Extreme Makeover Home Editioni coming to Derbytown

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earendel · #1 Post by **earendel** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 8:19 am

Announced in the local fishwrapper this morning.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbc ... /711080409

Of note are the folllowing:

1. They've already done the "Good morning, Hughes family!!!", but the work won't start until tomorrow morning. The article warns that people will not be able to drive by the construction site but there will be a "Spectator Land" available by riding a public transit shuttle starting at 1PM tomorrow afternoon and running until 8PM (subsequent days will be from 8AM to 8PM).

2. There's an opportunity to volunteer to help with the project by going to the Web site for the construction company, Elite Built Homes. There is also the possibility of being selected to help from among the spectators if help is needed.

3. This family has been the subject of several previous requests to the show.

4. The family has a severely handicapped son who has been featured on ESPN. He was born with no eyes and can't straighten his limbs, but he can play the trumpet and participates in the University of Louisville marching band - his father pushes him in a wheelchair through the various routines.

5. The show is expected to air next spring.

**ADDED** At the Web site there's a link to a video clip relating to the work, announcing that the EMHE team will also do a makeover of the marching band practice field.

ksbirchtree · #2 Post by **ksbirchtree** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 8:46 am

EMHE is in Kansas City, KS this week doing a makeover for a Marine who lost a leg in Iraq. Single father with 4 kids. This is the third time EMHE has been in KC in the past two years!

christie1111 · #3 Post by **christie1111** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 8:48 am

ksbirchtree wrote:EMHE is in Kansas City, KS this week doing a makeover for a Marine who lost a leg in Iraq. Single father with 4 kids. This is the third time EMHE has been in KC in the past two years!

Sorry I didn't comment on this before.

I love the quilt!

You made it of course, right?

Lovely!

earendel · #4 Post by **earendel** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 8:55 am

ksbirchtree wrote:EMHE is in Kansas City, KS this week doing a makeover for a Marine who lost a leg in Iraq. Single father with 4 kids. This is the third time EMHE has been in KC in the past two years!

This is the first time for us. The video clip indicates that the family was chosen because they are an inspiration to others.

Oh, and it turns out that the house is less than three miles from where elwing and I live. Further, elwing tells me that her boss is good friends with the owner of the company that will be doing the landscaping - they have to start the landscaping at 8AM on Sunday and finish by 4PM, to do a job that would normally take them 3 or 4 days.

ksbirchtree · #5 Post by **ksbirchtree** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:10 am

christie1111 wrote:
I love the quilt!

You made it of course, right?

Lovely!

Thanks. Yes, it was a wedding present for my niece last summer.
Finishing up a KU quilt for my nephew -- I'll have to post a pic for all those other Jayhawkers out there.

kayrharris · #6 Post by **kayrharris** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:26 pm

They've shown the U of L story on ESPN several times, and it brings tears to my eyes every time. His dad works at UPS on the night shift so he can have the days to spend with his son on the practice field with the band.

If you can find the ESPN video clip of the family's story, you will be inspired.

ulysses5019 · #7 Post by **ulysses5019** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:32 pm

Ask and ye shall receive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qTiYA1WiY8

kayrharris · #8 Post by **kayrharris** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:37 pm

Thank you!

Now I have to go find my tissue again.

Appa23 · #9 Post by **Appa23** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 12:10 pm

earendel wrote:Announced in the local fishwrapper this morning.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbc ... /711080409

4. The family has a severely handicapped son who has been featured on ESPN. He was born with no eyes and can't straighten his limbs, but he can play the trumpet and participates in the University of Louisville marching band - his father pushes him in a wheelchair through the various routines.

I saw the story on this guy on ESPN last year. He is a very talented musician. It was really cool to see his dad helping lead him with the marching band.

dodgersteve182 · #10 Post by **dodgersteve182** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 9:43 am

"Omigod!" Just for you Ear!

No horsies to entertain the locals this time of year? I think I would be touring the bourbon factories if I lived in KY or the oil plant. LOL!

earendel · #11 Post by **earendel** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 1:09 pm

On Saturday elwing and I took a shuttle out to the job site and watched several hours as the EMHE volunteers put up the house. During the time we were there all we was was a throng of people (20 or so) working on the roof - a crane lifting framing sections into place after which the volunteers swarmed over it to fix it in place. Other teams were working on the exterior walls. The project was behind schedule - during the time we were there the shingling and brickwork was supposed to be in progress but they weren't to that stage yet.

None of the design team was there - we found out from someone identified as the "site manager" that they were in Kansas City, where a second home is in progress. Evidently they do two at once - the one in KC was almost complete, so the design team was adding its special touches to the bedrooms, etc. while the one here was still just a shell. They'll be back on Monday to do the interior of this house. I was amazed at how many people came out to watch, although about half of them turned around and left when they found out that Ty and company weren't onsite.

The site manager, who said that he also does this task for shows like "Big Brother" and "TAR", indicated that the show pays the neighbors for the use of their property, and it's not chump change, either.

Other things we learned:

1. The house will be approximately 3300 SF, with Patrick (the handicapped son) getting his own apartment in which everything will be voice-activated.

2. The family has known for about six weeks that they were under consideration. However what we found out was that they were told that they were one of five families in Kentucky that were being evaluated, so the site manager and others had been in the house, done some taping, etc. The family was up and around when Ty showed up because the site manager was already there, inside the house, as if doing another step in the interview process. Someone asked the site manager if the show did anything for the four families not chosen, and he said there was no need - there weren't four other families. This family was told that, so they wouldn't know for sure they were the chosen ones and would have genuine surprised looks when Ty showed up with his bullhorn.

jaybee · #12 Post by **jaybee** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 5:35 pm

Sounds very familiar.

I'm the "site manager" for shows like these (we call it the construction cooridinator or build cooridinator). 100% of the actual construction is done by the off-camera build team with the talent stepping in for the on-camera stuff. At times, we even have to undo what is done on camera as it often is not really complete or it's built out of needed sequence and needs to be remove for construction to continue. All of this to meet the cameras schedule. Due to editing, cameras work on a totally different timeframe than the real world.

We even use the 'four other possible homeowner' thing. Once we go so far as to let a homeowner know that they are 'in contention' we start planning the build and pre-building everything. Since most of the work is complete before taping even starts, there is no way to do this for multiple houses, especially if four would never happen.

WWTBAM Bored

Extreme Makeover Home Editioni coming to Derbytown

Extreme Makeover Home Editioni coming to Derbytown

Re: Extreme Makeover Home Editioni coming to Derbytown

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