Ty Pennington and Jo Parker

I caught up with Ty today in Jacksonville. What a gracious guy he is! I was fortunate to bring him a lovely gift, compliments of  Cathy Pennington, owner of Pennington Farms in the Applegate. She said to me at the Grower’s Market, “Oh – I need to give my cousin a gift!” He’s not actually her cousin, but hey, with the same name, you never know! The gift bag was full of Cathy’s wonderful jams – which Ty said looked delicious.

When asked what he thought of Jacksonville, he said, “This is the most charming & delightful town! Every one of the merchants and restaurants has been really nice, and I’m sure everyone says that they want to live here!”  Actually, Ty, that is really true. He said he is also working on the show in Massachusetts, so I asked if he spent his whole life traveling…to which he answered, “Yep – pretty much – that’s why I look like this!” His hair was a bit spiked – turns out he’d just returned from a run.

Ty and Cherie Reneau, Owner of Elan Suites

Ty is a really friendly guy. He was seen at Jacksonville’s Bella Union, Lodestar Bar, Good Bean Coffee and The Mustard Seed. Everyone I spoke with said he was very nice, warm and friendly. His friends are just as welcoming as he. I  have not met many TV personalities, so didn’t really know what to expect, but I was impressed that he was very easy-going about interruptions, requests for photographs, and well, intrusions! The entire cast and crew of Extreme Makeover Home Edition seems that way. The Executive Producer, Brenton Metzler, and Designers Paige Hemmis and Paul DiMeo all seemed to be very calm, happy and interactive with the crowds.

Ty with Andrea Yancey, Review Layout Designer

Some people in the area have expressed concern that Extreme Makeover seems to be costing the town merchants and businesses a lot of money, time and effort – when other deserving folks need homes and help also. In light of this, it was heartening  to hear both a Habitat for Humanity volunteer and the builder, Rush Behnke,  mention that there are enough supplies left over to build at least another house for other worthy causes. They also echoed many people’s thoughts and said they hoped this spirit of giving and community would continue after the TV cameras were gone.

For Jacksonville and the Medford area, it has been exciting and inspiring to see such an overwhelming response to help the McPhail Family. I think that we have all learned a lot about the power “of the people” and about autism, The Sparrow Clubs and how we can give back to our community. Thanks Ty and Crew for that!

The McPhail Family after "Move that Bus!" Photo by Julie Merritt

The Beautiful New Home. Photo by Julie Merritt