The Move That Bus Tour of 2010 is hitting the road to promote the new song by Mark McGuinn called Move That Bus as well as the episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition airing on May 16th at 8:00 PM EST. But the ultimate purpose of the entire tour is to raise awareness and money for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Move That Bus Tour Dates & Times

San Antonio May 10-11 The Move That Bus Tour starts in San Antonio on May 10th. The tour will be making stops at all area Palm Harbor Home sales centers in the San Antonio area.
Tour Bus Schedule | Map | Call 888-466-3718 for more info

Houston May 12th The Tour will continue in Houston on Wednesday May 12th with stops during the day at all area Palm Harbor locations and then a benefit concert at Rebels Honky Tonk of Houston Wednesday night @ 5002 Washington Avenue, Houston TX 77007. Doors open at 8:00. Free Tickets available at all area Palm Harbor locations.
Tour Bus Schedule | Map | Call 888-466-3718 for more info

Austin May 13th -The Tour will continue in Austin on Thursday May 13th with stops during the day at all area Palm Harbor locations with a special concert at our Austin location at 810 Bastrop Hwy at 2:00 and then a benefit concert at Rebels Honky Tonk of Austin Thursday night @ 305 West 5th Street, Austin, TX 78701. Doors open at 8:00. Free Tickets available at all area Palm Harbor locations
Tour Bus Schedule | Map | Call 888-466-3718 for more info

Dallas/Ft Worth May 14th & 15th – The tour will continue Friday & Saturday with visits to all Dallas/Fort Worth locations then a concert at the famous Gilley’s Dallas on Saturday night @ 1135 S Lamar Street Dallas TX 75215. Doors open at 8:00. Free tickets available at all area Palm Harbor locations.
Tour Bus Schedule | Map | Call 888-466-3718 for more info

Guest Appearance by Paul DiMeo

Just announced: we will have a guest appearance on the tour by Paul DiMeo, best known as the carpenter with attitude on ABC Television’s two-time Emmy winning Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Continually recalled as the show’s favorite – second to host Ty Pennington – DiMeo currently shooting the fifth season of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Sunday at 8:00 pm ET) is particularly renowned for his imaginative work on children’s bedrooms. With boundless warmth and genuine nature, DiMeo remembers his early Pennsylvania roots and in particular how at aged five, he began his affair with home renovation after the family home burned to the ground. “My father and I embarked upon our own extreme makeover to reconstruct the family home”. Indeed, Paul’s hallmark is his deep understanding of family hardship that shines through as the show’s rugged carpenter with a heart of go.
Tour Bus Schedule | Map | Call 888-466-3718 for more info

Greensboro NC May 16th – The tour then moves to Arizona Pete’s Country Music Saloon in Greensboro NC, hometown of both Mark McGuinn and yours truly and a central location in the Southeast to celebrate with all Nationwide Homes employees, customers and builders. As you may remember, Nationwide Homes is a subsidiary of Palm Harbor Homes and is the division ultimately responsible for building the home for the Williams family to be featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on May 16th at 8 PM EST. Accordingly, this concert will be a huge celebration for all!!!! See press release

It’s a homecoming concert for Mark McGuinn, I get to hug my Mom and Dad and Nationwide Homes gets to bring everyone together for a huge watching party of our EMHE episode. The concert will start at 6 PM with a break between sets at 8 PM to watch Extreme Makeover on the big screen. The concert will be at Arizona Pete’s Country Music Saloon at 2900-A Patterson St Greensboro, NC 27407. Tickets are $10 at the door with half the money going to the ALS Association to find a cure for Lou Gehrig’s disease or free at any area Nationwide Homes location.

Open House Promo at all Locations May 14-16

We will be hosting an Open House Promo at all Palm Harbor locations to show off our new floorplans that were inspired by the Williams home we built for the Extreme Makeover episode airing on May 16th.

Move That Bus – The Song

Nashville recording artist Mark McGuinn wrote a song inspired by the life and attitude of Jeremy Williams called Move That Bus. The song is now available. Go to www.extremephn.com and click on Store (available for download or as a CD). Buy several CDs and give them out as gifts – a portion of the proceeds of each song will go to research to finding a cure for ALS.

