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photo by Brie Cohen
Linda Helgeson, right, wipes her tears away next to a teary eyed Susan Westland during the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Pep Rally on Tuesday at Crossroads Church.
Are you ready to build?
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” pep rally’s turnout impresses producers
Published Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” experience in Freeborn County will not only change the lives of one local family but also those of the entire community, said the show’s executive producer, Conrad Ricketts, during a Tuesday morning pep rally.
And when it’s done, hopefully the change will just be the beginning for the area, he said.
Introducing the process of the home makeover to a couple hundred area residents at Crossroads Church just north of Albert Lea, Ricketts said the crowd Tuesday was one of the largest turnouts he has seen.
“We cannot do this without the community coming together,” he said.
Photo by Brie Cohen
Val Budd signs up with the design team to volunteer as a semstress after the pep rally. Budd said she has been sewing since she was 6 years old.
Ricketts explained that between 3,000 and 5,000 applications come in every day for the show, but very few are actually chosen for the new home.
In April of 2001, he said, ABC network executives came to him talking about all the house remodeling TV shows that had been on and asked him if he could come up with an idea for a show, he said.
Ricketts came up with the idea of seven designers coming together over seven days to remodel a house. And it worked.
In actuality, he said, the houses are actually built in 106 hours — or 4 1/2 days — unlike the four-month average it would normally take.
In this case, host Ty Pennington and his design team will knock on the door of a selected family on Sept. 30. They will remove the belongingss in the home and set up a TV shooting crew. Then on Oct. 2, Larson Contracting begins the demolition, and the “Extreme Makeover” crew will work with local contractors and volunteers to construct the family a new home.
Photo by Brie Cohen
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” Executive Producer Conrad Ricketts speaks during the pep rally at Crossroads Church on Tuesday.
People will come from across the state to help, he said.
And what everyone doesn’t realize, he said, is that they will be changed by the time they leave.
Though he can’t talk about the selected local family who will receive the special new home, he said, he knows that family is praying for the show to come to them.
He added, “This family’s an incredible family that gives back.”
Ricketts talked of the pace that the house is built and showed clips of some of the former houses that the show has constructed.
During the process different trades will come together to work and everyone will be proud when the house is completed.
When building, he said, the No. 1 aspect will be safety, and he encouraged everyone participating to watch out for each other. The No. 2 aspect will be quality.
“This is not sticky tape that holds up walls,” Ricketts joked.
Photo by Brie Cohen
Norrine Jensen, a retired school teacher, watches one of the videos about "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" during the rally Tuesday. Jensen was the first person at the rally.
It will be like no other job site around, with roads shut down for a week and hundreds of semi trucks coming into deliver materials, he said.
“One billion people will see your community, this state and this nation,” Ricketts said, explaining that the show goes out to 69 countries around the world.
When volunteers go in for their scheduled time, they will first go to a check-in area and then sign a liability release and a media release. Businesses donating to the cause will sign a tradeout agreement so their name will be listed on the “Extreme Makeover” Web site.
Volunteers will be held at the check-in point until their scheduled time. Skilled volunteers are asked to bring the tools they use everyday.
Ricketts introduced the project managers, location managers and design producers for the project.
Video
Conrad Ricketts, executive producer for the TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," gives a pep talk Sept. 23, 2008, to residents of the Freeborn County area on the stage at Crossroads Church north of Albert Lea. Watch »
He explained that this season’s show will feature heroes. Though sometimes people think of a hero as a man who walks into a burning building, there are everyday heroes, too, such as nurses, teachers and doctors.
Ricketts encouraged everyone who’s going to help to be at the house when the family comes home, so they can look into the family’s eyes and the family can look into their eyes.
Al Larson, owner of Larson Contracting, the company asked to build the house, said it has already been amazing to watch the response from the community.
Larson said he’s grateful to be a part of it. It is a way to give back to the community.
He said 850 unskilled volunteers signed up, when only 400 were needed. The response for skilled labor has been just as high.
To get more information and see more photos go to this site.
“It’s amazing how much people give,” Larson said.
Lola Evans, who attended the pep rally, said she was excited to be at the pep rally.
“It was just inspiring how they bring the community and the faith together,” Evans said.
“It brings tears to me every time I see it — helping a family in need,” Kim Flaa added. “It’s cool that it’s right here.”
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