Ty Pennington and the Extreme Make Over Home Edition Crew

Dawn Fuller, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Jul 10, 2009 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

The first day of our Erie, Pennsylvania vacation turned out to be a disaster. The flight from Atlanta to Cleveland was detoured to Pittsburg and back to Cleveland causing us to miss our flight to Erie. We finally arrived at our hotel later that evening at about 10 p.m., only to find out that the hotel had given our room away. Tired and aggravated, we got the room situated and issued a new room. I thought to myself this vacation has to get better. We got our room key and headed to the elevators. A group of people was in front of us waiting to get on. The doors opened and the group went inside. As they turned around, I noticed a guy in the back with brownish-blonde tousled and spiked hair wearing a blue flannel shirt. He looked familiar to me. I kept starring at him studying his face and then recognition hit. He caught the surprise look on my face and smiled at me as it sunk into my brain that the guy was no other than Ty Pennington from the TV show Extreme Make Over Home Edition. Before I could find my voice to say something, the doors to the elevator closed.

I found out that The Extreme Make Over Home Edition show was there to build a home for Clara Ward. Clara was nominated because of the work she has done with children in her community. Clara Ward founded The Youth Development Center in Erie, Pa where she taught and worked with abused and neglected children. In 1988, Clara became wheelchair bound due to a rare degenerative muscular disease and could no longer take care of herself, forcing her to move in with her daughter. Clara continued helping children even with this disease. The home that she resided in was falling apart and had been damaged by vandals in the neighborhood. The house was not conducive to her getting around. Stairs inside the house were a challenge for her since she was wheelchair bound. Thursday, the day after our arrival in Erie, the house was torn down and reconstruction of a new home began. Maleno Development in Erie, Pennsylvania was chosen by Extreme Make Over Home Edition to build Clara Wards new home. The home will have three levels and an elevator will be installed that goes from the basement up to the top floor. Thursday July 2nd, was the reveal of the new home. Unfortunately, we had to leave Wednesday and wasn't able to witness the reveal.

I don't think a more deserving woman could have been chosen and it was an awesome experience to go down to the site and witness the activities happening. As much as I was excited about the house, I was also determined to keep a watch out for Ty Pennington so that I could take a picture with him. I kept my camera with me at all times, especially when I was wondering around the hotel. After days of not seeing so much as a glimpse of Ty Pennington, I thought I would never get my picture, but it happened. We had been out in town and had to come back to the hotel to grab something from our room. I walked into the lobby and who happens to be standing there at the desk, Ty Pennington! Yes, I had my camera with me and waited patiently while he finished his conversation with the workers at the front desk. I was a bundle of nerves. As he turned around I caught him and politely asked for a picture. He was very polite and gladly took the picture. It is an experience that I will never forget! The episode featuring Clara Wards new home will be featured in September.

Published by Dawn Fuller

I am a single mom of one little boy. I used to love writing back in high school but never stuck with it. This site just seems like a fun and creative way to get back into writing again. View profile

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Ty Pennington and the Extreme Make Over Home Edition Crew

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