'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' update: Construction continues, Ty Pennington appears
Volunteering isn't always done in the company of TV personalities like Ty Pennington and Michael Moloney.
But when three Northside High School seniors -- Macy Lammert, Erin Bell and Avery Barker -- took a day off school for community service, they ended up just feet away from the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" hosts.
Pennington and Moloney appeared as the first piece of Williams family's modular home was lowered in Pine Mountain Valley. Nearby crowds of volunteers cheered as the piece landed on the home's foundation.
"It's touching and heartwarming how people come together," said Lammert, 18, of Columbus.
Greenville High School football coach Jeremy Williams and his family learned on Sunday they had been selected for the show. Crews will build them a new Pine Mountain Valley home while they vacation at the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte, Colo.
Two of the family’s four members have disabilities: father Jeremy and son Jacob.
Jeremy Williams, 38, suffers from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The fatal condition affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
It’s incurable and impacts behaviors like speech, swallowing and breathing.
Williams, who played football at Kendrick High in Columbus, led the Greenville High Patriots to an undefeated record and a playoff victory last year before having the season ended by eventual state champion Wilcox County.
Williams has a 6-year-old son, Jacob, who was born with spina bifida, an incomplete development of the spinal cord. The boy requires a wheelchair and treatments include surgery.
The family also includes wife Jennifer, 38, and daughter Josie, 8.
Mid-morning Tuesday, the Pine Mountain space included mainly piles of mud and dirt. But Andy Miller, president of Nationwide Custom Homes, promised, "We are pretty much on schedule."
Virginia-based Nationwide Custom Homes is leading the project with its parent company, Palm Harbor Homes, plus local builders and community volunteers. This is the first modular home in the show's history.
The big reveal -- complete with cheers to "move that bus!" -- is slated for Saturday.
Members of the public can still come watch crews from "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" build a new Pine Mountain home for Jeremy Williams and his family.
The public viewing area will be open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday.
Parking for shuttles to the site will be at Charles Moultrie Park at 10695 Highway 116. When you arrive at the site, confirm shuttle availability with a "Makeover" representative. Get a map by clicking on the link that accompanies this page.
This story was originally published February 23, 2010 at 2:27 PM with the headline "'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' update: Construction continues, Ty Pennington appears."