You don’t even need a ticket to get in to the biggest show in town. All you need is curiosity, and with that you can make your way to the spectator area at the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build site in south Moorhead.
“It’s been amazing. I drive by here at 7 a.m. everyday and when I drove by Monday morning the house was already raised up!” says Chip Hanson of West Fargo Schools. Hanson has been impressed with the progress so far on the build site and loved the concept of “Move that house!”
On Tuesday he accompanied students and young adults from West Fargo’s 9th Grade Center and the Transition Academy, a special education program for people ages 18-21. Some members of the group have played on the same sports teams as Garrett and Tuesday they supported their friend by spending time at the spectator area of the build site. The group came to check out the building progress and hoped to catch a glimpse of their favorite construction celebrities.
Paul DiMeo, more commonly known as Paulie by his cast mates and fans, walked by and got a rousing cheer by those in the spectator area.
“He’s one of my favorites,” Hanson smiles. “He’s a good handyman with a heart.”
Darlene Hendrickson and Matt Belke watch the building progress from the spectator area Tuesday.
DiMeo caught the group off guard and walked so quickly that Matt Belke didn’t have time to wave. Belkes watches the show and knows the cast members by name.
Darlene Hendrickson is a paraprofessional with the Transition Academy and thinks it’s an awesome experience to see such a magnitude of work done in such a short amount of time.
“You always hear about the bad stuff that goes on, we wanted to come out and see the good,” Hendrickson says.
The number of people in the spectator area ballooned Tuesday evening when hundreds of people from Ellen Hopkins Elementary in Moorhead (Garret Grommesh’s school) came to the build site to see about the progress on the home.