Western Group Involved In Reality TV Show
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
members recently participated in ABC Television’s reality show, Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition.
The show won an Emmy Award last year for best Reality Series. Each
self-contained episode features a race against time on a project that
would ordinarily take at least four months to achieve, involving a team
of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who have just
seven days to totally rebuild an entire house, every single room, plus
the exterior and landscaping. The lives of the lucky families are
forever changed when they learn that they have been selected to have
their home walls moved, their floors replaced and even their façades
radically changed. The result should be a decorator's delight, if it
can be done in time.
“I had an interest in the show, because of what the show does,” said
Western Dean of Students Eric Murray. “It serves a great purpose in
helping families in need. I sent a letter to the producers volunteering
to help with a project, and if the project site was close enough to
Montana, I would be happy to bring students with me. They called me a
week later and told me they would be in Phoenix and hoped we could make
it. They needed our group in ten days from the time of the phone call.
We gathered our group of students and staff in two days and made
preparations for the trip.”
The storyline of the episode was that an eight-year old girl wrote to
ABC and said the cancer wing of her hospital needed a makeover. The girl suffers from cancer and
asked ABC to make the wing less dreary and a better place for its
patients and their families. ABC agreed to do the makeover at the
hospital and whisked the family away for a week’s vacation while the
work would be completed. What they didn’t tell the family was they were
also going to give the family home a complete makeover as well. Because
of her cancer, the little girl has limited abilities, the show also
wanted to produce a backyard that would be a fantasy land for the
little girl.
The contractors assigned the Western group the task of refinishing a
1930 carousel that would be in the backyard. Half-way through the
carousel project, the group was given a second assignment. They were
asked to renovate a set of antique theater chairs that would go into a
family movie room. The Western group divided into two teams of eight
to complete the two projects. The group was then given a third
project, that of painting a series of children’s playhouses for the the
back yard. Western student Caleb Olson designed a series of carnival
themed patterns to be painted on the playhouses. As the week drew to a
close, the group joined other volunteers to paint a Jungle Gym
play-set. Despite periods of bad weather and long hours, the group from
UM-Western were assigned four projects, four projects were completed,
and all completed in three and a half days.
The Western student group included Anthony Anderson of Homedale, ID;
Amanda Babon of Missoula, MT; Angie Burns of Elko, NV; Jack Foster of
Townsend, MT; Sarah Green of Simms, MT; Megan Janke of Avon, MT; Jen
Olsen of Boulder, MT; Caleb Olson of Conrad, MT; Bre Snyder of Pendroy,
MT and Levi Van Zee of Pendroy, MT;
Western staff members included: Joe and Gail Barnhart, Eric Murray;
Amy Olson, Mike Piazzola, and Holly Williams
The episode will air on Sunday, March 13 on ABC. EMHE's sister show
"How'd They Do That" will air on Monday, March 14.
“The shows’s production folks and the stars were very impressed with
our willingness to help, our integrity, and the quality of our finished
projects,” added Murray. “ We went down to Phoenix to help and serve,
and to learn. These students and staff served as great ambassadors of
our university while in the Phoenix area.”
Watch the Video Clips...
EMHE_Western_Part1_2MB.wmv
EMHE_Western_Part2_3MB.wmv
Dialup users may download the files by right-clicking and selecting "Save Target As..."
