Southern Miss School of Mass Communication and Journalism Blog
Day 3: December 5, 2009
8:00 a.m. – Just arrived on site. The crew, builders and volunteers are here and ready to start the day. The temperature is around 35 degrees and snow is still on the ground! This is VERY unusual for South Mississippi weather.
10:05 – Ty comes over to speak with Paula Anderson, who was a resident of the home in the 1950s. He takes a look at an old photo of the home which was built in 1952.
10:30 – The designers’ bus just arrived and Johnny, Paige, Michael and Ty welcome celebrity guest Christian Slater. The group talks with Christian who is excited to be a part of the project.
11:30 – Ty takes out a video camera and begins to film a video that will be sent to the Heathcocks in Disney World. He records all of designers and Christian as they send a greeting to the family. This will be the last video the family sees of their original home!
12:00 p.m. – I just talked to Sabrina Jones who was the recipient of an Extreme Home Makeover in 2007! She came down from her home in Brandon, Miss., to show her support for the family. She explained how she felt when she first found out she was receiving a new home, and she is excited for the Heathcocks. “Sometimes I come over the hill going home and just begin to cry when I see our house,” said Heathcock. “We just think everyday how truly blessed we are.”
12:42 – Johnny and Paige just ran to the bulldozers! They lower the arms of the bulldozers and start to demolish the house! Volunteers are cheering in the background. Ty continues to make a video for the family, filming as the house comes down!
1:45 - Just got back from lunch. It was awesome! There was a tent with a variety of food for the volunteers. Certainly no one is starving around here.
2:25 - The site for the new house is being cleared at a rate faster than we expected. We knew this project would move quickly, but never at such an amazing pace.
2:50 - Trucks are coming in one after another to load all of the rubble from the house and move it out.
3:24 - David Thompson with AAA Homes came and sat down with us. We asked him how he thought things were going so far. He said, “We’re just now getting to the construction part of this. Tomorrow will be an amazing day because you will get to see a house being put up.”
5:02 - It’s getting pretty dark outside and the construction team has set the lights up so they can work through the night! Everyone is working so hard today. Sean Hancock, builder leader, just told us that multiple track hoes are removing the final debris off the lot and that within the hour they will lay the foundation for the house. Hancock said by this time tomorrow we should have a house with shingles up. He also said, “This is such an exciting and humbling experience. I can tell that everyone else involved feels the same.”
5:30 - It may not be snowing, but 45 degrees is still cold. I’ve also heard that tonight will be a record breaking low of 26 degrees! But that hasn’t slowed the workers down.
8:06 - It’s down to 34 degrees outside and the volunteers are still working on the foundation. They plan to work through the night installing plumbing, pouring the slab and framing the house!
Leslie Burge and Katie Ford
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