As I write this note, we have exactly 37 days, 13 hours, 37 minutes and 58 seconds until the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs the story of one of the most inspiring families we have ever met. It seems like yesterday that we spent two weeks in rural central Georgia building the Williams family a new home, yet strangely, it also feels like a year ago. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the entire experience. I miss the work. I miss the volunteers! I even miss being muddy! And I really miss the family! I have a framed picture in my office of the before and after with the rope swing threading thru both pictures – to make sure I never forget!

Our CEO Larry Keener visited the Williams family this weekend. The family is loving life – as you would imagine – despite any health issues that would sideline most of us. Jeremy is still fighting, Jacob is still smiling, Josie is still happy and Jennifer is still, well, she is still amazing! They love their new home and they were as gracious as ever – to allow Larry to visit and spend time with them during their busy weekend with the kids.

I asked Larry to sum up his visit and he said: “I walked away just really blessed and glad I had a chance to meet such a fine family. We didn’t give them a gift, it was the other way around.” What a great reminder of how we all feel!

I also have a reminder on my iPod! Huh? That’s right, Jeremy’s story spread all the way to Nashville and inspired Mark McGuinn to write and record a new song called Move That Bus. You may know Mark from his breakthrough Top Five song Mrs Steven Rudy or his song about 9/11 called More Beautiful Today. I went to high school and college with Mark and he contacted me while we were building the house and the story of the Williams family really moved him – specifically Jeremy. Mark sent me a text message and said: “How someone like Jeremy can feel blessed given the circumstances he is facing is simply awe inspiring. After reading his story, I grabbed my guitar and a few minutes later the song was done!”

I have a demo of the song and wow! I guess I have listened to it 100 times now and it still gives me chills.

He won’t give up so we won’t either
Everybody knows God loves a believer
and believe me he’s gonna see a little help from us
So move that bus

Few of us can relate to the challenges that Jeremy faces everyday. In fact, few of us really understood Lou Gehrig’s disease like we do now. Including Mark. Like most of us, he knew Lou Gehrig was a baseball player who had ALS. But he never really knew what challenges the disease presented. After learning more about it, the lyrics came alive:

Like the Iron Horse
Lou Gehrig said
I’ve had a bad break
But somehow I feel blessed

Mark has decided to use his platform to help spread the word about ALS and when the song is released, he is also giving a portion of the proceeds to research to cure ALS. He debuted the song live in concert Saturday night and it will be released for download in the next few days.

At the final hour of the fundraising campaign, we reached our goal and even exceeded it by a few thousand dollars. Again, ALL of the money we received will go to the family. Any reserves will be held to compensate for any outstanding debts the family may owe after all the gifts have been received.

We were privileged to have Robert Williams in the VIP tent at the time we received the 100,000th dollar and asked him to update the makeshift live video board we created from scraps in the construction site.

The show will air Sunday, May 16,2010 at 8:00 pm-9:00 pm EST as the Season Finale.

How to Stay Tuned

Website – we will keep the website live so you can always check the latest news on this project at www.extremephn.com.

Pictures and Videos – we will be posting new pictures and videos over the next several weeks leading up to the airing of the show. The latest additions includes an aerial picture of the home that is simply stunning as well as a video interview with Jennifer’s mom soon to go live and a bloopers video of the staff running low on sleep. Once the show airs, we will publish some behind the scenes videos and pictures as well. For now check out what we have posted:

For pictures go to our Flickr account at www.flickr.com/photos/extremephn
For videos go to our YouTube account at www.youtube.com/palmharborhomescorp

Facebook – we will continue networking with everyone thru our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PalmHarbor

Shirts – you asked for it, you got it. We have made shirts available to the public based on overwhelming demand. Click here to order.

Buy a Home – now I wouldn’t be a true Marketing man if I didn’t make a sales pitch would I? If you are considering making a housing change in the near future, visit our websites at www.palmharbor.com and www.nationwide-homes.com. We will be announcing new models inspired by the Williams home very soon.

Again, thanks for making the Williams dream home become a reality!!!

At the week ending party last night, Dan and I had dozens of people ask up to keep the updates coming. We’re not sure what more to say other than thank you.

