A new house wasn’t all the Cowan-Brown family received during the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build. The children, Ryan, Trevor, Mason and Kori, also received a gift from Ball State University.
The day after the build was finished, the Cowan-Browns met in their new front yard for a press conference with a twist. Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for Marketing and Communications at Ball State, came to the build site on behalf of President Jo Ann Gora. The news he carried was a shocker to the Cowan-Brown family.
“If you continue to work and study hard and if you apply and are admitted to Ball State University, we will provide each of you with a scholarship to support the full cost of tuition for in-state students,” Proudfoot told the family. “Working through the Ball State Foundation, we will supplement any state or federal gift aid to cover tuition.”
Jayson Manship is the director of operations at URBaCS. Along with partner and president Rob Wagoner, they are 50/50 partners of their technology and software company that works with small to mid-size businesses on their Web site, social media, blogging…basically all the online aspect that a company needs today.
URBaCS became involved in the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build when Derek Wilder, CEO of Hallmark Homes, called him and asked him to work on the build as a media liaison. They asked him to put together a social media strategy for Hallmark.
This is not URBaCS’ first build. The duo worked on the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build in Indianapolis along with Estridge, the construction company that worked on the Indy home. When Wilder went to Estridge looking for people that had experience at that build to help in Bunker Hill, they recommended URBaCS. URBaCS had worked with Hallmark before and was willing to join the numerous sponsors that the construction company was recruiting.
Maconaquah School District assistant superintendent Dr. James Callane coordinated the school bus shuttle service between Grissom AFB and the Extreme Makeover build site.
Callane met with “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” location managers a week before the Cowan-Brown build. Together, they devised an inclimate weather transportation plan for the build week. Following the downpour early in the week, the plan was put into effect.
“We had a rotation of bus drivers working three hour shifts,” Callane said. “Since our corporation has four spare buses, we were able to use those buses during the hours when we were transporting students to and from school.”
Bus drivers from the Maconaquah School Corporation drove spectators and volunteers from Grissom Air Force Base to the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build site for five days because of the rain and muddy field parking areas. Buses would run 24 hours a day, shuttling workers back and forth between the two sites.
In total, 27 regular and substitute bus drivers participated in the round-the-clock shuttle service.
“There was such an outpouring of people that we just kept going,” said Karen Grove, a 32-year bus driver with the school corporation.
As if bookending the entire build, it started to rain again at the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” site in Bunker Hill, Ind. as the Cowan-Brown saw their new house. Here are a collection of shots from the Reveal. For more photos, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/hallmarkhomesinc/tags/thereveal
Kelly Thompson and Annie Britigan take shelter under their umbrellas while cheering during the “Move that bus!” taping.
Many people brought their own signs to wave in support of the Cowan-Brown family – and maybe to catch the eye of the ABC cameras.
While we can’t show you pictures from the new house or the family reaction (that would ruin the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” episode in January!), we can show photographs that were taken of the crowd as they react to the sights and sounds of the big Reveal of the new Cowan-Brown house.
Jane Mitchell has been volunteering at the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build since Saturday. In the last two days alone, she has put more than 20 hours in by helping in any way that she can.
Mitchell is acquainted with the Cowan-Brown family as her art teacher, Becky Osmond, is Heather Cowan’s mother.
After a week-long build that truly can be defined as one of the most unique “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” efforts ever, the family is back in their new house.
Hallmark Homes would like to thank everyone who made this possible. There is no way that it could’ve been done without you.
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