Another awesome Extreme Home Makeover

[Steff]

And an awesome tribute to Jessica Lunsford.

 

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/05/02/Tampabay...als_extre.shtml

 

CLEARWATER - Filing into Ruth Eckerd Hall on Sunday to watch the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition episode on Pinellas County shooting victim James Dolan, guests were offered a box of tissues.

 

It might have seemed like a gimmick.

 

But five minutes into the show, Kimberly Campbell had the box on her lap and was dabbing her eyes. She handed the box down the line to the next waiting hand and damp eye.

 

The two-hour episode and one-hour preshow on WFTS-Ch. 28 was long on promotion and product placement. That's how the show works. But underneath, there were genuine emotion, humor and home-improvement wizardry that generated wave after wave of applause.

 

The show, taped in March, focused on Dolan, a 30-year-old father of three from Seminole who was blinded in the Nov. 18 shootings at a St. Petersburg RadioShack. ABC television crews and hundreds of construction workers poured into his neighborhood, counting on the patience of neighbors as they worked around the clock to raze his 1960s-era ranch house and replace it with a giant new house designed with his loss of sight in mind.

 

About 1,500 volunteers, sponsors, friends and neighbors came out to watch the show unfold on a 216-square-foot video screen.

 

Campbell has been best friends with Dolan's brother-in-law, Phil Yeager, and his fiancee, Lauren Schneider, for years. The couple moved in with the Dolans to help the family after the shooting. The extreme makeover was uplifting, Campbell said, but with a hint of sadness.

 

"It's good, watching this happen to them, but it's hard, too," Campbell said. "We've been through this whole thing with them."

 

Waiting to get inside the theater before the show, Dolan's neighbor, Linda Ciccarelli, said everyone living near the Dolans wanted the best for them. The long nights of pounding nails and construction, and the weeks of traffic from sightseers, have been worth it if it helps the family, she said.

 

"You go to work one day, and you don't think "I'm not going to come home,' or "I'm going to come home a different person,"' Ciccarelli said. "You never think it can happen in your neighborhood."

 

Dolan and his wife, Chrissy, joined the crowd for the show. And throughout the preshow, broadcast live, sponsors heaped gifts on the couple.

 

Some, like the $100,000 check from builder Lexington Homes, a University of South Florida scholarship and donations from Gold Bank and Wachovia had been announced. But others - the key to the city of Clearwater, a year's worth of Publix groceries, a new Buick SUV - were surprises.

 

Chrissy Dolan said she was touched by the attention.

 

"It's been overwhelming," she said before the show. As each gift was announced, she wiped her eyes and hugged her husband.

 

"Everyone says that we're the stars of the show," Chrissy Dolan told the crowd. "But everyone that put in time and effort, you guys are the stars of the show, and I am so, so grateful."

 

Craig Gallagher, president of Lexington Homes, took advantage of the show to mug with Extreme Makeover star Ty Pennington.

 

Playing around on the set, he barked into a bullhorn and shouted orders. But he said building a house in fewer than four days was grueling. It also sparked a commitment to community projects for his company, he said.

 

Next for Lexington is a plan to renovate part of the Southeastern Guide Dogs facility in Palmetto and to build a playground for the Citrus County elementary school of slain 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Her father, Mark Lunsford, accepted the gift in her name Sunday night, and the crowd got to its feet twice in standing ovations.

 

The Dolans' finished house was a closely guarded secret by ABC. The show revealed a home with an open floor plan of rooms radiating off a central great room. Carpeted paths mark the way to help Dolan navigate, and textured walls mark his location at a touch. A voice-activated computer turns on lights and appliances.

 

His children's bedrooms are wildly themed, one like a jungle, another, for his daughter, in pink and oversized puzzles.

 

For Charlie, his oldest son, a robotic arm designed by East Lake High School students reflects the boy's interest in science.

 

Outside, the back yard was molded into an oasis. Fountains and chimes create an environment Dolan could hear and feel. A putting green in the yard would allow him to learn to golf all over again.

 

At the Varsity Club restaurant in East Lake, the school robotics team that designed the robotic arm gathered with family and friends to watch and cheer the show.

 

"It hasn't sunk in yet. The nation just saw me on television," said East Lake senior Jim Hoskins, 18, one of the team members shown during the broadcast.

 

If Extreme Makeover had any detractors Sunday night, it might have been with sports fans. WFTS general manager Bill Carey said his station got about 300 complaints from basketball fans for cutting away from the Miami Heat-New Jersey Nets playoff game with minutes to go.

 

Carey said his station had made a commitment to the Dolans and sponsors, and he had to make a difficult call when the NBA game ran past the 6 p.m. starting time for the local special.

 

The Heat appeared to have the game in hand, and he said it was a decision he had to make. He made sure to flash the final score on the screen. (The Heat won the game.)

 

Dolan said the home has topped every expectation, and the days of trying to navigate his cramped old house and its narrow halls, burning his fingers on the coffee pot, or banging his head on the freezer in the kitchen, are over.

 

"I can't even put into words how I feel. It's such an amazing thing that's been done for my family. I can't be any happier than I am right now," he said.

 

As for the house, the reward at the end of a wild ride on national television, "I walk in the front door, put my cane down, and I'm home."

[HuskyCaucasian]

Obviously we all know that the network does what it does to get ratings and therefore $$$, but you can tell that although these people are paid, deep down they have a passion for what they do and I love that. If I ever have a skill worth using on that show I would join them in a heart beat. Unfortunately, Extreme Makeover isn’t in need of a Radio Broadcaster with minimal carpentry and design ability. lol

[Steff]

Obviously we all know that the network does what it does to get ratings and therefore $$$, but you can tell that although these people are paid, deep down they have a passion for what they do and I love that. If I ever have a skill worth using on that show I would join them in a heart beat. Unfortunately, Extreme Makeover isn’t in need of a Radio Broadcaster with minimal carpentry and design ability. lol

 

 

 

Last night was the first time I had watched the "How'd they do that" show detailing the previous nights makeover. I was definitely chocked up when they were showing Ty and his secret room. He's a special man with a huge heart..

[HuskyCaucasian]

Last night was the first time I had watched the "How'd they do that" show detailing the previous nights makeover. I was definitely chocked up when they were showing Ty and his secret room. He's a special man with a huge heart..

 

That is exactly right.

 

PS: My fiancee had a kleenex box in her lap the whole show. lol