Thank you to all the volunteers – you inspire us.

Thank you to the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team – you rock.

Thank you to the law enforcement team for you did all week to keep things organized.

Thank you to the local media for helping us tell the story.

Thank you to Callaway Gardens for allowing our muddy boots in your resort.

Thank you to all the Williams neighbors – wow!

Thank you to all 1,800 employees of Palm Harbor and Nationwide Homes and a special thank you to all the employees that worked all week in Georgia.

Thank you to all the sponsors who helped make it happen.

Thank you to all the companies that donated food.

Thanks to all the builders who made it possible.

Thank you to everyone who donated money to help us reach our goal – another wow!

Thank you to all the friends and family of the Williams family – special bunch!

Top Ten Pics from the Week

As we wrap up our work, we wanted to share our favorite pictures from the week. I took 3,000 pictures, any could have made the list but here are the ten I chose:

Standing here, I just knew we were going to have a magical week, I underestimated how magical.

This was staged but a great picture of Dan to illustrate how much stuff he had going on at any given time. He was the quiet leader behind the scenes making sure everything worked.

This was also taken at 2:00 AM – shows the round the clock effort being put into the Williams’ new home.

I have worked with Dan for almost six years, I hope I never go that long again before discovering how hard working and talented a co-worker is. The Daily Updates were the highlight of my day.

This picture just made me real proud to work for Palm Harbor and Nationwide Homes. Setting the home in an afternoon is just how we roll.

Colleen Rogers says she isn’t in sales. Yet she asked every person who came to view the site for money. And used a paint bucket to collect it. $10,000 in cash, one dollar at a time.

This picture shows how this whole event worked – volunteers working around the clock. Here they formed a chain and loaded the Williams’ belongings into the house in minutes.

I’ve never been a part of something so big that we hired a video helicopter.

The amount of emotion in this one picture is hard to capture on purpose. I got lucky. But it makes me really appreciate the job the editors of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition do at capturing the emotion in every show.

I quit counting but this was probably the 50th time Robert Williams and his family told us thank you. The truth is, we owe the Williams family a thank you, we were the ones that were blessed by this event.

I don’t have words to describe this one showing Jacob reaching up to hug Andy thanking him for the new home.

This one shows Robert logging the 100,000 dollar we raised. Yes, that’s right, we hit out goal!!!!

Welcome Home Jeremy and Jennifer!

This will likely be my last update. The home is undergoing the final touches, the crowds are rolling in and it’s almost show time. It’s been a great week to say the least.

Within 4-5 hours the Williams family will be home. I doubt life will ever be the same, for them, for all of us and definitely not for me. One short week ago, I stepped foot on the property and walked every square inch. I’ll never forget the rope swing I saw in the Oak tree in the front of the property.

It was the only “fun” thing I saw on site. I took a picture of it and I’m not even sure why.

I wrapped it up in the top of the tree to preserve it and I’m not even sure why.

Now I know.

We are at $84,000 and counting. We have a few hours to go and we need one final push. One dollar is all we need – from 16,000 more people. Please take one minute and donate, then take another minute and tell your friends. Two minutes to finalize the dream come true opportunity for a family that deserves it.

How?

1. Step one: Go to www.extremephn.com and click the Donate button.
2. Step Two: Tell all your friends to donate $1.00. Start a chain email. Ask everyone you know to give just one dollar.

When?

Now. The family will be back at 2:00 today when we give them their keys. We need to reach 100,000 by Saturday afternoon.

What else?

We will also apply the money to paying off their current mortgage on their land. We want to give them a debt free new home. ALL of the donations Palm Harbor receives will go to the family.

Who?

Who do you know that would give a dollar AND tell a friend? Send them the web address www.extremephn.com and ask them to give a dollar and tell their friends. Put it on Facebook. Tweet the world. Tell your church. Challenge your club members or sorority or fraternity. I’d love to hear from you – tell me how many friends you enlisted to help the Williams family.

So far, we have raised $17,2100  $21,506.35  $27,020  $32,646   $34,874.

See live streaming video of the current amount raised.

