Thursday, October 20, 2005
Youngstown State University will provide scholarships for the Novak children.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Jeff Novak and his three young daughters returned by limousine to a new house and to thousands of people crowded along their Boardman street.
"Zoey was jumping up and down," said Suzanne Zupko of Boardman, sister of the late Jackie Novak. "She hugged Ty, Paige and Paul," said Zupko, referring to show designers Ty Pennington, Paige Hemmis and Paul DiMeo.
Jackie Novak, 28, died of a pulmonary embolism on Mother's Day, leaving her husband, Jeff, 29, to raise their three daughters as a single parent. They are Zoey, 6, Harley, 2, and Presley, 6 months.
Family members have said that the last thing the couple did together before Jackie's death was watch ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
After her death, Zoey and one of Novak's friends wrote letters to the show asking that the family be selected for a new home. The three-bedroom, 76-year-old house the lived in at 80 Arlene Ave. suffered from sewage backups in the basement during heavy rains and from a leaky shower.
The family learned last week that they had been selected to receive a new home. After the family members were on a Florida vacation, courtesy of the show, their house was leveled and a new one built in its place.
Major sponsors
TC Quality Homes of Canfield was the lead builder for the project. Other major sponsors include ICI Paints of Cleveland, 84 Lumber and KraftMaid Cabinetry of Middlefield.
The structure includes a stained-glass design of an angel on the attic loft window, looking down on three windows below, symbolizing the three girls.
The family returned Wednesday afternoon to thousands of cheering spectators.
Met by the show's stars, the family, accompanied by Gerry Morley of Boardman, Jackie's mother, walked up the path to the new house.
After a few retakes and makeup touch-ups, they entered the home.
Press and spectators weren't allowed into the house. The interior is kept secret from the public until the show airs, probably in late November.
Not even family members were allowed in until the Novaks returned.
But a large jungle gym in the rear yard was visible from the street.
"It's really something special in the back," said Edgar Morley, Jackie's brother, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.
Back-yard TV
Jackie had found theater seats and had them set up in the back yard. The family would sit in the seats and watch a television hooked up in a small shed, Morley said.
The show's designers kept that theme in their redo of the back yard.
They refurbished the theater seats and set them up in the back yard, keeping with Jackie's idea, Morley said.
The show and the Novak story inspired generosity in area residents and companies as well.
Ten Ford dealerships from the tri-county area donated a 2006 white Ford Freestyle, which Ford calls a cross between a car and a sport utility vehicle, to the Novaks. The dealerships are Fairway of Canfield, Columbiana of Columbiana, Crown of Warren, Mark Thomas of Cortland, Fred Martin of Austintown, Andretti of Newton Falls, Donnell of Boardman, Westgate of Youngstown, Loudon of Salem and Welsh Motors of New Springfield.
Full scholarships
The girls' education is also covered.
Youngstown State University and the YSU Foundation are creating a fund to offer full-tuition scholarships to the three children.
Jackie Novak was a 2001 graduate of YSU's Beeghly College of Education.
Through the fund, the three girls will be able to attend YSU free of charge.
Sheely's Furniture and Appliances of North Lima provided furniture and accessories for the Novak house.
Becky Snyder of Canfield and three other women who work for Creative Memories Consultants of California, a company that sells items through at-home parties, created scrapbooks for the family.
Snyder said the four women worked with Constance Ramos, one of the show's stars, to design the books, one for each child. Each scrapbook contains the theme of the girl's room.
They used photographs provided by the family as well as those taken by Stacey Studio of Canfield to compile the memories of the event and of their mother.
Cameras show footage of the scrapbooking that may appear in the show.
A poem about them
Cheryl Ciavarella of Youngstown doesn't know the Novak family, but she was moved by the story of their loss and wrote a poem about it.
"I've been going through a difficult time -- my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer three weeks ago and she's been in the hospital," she said. "I've found that it makes me feel good when I can touch someone with what I've written."
She delivered the poem to one of the guards at the site Tuesday morning and one of the producers called her that afternoon.
"They filmed me giving the poem to [show designer] Paul [DiMeo] and him reading it," Ciavarella said. "He cried."
The segment may be included in the show.
"It's the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me," she said.
Web site
Rightfoot Marketing of Poland also is getting involved.
The interactive marketing company is creating a Web site for the Novak house makeover at www.NovakExtremeMakeover.com or www.rightfootmarketing.com/novak that will feature stories and photographs about the project as well as comments from family, friends and spectators.
The company is donating the Web design, development and online marketing services for the project. People who want to submit items for inclusion on the site can do so by logging onto the site or by sending stories, photos and comments to info@rightfootmarketing.com or by fax to (330) 259-1152.