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 |  Subject: Adam On Extreme Makeover Home Edt.  22.02.10 6:44 | |
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- The Wagstaffs, a Gainesville family given a new home by ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," have promised to "pay it forward."
"We're going to give back," Tobin Wagstaff said at the end of the Sunday night premiere of the show's episode filmed about two months ago. More than 100 people, including friends, students and the curious, gathered to watch the show at a public viewing event at Sunshine Eagles @ Dub's, 4562 N.W. 13th St.
Last year, the show organized the construction of a new, 3,500-foot home for the Wagstaffs, who operate the nonprofit music school Studio Percussion at 519 N.W. 10th Ave. The show selects a family who needs and deserves a home makeover and then films the reconstruction.
The family watched the show at a private party. But afterward, Tobin Wagstaff, minus his mohawk haircut, spoke to the crowd and thanked them. "That was so much fun to watch," he said, adding that he was happy to see so many people from the studio on the episode.
In the Wagstaffs' old home, there were rotted floors and rooftops and a faulty electrical system. During the episode, Wagstaff described the problems at the building, where show host Ty Pennington found rotting wood and water damage. "It makes me feel like I can't provide for my family," Wagstaff said about the damaged building.
Sunday night's episode had been billed as one with "the most explosive Extreme team ever" and featured the band KISS as well as shout-outs from Adam Lambert and Snoop Dogg congratulating the Wagstaffs for their work in bringing music and the arts to the Gainesville area.
"I did not know they got to meet KISS," said Janet Garvin of Gainesville, whose daughters Ashley and Adria, both 8, and Cheyenne, 9, are students at the school.
The family was surprised by a "rock-and-roll" vacation that included a KISS concert in Oklahoma and a chance for Wagstaff to play with the band.
But it was the family's reaction to the new home, complete with music-themed rooms, a drawing space for one of the Wagstaffs' sons and a backyard entertainment area, that was most telling.
Wagstaff's remarks on the show were a call to action for people to get involved, said Daniel Lombardo, 24. His fiancee is an instructor at the music school. Lombardo said the viewing party, which also raised money for the school, is an example of that same spirit and an effort by the family to continue giving to the community.
With food and raffle tickets, the event had raised more than $450 by late Sunday, said Jan Hukle, the Sunshine Eagles auxiliary president and organizer of the Sunshine Eagles @ Dub's chapter of the Eagles. That amount continued to climb into the night.
"I did not know they got to meet KISS," said Janet Garvin of Gainesville, whose daughters Ashley and Adria, both 8, and Cheyenne, 9, are students at the school.
The family was surprised by a "rock-and-roll" vacation that included a KISS concert in Oklahoma and a chance for Wagstaff to play with the band.
But it was the family's reaction to the new home, complete with music-themed rooms, a drawing space for one of the Wagstaffs' sons and a backyard entertainment area, that was most telling.
Wagstaff's remarks on the show were a call to action for people to get involved, said Daniel Lombardo, 24. His fiancee is an instructor at the music school. Lombardo said the viewing party, which also raised money for the school, is an example of that same spirit and an effort by the family to continue giving to the community.
With food and raffle tickets, the event had raised more than $450 by late Sunday, said Jan Hukle, the Sunshine Eagles auxiliary president and organizer of the Sunshine Eagles @ Dub's chapter of the Eagles. That amount continued to climb into the night.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100221/ARTICLES/2221011/1002?p=2&tc=pg | |
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