Home Savings and Loan Co. will pay off the mortgage on the family's new home.

Home Savings and Loan Co. will pay off the mortgage on the family's new home.
By KATIE LIBECCO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Thousands of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" fans came out to witness the construction of a new home on Arlene Avenue for the Novak family.
A spokesman for the show said that 4,000 VIP passes were handed out, and many of the fans came without passes.
"At any time, there are a few thousand people here, and that cycles," said Chuck Ridge, Prodigal Media senior account executive. Prodigal was contacted to provide media relations for the show while it's in town.
Debi Seaman of Youngstown was one of the fans.
"I always watch the show, so I had to be here. I've been here for a couple of days!" she said, laughing. "It's just so exciting that it came to this area. It seems like it'll be a challenge because of the condensed area."
Rising to challenge
Her judgment was correct, according to "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" location manager Milan Vasic.
"This is one of our most difficult builds because of the logistics. The streets are very narrow, and thereisn't a sidewalk; that makes things harder," Vasic said. "But turnout has been among the top, and the community support has been phenomenal."
Donna Smolko of Youngstown was another fan who came out to support the show.
"The turnout has been wonderful. You can see how people really are concerned about the family," Smolko said. "We always watch the show, even though it's sad at times. They just do wonderful things for people."
"The people who have come out have been great. It's just wonderful," cast member and carpenter Paul DiMeo said. "This community has really opened its arms to us."
DiMeo said that he went to school in Pittsburgh, so he was familiar with the area.
"We are going to have a couple of surprises. That's what we do. We always have surprises," DiMeo told reporters Saturday.
Most of those surprises will not be revealed until the family sees the house Wednesday.
'Emotional story'
Producers selected the Novak family from Boardman after 28-year-old Jackie Novak died of a blood clot on the lung on Mother's Day this year. The last thing the family did together was watch "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
Jackie was a teacher at Jackson Milton High School, and her husband, Jeff, is a special-education teacher at South Range Middle School. Her death left Jeff to raise their daughters: Zoey, 6; Harley, 2; and Presley, 6 months.
Their home was affected by sewage backup in the basement during rains.
"This is a pretty emotional story. It's about making sure these young ladies get what they need as they grow up," Vasic said. "It's heart-wrenching."
The Novak family was sent on vacation to Daytona Beach, Fla., while the old house was demolished and the new one erected in its place. They will get to see their new house for the first time Wednesday.
Helping hands
TC Quality Homes of Canfield is the lead builder on the project, co-owned by Chris Abraham and his brother-in-law, Tony Esposito.
Esposito is coordinating the construction, while Abraham is coordinating the planning efforts.
"There are 200 guys here today who are ready to descend upon that house and do some drywalling," Abraham said with a laugh. "They want to break records."
On Saturday, volunteers completed roofing and installed siding as the drywall was hung.
The original 76-year-old Dutch colonial home was demolished Friday morning. Less than 24 hours later, the beginnings of a new home stood in its place.
"The heart of the Valley will be shown to the nation," Abraham said.
Abraham also said he received a phone call from Home Savings and Loan late Friday. He said the bank volunteered to pay off the mortgage on the Novaks' home.
"It is the first of many, many announcements like that," he said.
'A thing of beauty'
"Last night was a thing of beauty. There were about 200 to 300 guys all working together." Abraham said. "It was like an orchestra where each person was a band member, and Tony was the conductor. And when he raised his hands, everyone hit the most beautiful, perfect note. It was incredible."
Volunteers worked in shifts around the clock, which coordinators said were both union and nonunion workers.
Nick Blodis, vice president of Guardian Home Technologies, volunteered his labor efforts on the house. The company donated the work of 15 employees and materials for cable, telephone and security systems.
"It's a madhouse in there; I've never seen anything like it. The good thing is, it's organized chaos," Blodis said. "The cooperation in there is impressive. There are quality people here. They're not slopping it together; they are doing it correctly."
"All of the planning, logistics, communications, it's just amazing," Abraham said. "Monday, punch out and special design work begins, so that should tell you how far along we are already."
Framing record
Many of the show's coordinators and volunteers attributed the efficiency of the project to the framing of the house taking at least three hours less than expected.
"Wednesday, John DeCerbo from DeCerbo Construction handed me a check for $25,000. He said, 'If I can't frame the house in eight hours, I'll donate this to the family. But if I can, I want ABC to donate $25,000. He did it in five-and-a-half hours," Abraham said.
DeCerbo Construction and HV Construction were responsible for framing the house.
Cast member DiMeo said the extra time would be used to focus on the girls' rooms.
"Everything is actually going better than planned. The house is really looking good," DiMeo said. "That was the fastest we have ever framed a house before."
The previous record for framing a house on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was 12 hours. The Novaks' home is the 50th project for the show.