Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Selena to be honored on anniversary of death

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Sunday, March 26, 2000

Selena to be honored on anniversary of death
Grieving continues five years later; businesses prepare for rush of tourists
By Sara Lee Fernandez and Cynthia Hodnett
Caller-Times

George Gongora/Caller-Times

Mario Gomez, polishing a Selena mural on the wall of 7-Till Late, is organizing a 'Neighborhood Tribute' to be held near the store on the anniversary of her death. Several area bands are scheduled to perform.

Julie Buentello will remember the day by planting a white rose bush. Mario Gomez plans to gather with a few hundred friends in the Molina neighborhood.
   Some will listen to tributes on local radio stations or watch special television broadcasts, while others will visit a cemetery.
   But the family of slain Tejano singer Selena hopes that the fifth anniversary of her death Friday passes quietly.
   "It is not a day I want to remember,'' said Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla. "My family has no special plans. We remember Selena every day."
   Quintanilla said that he is glad others will remember Selena on the anniversary of her death but doesn't want to see her turned into an icon.
   "The only one we should worship is God,'' Quintanilla said.
   Still, many Selena fans are planning to remember her this week as a Tejano music star, a hometown hero and role model who never forgot the place where she started.

Local media will observe the fifth anniversary of the death of Selena Television Stations
KAJA-TV, KDF-TV, KIII-TV, KORO-TV, KRIS-TV and KZTV, will air stories and retrospectives on Selena's life during regular newscasts, station officials said.
Galavision, a Spanish network shown on AT&T Cable Channel 40, will broadcast a special about Selena from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and on April 2.
Domingo Live, which has been focusing on Hispanic culture and music for almost 36 years, will show two of Selena's videos during its regular broadcast. The show, which airs on KIII-TV, is shown from 11 a.m. to noon every Sunday.
KTMV and its sister stations in San Antonio and Victoria will air a two-hour tribute from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. The stations are the first Tejano and Latino music video television stations in the country. In Corpus Christi, KTMV can be seen on Channel 8 for those who don't have cable, on Channel 6 for those with AT&T Cable and on Channel 47 in Kingsville.
Radio Stations
KMIQ 105.1 FM will play Selena's music throughout the day with an hour block of her music at noon and 5 p.m. Friday.
KUNO 1400 AM will have specials all week and will play Selena's music.
KLHB 98.3 FM. "Club 98" will have a live remote Friday with their morning disc jockeys, who will pass out special ribbons and give away compact discs, as well as play her music throughout the day.
KSAB 99.9 FM and KNDA 102.9 will play their usual programming on Friday, which usually includes Selena's songs.

   The Grammy-winning artist was shot once in the back on March 31, 1995. Yolanda Saldivar, the singer's former fan club president, was convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence.
   The news of Selena's death brought tens of thousands of people and international media to Corpus Christi, the city were she grew up. More than 50,000 people lined up to view her body the day before she was laid to rest in Seaside Memorial Park on April 3 - 13 days before her 24th birthday.
   "She showed the kids that education was first, and she was against drugs," said Gomez, who grew up several houses away from Selena's family in the Molina neighborhood. "She showed everyone that you could make it."
   One neighborhood's tribute
   Gomez has organized the "Neighborhood Tribute" for Selena, which will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday near the 7-Till Late store, 4261 Elvira Drive in the Molina neighborhood.
   There will be performances by Los Agues, who are also known as Grupo Guego, Guyz of Destiny, Justin Colmenero and Lyndi Gutierrez, Amber D & Her Talent Showcase, among other local talent. Also expected to appear is Grammy winner John Garza, vocalist for the band led by Selena's husband, Chris Perez.
   Photos also will be on display at the tribute, said Gomez, who works at 7-Till Late store.
   "I have many pictures that were taken in her concerts," he said, adding that he has a photograph of the singer at a West Oso High School pep rally when she was 15.
   Lawn chairs, candles
   Gomez suggested those attending the tribute bring their own lawn chairs and candles. Gomez is paying for expenses himself, and other people have donated their time to help him. Gomez will pay for off-duty Department of Public Safety troopers to provide security.
   "This is something for the community to remember her by," he said. "We had about 200 to 300 people here last year and most of them were from this area."
   Moving on
   Grieving Selena's death five years later is not particularly unusual, said Judy Dickson, a licensed professional counselor in Corpus Christi. Those who are saddened by a loss need to be gentle with themselves and allow themselves time to grieve.
   "There are all kinds of losses," she said. "The one thing I know that I tell my clients all the time is that grieving takes a massive amount of energy. There isn't a time limit. They need to cut back on what they are doing and allow themselves some down time."
   The grieving process can be a long one, Dickson said, and some people may have difficulty moving on.
   Sharing Selena
   Buentello, who has been a longtime fan of the singer, plans to pay tribute to Selena by planting a white hybrid tea rose bush in a large ceramic pot. She'll put a small plaque on the outside with the words "Selena Forever."
   She'll take the bush's first bloom to Selena's grave at Seaside Memorial Park.
   Buentello, who originally was from Del Rio but moved to Corpus Christi with her husband, said Selena's music touches her, and the singer always seemed to be approachable.
   "She was one of us. She's one of me," Buentello said. "She's just very down to earth, like my next door neighbor."
   Buentello said she plans to take a rose from the bush to the gravesite every year.
   But the continuing outpouring of love for the singer is not restricted to the Coastal Bend.
   "A few (friends) will get together and share Selena," said Maria Richards of Tucson, Ariz., on Friday while she and her sister Liz Rodriguez of Alice were at the Selena statue on the bayfront.
   Richards, who grew up in Alice but moved to Tucson in 1968, said one of her friends imitates Selena well and that Selena and Tejano music are loved in South Tucson.
   Richards, who is employed in the Community Involvement Department for Wal-Mart, said she has been a longtime fan of Selena's and loves the singer because Selena seemed to reach out to people and give them her very essence.
   "She brought out the best of the Mexican culture," Richards said. "She was ahead of her time and in a way she was a kind of renaissance woman."
   Some area businesses are getting ready for tourists coming to town to observe Selena's death.
   Rosita Rodela, owner of Rosita's Mexican Restaurant, 2319 Morgan Ave., expects large crowds on the days leading up to the anniversary of Selena's death.
   "We get a lot of people who come in from out of town to visit her grave or her statue," Rodela said. "It is like everyone wants to remember her in their own way."
   Gravesite preparations
   Since her death, many have made pilgrimages to Selena's gravesite at Seaside Memorial Park. Seaside officials could not be reached for comment regarding arrangements being made at the grave. In previous years, mourners were permitted to visit the grave, but a wire fence surrounded it.
   Many others are expected to visit the bayfront Selena statue and the Days Inn motel where she died.
   Officials at the Days Inn, 901 Navigation Blvd., have tried to discourage fans from visiting by putting new room numbers on every door, said Brenda Garza, director of sales. The number of the room where Selena was shot is not displayed, but fans still stop and take photographs where they think the crime occurred.
   "We get enough publicity as it is," Garza said. "We try to discourage people from taking pictures but they still drive out here and do it."


Staff writer Mary Lee Grant contributed to this report. Staff writer Sara Lee Fernandez can be reached at 886-3767 or by e-mail at fernandezs@caller.com Cynthia Hodnett can be reached at 886-4334 or by e-mail at _hodnettc@caller.com

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