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Woman iinds success as opera star By Robert Gordon - Herald ataff witter Carol Leighty, in tall costume, performs in one of the many Euro­ pean operas she regularly headlines, The former resident just may be on the brink of stardom in the opera world. The first time McHenry native Carol A. Leighty took singing lessons, she came home, hid under the piano and tearfully vowed that she would never go back. But her parents, John and Eloise Leighty, who are both area music teachers, strongly encouraged their 15-vear-old to give the lessons a chance, and eventually the once misty-eyed teen "rebel" found opera to be her first love. In fact, singing soprano and acting on the stage became her life, and today, at 28, she is an up-and-coming opera star performing in shows at a prestigious theater in Coburg, West Germany. "As a singer, she has a very proud, strong voice," Eloise said. "And when she was in choral groups, she had to hold back. She has a solo voice." Carol's career got off to an excellent start when she received a full four-year tuition waiver at the University of Illinois. During her training at the university I rom 1975 to 1979, she studied voice under Frances Crawford and John Wustman, While working toward her Bachelor of Music Degree in Applied Voice, Carol won substantial parts in school productions, including "Marriage of Figero" and "Co® fan tutte." After college, she was granted a scholarship to attend the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich, West Germany. During her two years of study institution, she oecame acquainted with the European opera scene and received even more intensified voice in­ struction. However, after leaving the German music school to find work, Carol found acting and singing parts somewhat hard to come by. The real world of opera, she quickly discovered, is extremely competitive. "She auditioned in 11 different American opera companies in 1982, and didn't get accepted to any of them, which lust about broke her heart," John said. But her abundance of talent was finally recognized in her last audition for a contract with the Landestheater in Coburg. Since joining the opera company in 1982, she has performed in hundreds of operas and operettas (which are similar to American musical comedies), starring in many of them. She also appeared as a soloist on a National Radio Chorus com­ mercial cassette tape and married a musician, Paul Lentner. Just recently, Carol received an invitation to audition for the National Opera Theater in Munich. If she gets in this famous opera company, it could open many doors and increase tier current income of ap­ proximately $15,000 to as much as $75,000 a year. And Carers success may be only beginning.. "Now, ^as sne gets older, her voice could lower," Eloise said. "She's just a baby in the field. She hasn't even reached infancy yet. You're not really good until you're 40." PLAINDEALER ~HERALD It may seem ear •Mfdr tabou t m tor's McHenry Bays, but W* m many chairman fen this year's event. Merkel an Morrison. . *"Nama That 1 Smith andAidy |« S^ade: (SSftini Covapt Parade I Chairman, Bfll Ny .-^SZlvents oj Day, A1 Gabor. f§ rParking and ft jte ' Wfitse CovaH announced thai au but two of the chair* manships have been M * Iffcom here on, the en* deavors for Fiesta Day* are -Concessions, Jerry MlZttlOc a DO JUC* irO^r. flBpiy* Eyan Sch- **tenbeqL \ • ^jtotertaiwiien^Sp<^ m rornrnlttfif -Art in the Park, Debbie Debbie CajQlanT^gffp -Food G O O D M O R N I N G Countless lives are saved by emergency rescue units By Anthony Oliver E.M.S. Aside from being the 5th, 13th and lSth letters of the English alphabet, these letters meant renewed or prolonged fife in 1963 to nearly 100 people who live in McHenry and western Lake Counties. E.M.S. stands for Emergency Medical Service. Gov. James Thompson has proclaimed April 7- 13 EMS Week in Illinois. Dr. George Gallant said 99 "long-term" and "prevent save" certificates were awarded to fire departments and rescue squads within the McHenry-Western Lake County EMS system in 1983. "Because of the care in the field, it made a Jor difference," Gallant said. Gallant is the ; medical director of the McHenry-Western County EMS system and an emergency room physician at Northern Illinois Medical Center (NIMC). He emphasised that these "saves" did not just happen by chance or accident. The success are_|he. product of patient and little or no care was given. "There was no service, no medical function and the hospital did not know anyone was coming," Gallant said. Nowadays, emergency medical care starts in the field with the EMS team. That team starts with the first-respondere, which are often the police. In McHenry, for example, police respond to all rescue calls within the city, generally in less than two minutes. Simultaneously, the local fire department or rescue squad is "taaed out" and an ambulance responds. iTiis ve vehicle, a mobile intensive care unit, is staffed by trained faramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Attaining these certifications rettrires months of training. Keeping these certineations requires more time m continuing educatiNft and recertification. In the field, the garamedics and EMTs com- i these ce edu In the field, 1 municate with sophisticated telemetry ui an electroca: analysis. The • orders for emergency room using and telemetry units. The t the ambulance crew to. send IG) to the physician for the necessary "It's the team concept...the cooperation bet­ ween police, fire, doctors, nurses, hospitals and other groups that really does it," Gallant said. This county, he added, has a reputation for quality EMS care that is known throughout the state and the nation. "Doctors-in-training come here to learn," Gallant said. "EMS basically gives people chances-chances they wouldn't normally nave," he commented. Prior to EMS as it is practiced today, am­ bulances were primarily used to transport a Heart transplant gives area woman new life "It's