Sometimes you cross paths with a person who makes you go, WOW! Jerri Holliday was a young lady when she says she was taken advantage of by a con-artist. She admits that the mistake changed her life forever as she went to federal prison. It's how she hit the bottom and continues to rise to the top for other ex-cons that makes her our Extraordinary Person of the Week.
Our Extraordinary Person of the Week is helping immigrants become a constructive part of the community. She was born in California after her parents came to America as immigrants. Her father became a businessman and her mother worked in outreach programs at a church. Lucy Vasquez decided to follow in those footsteps to help break down barriers in the Cape Fear.
Let's talk 'Extraordinary'. The late, great Dr. Seuss once said, "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you."
Our Extraordinary Person of the Week has used that line and many others to inspire our community. Khalilah Olokunola is in the spotlight with how she helps create powerful women.
Let's talk EXTRAORDINARY. President Bill Clinton, singer Carly Simon, actor Paul Newman, actor James Earl Jones, our military men and women....it's hard to count how many folks he's met. So many moments, of so many people, have been captured by Brownie Harris. He's our Extraordinary Person of the Week with his extraordinary 'Life behind the lens'.
Let's talk extraordinary. Have you ever seen a horse sit on command? You're about to. A most talented lady in Bolivia, one of "Wilmington's Women to Watch in 2014", has some trick ponies up her sleeve, so to speak. Her trick is a click. A click of confidence. She's our Extraordinary Person of the Week.
A CFCC Student is one of 40 chosen to take part in a nationwide program with NASA. He's our Extraordinary Person of the Week.
Let's talk EXTRAORDINARY. Imagine you're on Air Force One and standing in line at the employee/crew bathroom, right next to you, is a Secretary of State and a few Presidents of the United States.
That is a true story experienced by Howie Franklin....our Extraordinary Person of the Week.
Our Extraordinary Person of the Week did it up on his wedding day. He and his wife used a horse and carriage in the service. Romantic, right? That day lead to a business venture and move to Wilmington to start a horse drawn tour service. But it's not just a ride....it's a rescue.
Our Extraordinary Person of the Week gives 'second tours of life'.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can affect anyone. In the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs reports upwards of 20% of Veterans suffer from it. A local band wrote a song about a soldier who lives that life.
In part two of a special Extraordinary Person of the Week, the Song of a Soldier and how that music is helping those in need.
Music: It's the one place you can both lose and find yourself at the same time. Our Extraordinary Person of the Week is a musician who grew up here in the Cape Fear. She's won awards. She took some time off for family. Now Madonna Nash is back and better than ever. I call her the Port City's Pretty Little Secret.
Jellyfish can be scary. We know they come in all shapes and sizes and some can sting, but there are a lot of unknowns as well. Our Extraordinary Person of the Week studies jellyfish and says there are folks think jellyfish populations are on the rise. His research, though, shows that it's a myth. In fact, he says jellyfish numbers rise and fall over a 20 year time frame and it's that kind of knowledge that makes Rob Condon....the Jellyfish Whisperer.
Let's face it, the older we get the harder it can get to be as active as we were in the younger years.
This week's Extraordinary Person of the Week doesn't live by those standards. Matter of fact, at the age of 80, Dick Secondo is running circles around some folks half his age. He wants others here in the Cape Fear to realize that age doesn't have to be a number!
Big name bands work with smaller bands all the time. Sometimes the smaller ones are opening acts and sometimes the opening acts get to join the big cats on stage. Sonny Boykin has done it all.
He comes from an era where the musicians were tuning and the girls were swooning.
Sonny is the '79 INVADER.
WWAY is celebrating 50 years, and believe it or not, there is an employee at WWAY who has been here the entire time. George Allen is our Extraordinary Person of the Week. What he's done for this station and the community makes him the "Employee of the Half Century".
ur Extraordinary Person of the Week has penned a new book with his perspective on where North Carolina once was and is now. His experience in the Tar Heel State is vast and has him thinking we're headed in the wrong direction. This week we introduce you to the many hats of Jim Leutze.
Burrito Babies for children in the hospital, scarves for Veterans at the VA, Activity Aprons for folks with dementia....the list of things this group makes goes on and on and on. This week we focus on just one of their projects: Mats for the Homeless.
Our Extraordinary Person/People of the Week is the 'Tight-Knit Group of Gals'.
This week's Extraordinary Person is behind a project that you may be able to help with. The business he runs is impressive enough, but what he does for Marines on Thanksgiving is Extraordinary!
Theatre can be a huge building block for kids. Let's face it...a lot of adults get nervous in the spotlight. So, get kids comfortable with themselves, in the spotlight, and you give them the ability to shine. This week's extraordinary person of the week is a local actor, writer, director, musician, teacher, and on and on. He is sometimes stage ‘left’, but his mission is always ‘right’.
Stop me if you've heard this one: A sewing machine walks into a bar and the bartender asks, "Hey, aren't you that famous singer?" This week's Extraordinary Person of the Week uses her sewing skills to help those in need. She's a 'Stitch above the rest!'
In 1988, a woman would apply for a job aboard the USS North Carolina Battleship. She didn't get it. Then the job reopened. She got it this go around! Now she is a key player in using her creativity to bring the life of Battleship North Carolina to life. What we have are historical hands on deck!
It has been long said, in some way shape or form, that an idle mind is a devil's playground. You're about to meet Lyle and Deryll. They are a one-two punch in Wilmington.
But their reach? Let's just say they have the RIGHT hook!
It's time to get extraordinary, my friends. You're about to meet a Brunswick County man who went to California to attend a special detailing school and ended up on Presidential Detail.
The Cape Fear's David Calhoun has made the Top 20 in the country. He's asking folks to vote him into the finals.
It's all about Girl Power in this week's Extraordinary Person of the Week. Not one, but five girls with one sweet mission.
Here in the south, we all know humidity can wreak havoc in many, many ways. Our Extraordinary Person of the Week developed a new way keep indoor humidity from creating mold. Set it and forget it!
He turned mold into a gold-en idea.