74 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MAY 21, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com Astoria ‘WHEEL OF FORTUNE’ ONSITE DOCTORS • EYE EXAMS • CONTACTS • 1 HOUR SERVICE • VISION PLANS ACCEPTED • SUNGLASSES • LOWEST PRICES 2 PAIR OF EYEGLASSES QC QC $79 Includes: EYE EXAM, Frames & Lenses Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lenses+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Expires 6/30/15 NO-LINE BIFOCAL EYEGLASSES $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, No-Line Bifocal Lenses & Frame Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Expires 6/30/15 BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER 211-51 26 AVENUE • BAYSIDE, NY 11360 718.631.3699 with the purchase of glasses. Contact Lens Exam and fitting add’l. *See store for details. *FREE EYE EXAM $99 DISPOSABLE CONTACTS Includes: EYE EXAM, 2 Boxes of Lenses Clear Soft brand clear spherical Lenses/ *Contact lens fitting additional. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Some restrictions apply. See store for details. Expires 6/30/15 QC Memorial Day Savings! $100 OFF A FREE PAIR OF SUNGLASSES OR SPARE PAIR INCLUDES FREE EYE EXAM Second pair frame from select group with plastic, single vision lenses ‘+/- 4 sph, 2 cyl. st Dilation & contact lens exam additional. 2013 Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Expires 6/30/15 of the THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com Place FLEX SPENDING Use it or lose it! QC buzz fan competes on show BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected] @CristabelleT One guidance counselor and longtime “Wheel of Fortune” viewer from Astoria took a chance at solving the puzzle, hoping to win big on the popular game show. Lizzette Colon, 42, has been watching “Wheel of Fortune” for more than 30 years, since its early days when contestants could still shop for prizes with their winnings. But it wasn’t until a seemingly fake email landed in Colon’s inbox inviting her to audition for the program this summer that she decided to try out for the live version. “Working in a school, you have to have a pretty big personality as it is and I thought, ‘Why not?’” the high school guidance counselor at SoHo’s NYC iSchool said. “One thing I talk about with my students is going for it and taking risks,” she added. After fi rst believing the email from “Wheel a Fortune” inviting her to audition was spam, she submitted a video, taped at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, showcasing her desire to be on the show. Colon then got a chance to audition in July at a Brooklyn hotel, where she had to do several simulated games and puzzle tests and talk about herself as if the show’s host, Pat Sajak, was in front of her. Two weeks later, and still no letter saying that she had made the game show, Colon started to lose hope. It was the same devastating feeling she had when she tried out for the show “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!” and got cut in the fi nal round. But after one more week, the letter fi nally came. Colon fl ew out to Los Angeles, along with her husband and 9-year-old daughter, the following winter and on Feb. 27 taped the episode. Though she said the studio seemed smaller than it does on television, the experience “felt larger than life.” “You see it on TV but now it’s actually happening to you,” she said. The wheel was also not quite what it seemed from watching at home, Colon added: “It’s super heavy. It’s ridiculous. They have us practice and now I understand why.” And when it came to playing the game, nerves got the best of her at times, Colon admitted. “Coming from someone who is so confi dent, you get up there and then you realize how hard it is,” she said. But what Colon said she actually likes about the show and her experience as a contestant is that “everybody wins something.” “If you don’t win, you still win with $1,000. I think that takes the edge off the competitors,” she said. Colon plans on holding a viewing party at Katch Astoria for the 7:30 p.m. airing of the show this Friday for about 49 friends, family and co-workers so far, where she also plans on donning the same outfi t she wore on the episode. The bar’s manager has agreed to show the program on two of its largescreen TVs. Her school has also sent out a reminder, so her students will be watching from home. “I’m glad that I went for it. I could have passed that email,” Colon said. “You have nothing to lose. Just go for it, see what happens.” “Wheel of Fortune” airs on WABC. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Television, Wheel of Fortune Photo by Carol Kaelson Longtime co-hosts Vanna White and Pat Sajak Astoria resident Lizzette Colon will appear on the Friday, May 22, episode of “Wheel of Fortune.”
QC05212015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above