Dress rehearsal
It’s two hours-plus to go, and the crowed outside the new Oatman-Gaitan house are already yelling – on cue. “Here we go folks – bring it!” yelled the producer with a bullhorn as the show...
View ArticleBuilder: Never a doubt
Several hours before the reveal, builder George Amedore Sr. was clean-shaven, showered and more than a little content. “I’m relaxed,” he said. While there were “tense moments,” Amedore said he...
View ArticleListen to a volunteer
A conversation with Times Union staffer Carin Lane, a volunteer at the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Colonie, March 2007.
View ArticleThe bus — and family — are moved
As crowds chanted, “Move that bus!” Debbie Oatman and her family were introduced to their new home. The family arrived by limo at 3:05 p.m. and were greeted outside the house by host Ty Pennington....
View ArticleA volunteer’s view
An e-mail from just one volunteer, Susan Sims of Colonie: I signed up around midnight on Thursday the 22nd and they called me just after I had gotten to work on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. I was so...
View ArticleA long day
The “reveal” to the family happened an hour or so later than originally scheduled. But spectators started arriving shortly after dawn. A hundred yards or so from the house, several hundred fans had...
View ArticleThink of the neighbors
After ABC packs up, you may want to take a drive down Fairway Lane and see the home. It’s your right. It’s a public street. But this is not a through-street; the house is at the end of a cul-de-sac not...
View ArticleKicking back
Paul DiMeo relaxed in a Colonie hotel conference room Friday morning. He had done a round of media calls, talking about how the Oatman project was special. DiMeo, a 49-year-old Philly area native, said...
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