Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Blog August 12, 2008
Hello, C&S staff, customers, family and friends. C&S has a truly unique opportunity to participate in the hit ABC show, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." In less than a week, a family in Central New York will get a knock on the door and good morning bullhorn call from Ty Pennington. You know the show: over one week—check that, 106 hours—an old home will come down, and in its place will rise a beautiful new spectacle sure to have the family jumping up and down and shedding a few tears when they finally “move that bus.”
On August 18, the family name and location will finally be released. And for those who aren’t in the area but might be interested in a little glimpse of what’s going on behind the scenes, it is my intention to blog some updates for you right here. For the most up-to-date information on the build and the family, or to find out how you can help, check out www.mahoneygives.com, the site from lead builder and C&S partner, Mahoney Design & Build, Inc.
August 12, was the kickoff pep rally for the build team. The rally was held in Manlius, NY, east of Syracuse—funny how that sets people to trying to solve the mystery of the still undisclosed site. Truth is, simply, that the Eastern Hills Bible Church played a great host for what appeared to be a crowd of over 250 people curious to learn more about the show and wanting to support the Mahoney team as it tackles this huge challenge. Local media were abuzz.
Executive producer of the show, Conrad Ricketts, was on hand with several other advance-team producers to fire up the crowd, let them know details of what can be expected during the build week, and continue the call for volunteer support and donations. Amazing that 100 families in five television seasons have rediscovered hope and faith through this program. According to Ricketts, ABC gets between three and five thousand applications a day – can you imagine the process to choose just 22 worthy families for this season?!
After listening to Ricketts and the others speak, you know they feel like they are making a difference. There are, of course, the naysayers who will point to a couple unhappy endings usually brought about by a family’s mistake or naiveté. But the track record is pretty darn good!
In the end, Ricketts says that when a community comes together to help its own, especially under a schedule duress such as this, it finds out that it doesn’t really need Hollywood and the big cameras to rise to the occasion. It doesn’t even need Ty Pennington…
but don’t tell that to all the fans who will soon be shouting out the host’s name and snapping his picture with their small cameras.