,” said Linville. “My mother went to school with George. She was at lunch when I called and told her. Her friends didn’t believe her.” A group of other high school students were surprised with tickets at the last minute. The Mason County Royals High School Boys Bas- ketball champions were invited after they took the state title. George Clooney was a high school athlete and even tried out for the Cincinnati Reds before choosing acting as his career. Robin Wright of Maysville was the first ticket holder in line the night of the premiere and felt a little like Cinderella. “I’m so excited. Being born and raised here in Maysville makes this a truly extravagant experience. It’s hard to put into words. Although I’m rather chilled from the weather, I don’t think anything could dampen this event for me. I’m going home, lie down and go to bed. I’ve got to get ready for work in the morning. I guess my carriage turns into a pumpkin at midnight, but for tonight, this is absolutely thrilling.” Like Casey Baldwin, many people were willing to resort to whatever means necessary to get a ticket for the show. “We’ve had bribe offers, people begging, everything you could think of. It’s amazing in the sense that people want to play ‘Six-degrees of Separation’ with George,” said Opera House Executive Director Mike Thomas. “People say ‘I drove past George in sixth grade’ or ‘I know someone at Universal’ to even ‘I used to play football.’” You didn’t need a ticket to be excited or starstruck. Karen Edwards came from Loveland, Ohio and said seeing George Clooney in person was a dream come true. “”He’s just a downhome boy that’s made it big. He’s a wonderful actor, he has a great sense of humor and he’s handsome. I’m going to stand right here. I’m not going to lose my spot,” she said. Maysville resident Jim Meadows Sr. was an onlooker at the George Clooney event and ticket holder for Rosemary’s – sort of. “You didn’t have to have a ticket ahead of time to get into [“The Stars Are Singing”]. I bought a ticket at the window. It was jam-packed in the theater.” It was well worth the wait and braving of the cold March evening and Clooney himself seemed pleased with his decision. “It seemed like the right thing, the right time. It feels like the right kind of vibe,” Clooney said. “It’s pretty great isn’t it? It’s kind of fun to be back at the Opera House.” “It seemed like the right thing, the right time.” caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here caption will go here | 17 |
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