Anna, Benson, & Riley Smith

So here's the whole story for any who cares to hear it. Its a long one, so consider yourself warned. 3 weeks ago Ben Winder from Rockwell homes calls me with a very vague story about needed some help planning some upcoming events. He asked if he could meet with me privately to discuss the details. I thought he was being really weird until he came by and explained that they were prepping for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (hereforth referred to as EMHE) to come to the area and it was still a big secret. He needed some help coordinating VIP tent area on the home site as well as planning the wrap party the night after everything was done. He proceeded to drop a few bombs on me...such as the fact that the whole thing was going down in less than 3 weeks from that day and that all our help would be on a volunteer basis.
It sounded like a fun opportunity so I accepted to help out. Sure, why not? Right?
I was invited to a meeting a few days later with the chief local coordinators as well as Jonathan Weber, Locations Manager for EHME. I was thinking that my part in this whole things was going to be relatively minor until Jonathan drops a packet into my lap of their event rental needs and asked if I could take care of it. The list contained 5 tents totalling over 4,000 sq feet of space, tables & chairs to accomodate the hundreds of volunteers that would be eating meals on site throughout the week, as well as a slew of other specifications such as lighting, tent walls, air conditioning, etc. I was thinking, "I SWEAR Ben told me they were bringing all this stuff themselves, but whatever, we'll role with it" On top of the general equipment rentals, they would also need special accomodations/event planning for the VIP tent that would sit directly across the street from the build site and I would need to find time between all that to plan the wrap party for all the production crew, designers, builders and community VIP's. I played it cool. You know, I would nod and say "Sure thing. No Problem." while inside I was thinking, "What the crap am I doing! Am I insane!?!"
We were filled in on the fact that this was happening in Pocatello even though that information was supposed to be kept quite until the family was ambushed. I was given a few names of businesssmen in Pocatello and I set off to pull together the event.
We started setting up tents with a great crew of volunteers about the same time the family was being ambushed by the designers at the fire station. I worked with Greg Hansen of Rockwell Homes to plan some interactive elements in the VIP tent such as a 42" flatscreen showing time lapse video of the build, updated each day. We also had photographers taking pictures of the guests and then printing them right away. The photos were put into a scrapbook where we could then sign them with our personal messages to the family. We were given full access the VIP area all week and were on site to see the demolition of the house as well as some early filming of Ty giving the designers their challenge (I won't share too many details about the challenge as I might ruin the surprise but it had to do with musical instruments)
Del Lou just happened to come visit during the week so we got blue T-shirts and hard hats and she hung out with us on site, jumping in as they were filming the "Braveheart March" of volunteers coming up the street cheering.
All week it was amazing to watch how fast the house went up, and on Monday night Amy and I drove down to check it out. It was after 10:00 p.m. when we got there but Greg found us and offered a tour of the home before the family came home the next day. We saw each room and he explained who it was for and some of the stories behind the designs. We learned a lot about the family and I felt a much closer emotional attachment to the project after that tour. I'm so excited to see the final show and re-live that tour! :) It is a beautiful home and I know the family is going to LOVE it.

On Tuesday we were at the house when the family arrived. We spent about 2 hours filming crowd scenes of us cheering and yelling "move that bus!" before anyone actually arrived. Then another 30 minutes of filming the limo pulling up and Ty opening the door yelling "welcome home!!" No one would get out... He would then shut the door, the limo would back up, and we would do it all again. It was quite entertaining to see all film and production stuff that you never think about when you watch a show on tv. The family finally arrived just before 4 o'clock and then things got a little crazy. Even from my perch on my ladder :) I still couldn't hear what was being said. The President of ISU was there and I think he offered the kids scholarships for college. Who knows what else happened, but I sat on that ladder for a LONG TIME. They announced that Kylie Minogue was there to play a concert in the street while the family was seeing the house, but I had to jet over to set up the wrap party so I missed it.
We found a great group of guys at Robert Allen Nissan dealership who were more than happy to let us use their facility for the party. Dave Alexander from Texas Roadhouse agreed to be our caterer, not only for the party but for our VIP tent all week. He was AMAZING and I'm so glad I got to work with him and his staff. We were given the name of a local cover band "The Installers" who donated their time and resources to provide the music for the night and they did such a great job! Ed Sanders even spent a lot of time on stage with them jamming with his harmonica and singing along. The party started at 9 p.m. but most of the crew didn't arrive until after 10. Over the next few hours we all had so much fun. All the designers came (which is really what made the party a success) and they were so gracious and kind to all the people who wanted to take photos and shake their hands. As it got later, the crowd thinned and only the real party people stayed behind. The atmosphere was so laid back, Ty and Jillian were out dancing to the music, Ed was killing it on his harmonica up on stage and Paul was just chillin in the parking lot visiting with us. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun.
I am so glad that we agreed to be a part of this crazy circus...we met some amazing people in this community that I would probably never have met otherwise. I even feel like I made some great new friends. The people at Rockwell were champions and Im proud to have worked with them. Its been a long and tiring week and my brain feels fried, but I hope I got most of the details to preserve the memories of such an exciting and special experience.