Southern Miss School of Mass Communication and Journalism Blog
Day 4: December 6, 2009
8:00 a.m. – Just got on site and it’s about 33 degrees. It looks like the builders are working on the foundation.
8:18 – Just spoke to a volunteer construction worker. Turns out they are about 5 hours behind schedule. They had some problems throughout the night. I’m sure they will pick back up. They always pull through and finish on time. I don’t know how they do it!
9:00 – Preparations for the cement to be laid seems to be the theme of the hour. The volunteers continue to work diligently to catch up for the time lost.
9:37 – The sun is starting to come out and warm things up. Some of the builders are looking over the plans for the house. Everything seems to be going rather smooth.
9:55 – Within the next hour we can expect the cement to be laid while the framing and walls are being made.
10:13 – John Littlefield and Christian Slater are here to check on the progress of the makeover with enthusiasm written all of their faces.
10:30 – “Swinging Wide,” yells a volunteer as the cement truck approaches and begins laying the foundation to the Heathcock family’s home. ABC Producer Time came over and jokingly pointed out, “That’s a cement truck,” and then went on to inform us that the cost of regular cement is about $75/sq ft., and with the special additive that speeds up the drying process to only 2-3 hours, it doubles the value of the cement to about $150/sq ft. In total, there are 8 trucks being utilized to deliver the cement.
11:13 – Newk’s Cafe just arrived with van’s full of food for the VIP tent. People will start coming in for lunch soon.
11:40 – The film crew gets some shots of the cement being poured.
1:00 p.m. – The concrete is all poured and the volunteers are smoothing it out now. It will be a few hours until the concrete is solid enough to start framing up the house.
1:45 – Trucks have started to arrive with the first pieces of the house’s frame.
3:35 – Paige and John are on the foundation now waiting for the lumber and pieces of the frame to come down. The cameras are following close behind.
4:00 – Framing on the house is coming along very quickly which should help make up for some of the time the builders lost last night. The production and construction crews are starting to turn on the lights to settle in for a long, cold night of work.
5:10 – It’s been barely an hour since the first walls were put into place, and now virtually all of the outside walls are standing. Things are moving along so quickly and even though the sun has gone down the workers are still working tirelessly! We met Tammy Walters, a woman who lives down the street from the site; the catering tent covers her entire front yard.
“They‘re good people, they work hard,” Walters said in reference to the Heathcocks. “So allowing [the crew] to use our yard is a very easy way to give back and allow something good to happen to [the family].”
Tammy also thinks highly of the EM:HE team: “They are wonderful; everybody that we’ve encountered has been very nice, very appreciative; they want to make sure that all of the neighbors are as comfortable as possible; they did a good job preparing everybody for what to expect.”
5:31 – Michael and the production crew are filming some shots just before the rest of the exterior walls go up. After a few takes, they finally get what they want, leaving Michael to finish out the shot with a nice rendition of Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” on top of a pile of lumber in the front yard. Always the entertainer.
5:40 – The trusses for the roof have arrived!!
6:20 – In addition to the constant sound of hammers, there has also been a continuous audience watching the activity. Volunteers, VIP’s, and spectators from around the community have lined the barricades down the street all day.
6:48 – While part of the building crew is taking a short dinner break, the other volunteers are working on the roof. The framing for the far left section of the house is near completion, and at this rate it looks as though the entire roof will be finished before midnight!
And by the way, there is a crane that is 86 feet tall moving the trusses, and it’s right in front of us. This thing is HUGE!
6:50 – We met officer Ricardo Taplin, one of the security guards on site, who works for the Hattiesburg Police Department:
“To have this quality of a TV show come to Hattiesburg is outstanding!” Taplin said.
Taplin also praised the community effort that has been taking place through this process: “Everybody is coming together as a team. I mean, people are letting [the crew] use their yards for this!”
7:00 – Mayor Johnny DuPree has arrived on the scene! We were lucky enough to steal him away for a few minutes as he was walking in:
“I don’t think words can adequately say how excited we are here in Hattiesburg, to have the opportunity for the entire world to see Hattiesburg in the best light,” said Dupree.
Mayor DuPree added that while Mr. Heathcock is away serving his country, “we’re ensuring that his family will be safe and have a decent home to live in.”
8:15 – David Thompson from AAA stopped by to give an update on the progress of the home. He told us that due to some “gumbo dirt” – or rather, some bad dirt under the old house – the project was delayed by four hours. However, the crew rallied throughout the night and is now an hour ahead of schedule!
He also said that there was a pit operator that worked until 3 a.m. in the gravel pit to solve the dirt problem, and that this man deserved a shout-out….
So HERE’S TO YOU, Mr. Pit Operator, for a job well done!
8:40 – Amongst the volunteers is Cindy Pearce, one of Sherman’s three sisters. Cindy said that she, along with her two younger sisters, were the ones that nominated their brother and his family for the show.
She is playing a dual role in this project; she is volunteering around the job site as well as helping with the care package drive for the troops. The volunteers are also collecting food for the humane society as well as Christmas cards to send overseas to the military.
8:50 – Sherman Heathcock’s mother, Faye Heathcock, and his aunt, Helen Davis, are also on the scene.
Faye’s pride and respect for, not only her son, but everyone serving our country is unmistakable:
“Law enforcement officers are there to protect us just as the soldiers protect our freedom. The firemen, the emergency personnel, ambulance drivers, all of those people that protect us are represented by this [project]. I wish with all my heart that every one of them could experience something of this magnitude, because they are our protectors.”
Helen added: “It’s hard to put into words what it means for people to come out and volunteer to do all of this, from building the house, to [donating] the food – everything. It’s wonderful, Sherman and Gina are going to be thrilled.”
10:08 – We bloggers are calling it a night! When we arrived this morning, they were beginning work on the foundation…now it’s really starting to look like a house! Extreme Team, To The Top!
Lisa Parker, Casey Rawls, Sammi Greco, Mary Allen, Austin Collins, Bethany Seal, Liz McKean, Kyle Neaves
Comments on this entry are closed.