We appreciate every donation and we need more but the last donation we received from Christian Olson, from Cataula, GA was one of the more magical moments on the build site this week. Christian came down to donate because his Dad John Olson works at Jeremy’s middle school. He brought his entire life savings to give toward the family getting a wheel chair accessible van and a mortgage free home . Why so magical? Well, Christian is 3 years old.

The donations are coming in as fast as we can count them. Since I started this article, the amount has gone up $3,000. We need more so keep them coming. WHETHER WE MISS, MEET OR EXCEED OUR GOAL, EVERY PENNY WE RECEIVE WILL GO TO THE FAMILY, PERIOD!!!!!!

How?

1. Step one: Go to www.extremephn.com and click the Donate button.
2. Step Two: Tell all your friends to donate $1.00. Start a chain email. Ask everyone you know to give just one dollar.

When?

Now. The family will be back on Saturday when we give them their keys. We need to reach 100,000 by Saturday morning.

What else?

We will also apply the money to paying off their current mortgage on their land. We want to give them a debt free new home. ALL of the donations Palm Harbor receives will go to the family.

Who?

Who do you know that would give a dollar AND tell a friend? Send them the web address www.extremephn.com and ask them to give a dollar and tell their friends. Put it on Facebook. Tweet the world. Tell your church. Challenge your club members or sorority or fraternity. I’d love to hear from you – tell me how many friends you enlisted to help the Williams family.

What’s Next

We are now 24 hours away from giving the family the keys. The house is nearly ready and it is incredible. The landscaping just started as well as the paving of the driveway. Things happen so fast – I went around back to take pictures, came back to the tent to download them, didn’t like the angle so I went back and there was now a fence built around the entire back yard. What was a dirt driveway 30 minutes ago is now paved. As I type this, the front year is all dirt, in 45 minutes, it will be a lush green yard. When we woke up this morning, the Williams family had a mortgage and no transportation, as I type this, we are 1/3 the way toward giving them a debt free home and a wheelchair accessible van. Amazing day.

Public Viewing

If you would like to attend the build site, there is a Public Viewing Area & VIP Tent. It will be open from 8AM – 8PM through Saturday 2/27. Parking for the shuttles to the site will be at Charles Moultrie Park at 10695 Highway 116, Hamilton, GA 31811 (click for map). No cars will be permitted at the build site. Shuttles only.

The community has given so much to the Williams family this week. But the Williams still need more.

The house is built. The Design team is doing their thing to make it into a home. Every detail is designed to accommodate for Jacob’s easy movement throughout the house in his wheelchair. Jeremy says that he has come to terms with the fact that he will be in a wheel chair one day soon, so the house is also built to accommodate that reality. Every doorway, all the hallways, even the decks and access points are designed for the future likelihood of housing two wheelchairs.

One large and daunting challenge remains: the family does not have a wheelchair accessible van! We want to transform the entire life of the Williams family, so we’re asking you to help. Please tell everyone you know that we need 100,000 people to give the Williams $1.00 – in the next 36 hours!

How?

1. Step one: Go to www.extremephn.com and click the Donate button.
2. Step Two: Tell all your friends to donate $1.00. Start a chain email. Ask everyone you know to give just one dollar.

It’s that easy.

When?

Now. The family will be back on Saturday when we give them their keys. We need to reach 100,000 by Saturday morning.

What else?

We will also apply the money to paying off their current mortgage on their land. We want to give them a debt free new home. ALL of the donations Nationwide and Palm Harbor Homes receive will go to the family.

Who?

Who do you know that would give a dollar AND tell a friend? Send them the web address www.extremephn.com and ask them to give a dollar and tell their friends. Put it on Facebook. Tweet the world. Tell your church. Challenge your club members or sorority or fraternity. I’d love to hear from you – tell me how many friends you enlisted to help the Williams family.

Public Viewing

If you would like to attend the build site, there is a Public Viewing Area & VIP Tent. It will be open from 8AM – 8PM through Saturday 2/27. Parking for the shuttles to the site will be at Charles Moultrie Park at 10695 Highway 116, Hamilton, GA 31811 (click for map). No cars will be permitted at the build site. Shuttles only.

