On Sunday afternoon, Debbie Beachy was standing at the raffle table with $20 worth of raffle tickets in her hands. She has spent many hours with Bunker Hill’s “Extreme Makeover” team, after hearing about volunteer opportunities through the television show,
Although she wanted to sign up, she hadn’t heard from the show until Wednesday night at 11 p.m, several hours after the demolition had begun. Still, she came down at 12:30 a.m. and worked nine hours.
Then she came back again on Saturday and Sunday, when she brought her daughter Joy, who recapped the day simply: “This is the best day ever!”
Kathy Woessner, also known as Shirley the Clown, has been with the Peru Circus for three years, where she also volunteers at Riley’s Children’s Hospital.
“I enjoy face painting because I’m better at it,” Woessner said. On Saturday, when she was volunteering, she was out and about in the mud talking with the crowd.
Woessner also plans on coming to the build site as often as she can — without her clown outfit. She was amazed on how fast the house went up within the few days she was here.“It’s wonderful and exciting,” Woessner said.
Sunday at the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition site was packed.
The weather forced the ABC crew to shut down the parking facilities on site (since the bean field was flooded), spectators have been routed to the Grissom Air Museum where local school bus shuttles are transporting people from the base to the build site. As of noon on Sunday, six buses were shuttling people between locations.
Once the spectators arrived, though, they began work on one of the most important pieces of the Makeover: the sign-making site where children were encouraged to make signs for The Reveal on Tuesday.
Jennie Wilder is much more than “wife of Hallmark CEO Derek Wilder.” As she and other Hallmark employee-volunteers prepare for Family Day at the Extreme Makeover Home edition build site, it is apparent that she is deeply involved in the entire project.
She hustles and buzzes around from place to place answering questions and making sure things are going smoothly and turn out just right.
The hours are quickly slipping away from the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team. The weather brought hundreds of spectators for Family Day, but there’s still a house to be built for the Cowan-Brown family. Now the construction team is scrambling to make up for lost time caused by the rain.
The build site transformed from a flood zone to a mud zone overnight. Scott Dallis, of Dallis Homes, said he has been on seven builds with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. He said the rain and the resulting mud are causing delays for the build.
“This isn’t the worse I’ve seen,” Dallis said. “It rained worse in Kentucky during the 2005 season.”
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition uses all the volunteers it can take, but it helps to have experienced hands working on the house. Andy and Steve Gall, of Gall Brothers Inc., arrived at the house at about 2:30 p.m. and planned on working through the night. “We’re in for whatever it takes,” Andy said.
And this is an all night affair. The weather has forced constant delays, making an already tight schedule even tighter. Volunteers and contractors work through the night every night of the build in order to stay on schedule.
By Jenelle Bickel, Dawn Fluhler and Kyle Kitzmiller
Family Day is in full swing at the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build site. Boogie Heads Video Entertainment, based out of Nineveh, IN, got the call last minute this morning at 6 AM to participate in this event. Boogie Heads is a company that videotapes costumers’ heads on different bodies for different songs.
Chris Nolan, owner of Boogies, and his daughter Karissa, are charging $5 for a DVD of the customers, and all proceeds go to the family. The songs that are available can be heard throughout the Family Day tent that brings a light-hearted feel to the site.
The elements worked against the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team yesterday. The overnight rain turned the parking area into a swamp, shutting down the spectator area and causing countless headaches for the support staff.
The biggest problem: getting here.
Volunteers were diverted to Grissom Air Force base, a few miles from the site. Buses ran round the clock, but not without some hitches.
Ball State University student — and chief writer for the Hallmark social media project — describes the trip.
Getting there was just the first hurdle. Every time volunteers tried to get to work, the rains would come again sending people scampering into one tent.
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