Published: October 25, 2009 09:52 pm      

With sun comes spectators

Family day draws crowd to project work site.

BUNKER HILL — The sun came out early Sunday afternoon, and with it came crowds of spectators.

Hundreds of visitors poured from Maconaquah School Corp. buses as the shuttles arrived from Grissom Air Reserve Base on the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” work site in rural Miami County.

Onlookers lined up along the fences, where they caught a distant peek of the show’s star, Ty Pennington, and special guest David Cook as they filmed a scene for the show.

While the employees of Hallmark Homes Inc., which is the general contractor working with ABC, and dozens of other volunteers zipped around the Cowan-Brown family’s front yard, visitors buzzed around the viewing areas and spectators’ tent, where it was family day.

Volunteers from the community and local businesses offered free food, games, crafts and clowns for children.

The family day activities were intended to involve those with the project who were not old enough to directly help out, said Jennie Wilder, who spearheaded organizing the tent’s activities.

“They’re not old enough to volunteer. They can’t do the leg work around the house,” said Wilder, who is the wife Hallmark Homes Inc. CEO Derek Wilder. “... This is their part.”

A raffle inside the tent gave away merchandise donated by local businesses and agencies. The proceeds will go toward a gift for the Cowan-Brown family.

An auction Saturday raised thousands of dollars for the family as well, Jennie Wilder said.

The Peru Amateur Circus was originally supposed to perform for the crowds, but the wet and muddy conditions from the weekend’s rain changed the plans, said “Zippity,” one of the circus’ clowns.

“[We came because of] the desire to come and put smiles on the kids, and the people are working so hard,” she said as she tied the final knot onto a balloon sword for a boy. “We got a call and we answered the call.

“The whole circus was supposed to come out, but they couldn’t — the weather conditions and all. So they sent in the clowns.”

• Daniel Human is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He can be reached at 765-454-8570 or at daniel.human@kokomotribune.com.