not the quick throw-and-go anymore," Gallant said. "It's really difficult to do effective CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on someone in full arrest if you're just driving as fast as you can." "In essence, a full arrest can be run almost entirely in the field...and the patient has the best CPR possible," Gallant said. In the medical field, specialization is a fact of EMERGENCY-Page 3 Youths suspected of setting fire. By Robert Gordon plaladealer Herald ataff writer ' A 52-year^old Pistakee Highlands woman who was suffering from cardiomyopathy, a degenerative disease of the heart muscle, was given new life when she became the first female heart transplant patient • at Loyola University Medical Center. The donor's name was not disclosed, though it is known that the heart was flown in from Indianapolis. The 16th person to receive a new heart at the hospital in Maywood, Martha J. Johnson went into surgery Tuesday, March 26. Dr. Roque Pifarie, surgical director of Loyola's heart transplant program, performed the surgery which began at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday evening and ended Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Although Martha was in stable but critical condition im­ mediately following the operation, she is now responding very well to her new heart ana doctors expect her to be home in thrfe weeks. "I just talked to her a little while ago. and she's doing pretty fair," said Martha's husband, (^alvin, last Wednesday af­ ternoon. "She's in guarded condition because she's still in a ?uarantine-type situation for protection against organ) rejection." The Johnsons fpund out about Martha's heart condition last August. Their daughter, Phyllis Parsons, said her mother came down with a cold that lasted for months. Later, she experienced weakness and tired easily. "It got to where she couldn't walk from the kitchen sink to the table without exhausting her­ self ," Phyllis said. Martha went to Monroe Clinic, and later to the University of Wisconsin, Madison to see what could be done about her con­ dition. Heart specialists told her that there was a very high possibility that she had endured rheumatic fever as a child without realizing it. In addition, they confirmed that more damage to the heart could possibly have resulted from an attack. Although the rheumatic fever diagnosis took Martha by HEART--Page 3 edly set enry Two McHenry youths were taken into custody by police last Friday after they fire to a building in Shores. McHenry Police were called to 717 S. Hilltop, McHenry, when heavy smoke was seen coming from an apparently abandoned building at about 5:36 p.m. Firefighters from the McHenry Township Fire Department extinguished the fire. Police said the fire appeared to have started in the kitchen area of the home. Witnesses said two juveniles were seen running from the building shortly before the fire started, police said. McHenry Police are also investigating a burglary that occurred at 811 Southgate in McHenry. A .357-caliber han­ dgun and a camera were taken. Businessman dies L o n g t i m e M c H e n r y businessman Richard "Nick" Freund died suddenly Satur­ day, April 6. For more informa­ tion on the owner of the family business Freund Oil Co., see obituary on Page8. Helping hands Platndealer Herald photo by Anthony Oliver Many a child got a helping hand from their Easter Egg Hunt held Saturday at Petersen parents, particularly in the 3-years and under Park. Hie springtime event was blessed with ip, as they U age group, took part in the city's annual sunny, but chilly weather. WL man found innocent of reckless homicide Plaiadealer Herald News Service A verdict of not guilty was returned by a jury Thursday on a reckless homicide charge against Robert A. O'Neil of Wonder Lake. Following deliberation, the jury returned its verdict to Judge Michael Sullivap in 19th Judicial Circuit Court, Wood­ stock. O'Neil, 36, of 7715 Beaver Road, stood trial in connection with the death of James T. Starr, 30, of Crystal Lake, in a motorcycle accident that oc­ curred Aug. 18, 1984. Starr, a friend of the accused, was killed in the accident when he was a passenger on a motorcy­ cle operated by O'Neill. According to testimony, Starr was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident after he was thrown or fell from the motorcycle and struck his head against a utility pole. Police testimony indicated the O'Neil machine was southbound on East Wonder Lake Road when it failed to negotiate a curve, went off the road and flipped. Defense counsel Richard Kelly emphasized that the in­ cident was an accident and not an act of recklessness. He said the state did not prove the ac­ cident as a reckless act. Assistant State's Attorney Colin MacMeekin prosecuted the case in the trial which commenced with jury selection Monday. Armanetti's in money trouble Chicagoland's largest chain of independent liquor stores, Armanetti, Inc., is seeking a financial settlement with its major suppliers in order to avoid bankruptcy. According to a story in "Crain's Chicago Business," the operator of 18 Chicago area stores, including one in Crystal Lake, will probably be forced into Chapter 11 unless some agreement with creditors can be reached in the next few days. The# firm had sales of $27 million last year. It was reported in the business publication that Armanetti, Inc., is facing a debt of $800,000 over the past two months, which resulted in a halt of shipments to the 18 stores. The company reportedly ARMANETTI'S--Page 7 A hunter's dream come true. That's what happened to McHenry's Ed Schwartz last December, when he saw a huge whitetail deer roaming less than 20 feet away while on a hunting outing. Schwartz's story appears in sports, section two, page 16. INDEX SMAW 9til HNII fWfAlt MS-- Business. Page 7 Church Pate 5 Life Today Pace 6 Volume 109, Number 66 SHAW \ HI f PRESS Mi DIA INC Obituaries Page 8 School Page 4 Sports Sec. 2. Pages 10-16 2 Sections, 28 pages Wednesday , Apr i l 10 , 1985