WHO: Nationwide Custom Homes and Palm Harbor Homes is proud to join forces with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to build a new house for the Williams family.

WHAT: You do not need to know how to hammer a nail to help the Williams family; you can make a difference by joining the community to make donations to help with family needs.

WHEN: Starting today, Thursday, February 25, 2010

WHERE: To make a donation toward the build, please visit www.nationwide-homes.com/extreme/donations.cfm or www.extremephn.com.  An account has been set up with PayPal to ensure safe, direct donations.

WHY:   The Williams family of Pine Mountain Valley is the latest family to be featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Jeremy and Jennifer Williams, whose son Jacob was diagnosed with Spina Bifida before he was born and Jeremy was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease which both require special needs that place a monetary burden on the family.  

In an “extreme” effort to show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition viewers the Southern hospitality and commitment to Williams family, Nationwide Custom Homes and Palm Harbor Homes announced today that they will collect funds for the Williams family.  A fundraising goal of $80,000 has been made. Contributions will be collected through Saturday, February 27, 2010 the day the family’s new home will be revealed.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Nationwide Custom Homes, Palm Harbor Homes, and hundreds of volunteers are joining forces for the Williams family.  All of their time, talents, and materials resources are being donated to help build the Williams family’s new home in Pine Mountain Valley.

We have all heard the expression “What a difference a day makes.” It’s not a strong enough expression around here. We are seeing changes over the course of hours, even minutes that are simply amazing. Today we will finalize the delivery and construction elements so we can soon turn the house over to the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Design team-who will transform the house into a home.

As I walked through the house last night, I thought about Jeremy and Jacob. I don’t pretend to understand the challenges they face but I just walked through the house thinking of the two of them since part of the mission is to make their lives easier. I’m not privy to all the plans of the Design Team but as a huge fan of the show, I know to expect great things to make Jeremy and Jacob’s daily lives much better. Then I realize how I had selfishly overlooked the challenges Jennifer and Josie face on a daily basis. Extreme Makeover isn’t about helping individuals, it’s about changing a family’s life. I can’t tell you about the interior of the house but I can tell you this after walking through the house, the lives of all four will be changed.

Words escape me for how exhilarating this entire event has been for me, our entire building team as well as all of our 1,800 employees across the country. I’d pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming but my hands are too cold LOL. We saw a little sleet and snow early this morning and temperatures are dropping fast. But that’s the only thing dropping, spirits are high and as they say in Hollywood, “the show must go on.” No one skipped a beat, nor will they.

Like everyone else, my mother is anxious to know every detail I’m allowed to tell her on a daily basis. Today she emailed me and said:

Just thought you would like to know that my devotional for today is from Proverbs 24 and I was not surprised to see it talk about building a house. Just thought I’d share:

By wisdom a house is built and through understanding it is established, through knowledge it’s rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.

I will continue to pray for the Williams family and everyone involved.

Love ya, Mom

Just one of the many meaningful encounters this project has stirred in the last few days. It is a week I wish would last a year – except I miss the Williams family and I’m ready for them to come home.

In Honor of the Williams Family, Nationwide Custom Homes Issues a Call for Donors

In conjunction with ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Palm Harbor Homes, Nationwide Homes and the American Red Cross will host a blood drive at the spectator parking area located at Charles Moultrie Park, Friday, February 26. In honor of the Williams family, the blood mobile will be registering donors 1:30 PM – 6:30 PM.

Every two seconds, someone needs blood, Nationwide Custom Homes and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will provide the Williams’ Family community with the opportunity to give its blood, sweat, and tears to offer this deserving family a life-changing and life-saving gift for others. The community is encouraged to roll up their sleeves and make a donation during the build Friday afternoon. Friday’s goal is to register 106 donors, a donor for every hour of the “extreme” build.

“This is a community effort. In addition to building a home for the Williams family, we hope to help the entire area through the blood drive,” said Dan Goodin, VP of Sales & Marketing of Nationwide Homes. “Partnering with the American Red Cross gives Palm Harbor Homes and Nationwide Homes the opportunity to help the community while honoring and supporting the Williams family.

Blood Mobile located at: Charles Moultrie Park

10695 GA HWY 116

(Spectator Parking)