MediaAdvisory
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Nancy Monroe/Oakwood Homes, LLC
(770) 630-2675
Cameron Kelly/RBC Centura Bank
(919) 788-5660
GOOD MORNING TIPTON-SMITH FAMILY!
Waleska Family Receives Wake-up Call from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Local home builder and bank announce their parts in the project
WHAT: Oakwood Homes, its building partners and RBC Centura Bank will help make local family’s dream home a reality.
RBC Centura Bank (www.rbccentura.com) and Oakwood Homes, LLC (www.oakwoodhomesllc.com) will host a press conference to announce a major gift and commitment to the Waleska family to be featured on ABC-TV’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
WHY: This morning, the lives of Faith Tipton-Smith and her two daughters, 16-year-old "Missy" Melissa Ann Tipton and eight-year-old Emily Faith Smith, were forever changed when they heard the show’s team leader Ty Pennington’s now-famous “Good morning” wake-up call. Pennington, along with the other designers, surprised the unsuspecting Waleska, Ga., family with news that their home has been chosen to receive a makeover. Each episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition features a race against time involving a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who have just seven days to totally rebuild an entire house – every single room, plus the exterior and landscaping.
The Tipton-Smith family was selected to receive an Extreme Home Makeover from thousands of applicants because they have experienced more tragedy and loss than any family should have to bear. In 2005, the family’s home was destroyed in a fire. After losing their home, Faith, her two daughters and son, Ransom, selected a house plan that was to become their dream home. Three months after construction started, Ransom and his sister, Missy, were in a car accident that took Ransom’s life. Due to massive hospital bills, construction of the home had to stop, causing a hazardous mold problem that is seemingly beyond repair without the help of the crew from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and supporters like Oakwood Homes and RBC Centura Bank.
WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007
2:15 p.m.
WHERE: Waleska City Hall Board Room
8891 Fincher Road
Waleska, GA 30183
SPEAKERS: The Honorable Marguerite T. Cline, Mayor of Waleska
Tony Perry, CEO of Oakwood Homes (This is only time Perry will be available for media interviews.)
Tom Wiley, RBC Centura Bank Georgia President
MEDIA NOTE: Media are welcome on site for the duration of the Tipton-Smith family build. Keep in mind this is a very busy construction site and closed set. Daily media alerts will be distributed electronically and/or on site: press ID is required and advanced scheduling is highly recommended. News releases and other media materials about the build will be available via www.extremeoakwood.com, on site and through the media contacts.
For more information about the show/designers, contact Mozell Miley, ABC publicist, at (212) 456-6444 or
mozell.i.miley@abc.com.
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Tipton-Smith Family 2
OTHER
IMPORTANT
DATES: Family notification: The Tipton-Smith family heard Ty Pennington's now-famous "Good morning!" wake
up call today, surprising the unsuspecting family with news that their home has been chosen to receive a
makeover.
Renovation and construction: Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007
109 Lakewood Drive #2169, Waleska, GA 30183
*For map/directions to build site visit www.extremeoakwood.com. Please call or email Nancy Monroe for tentative build highlights and best visual and interview opportunities.
Family returns home: Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007
About Oakwood Homes, LLC
Oakwood Homes, which has its offices in Woodstock, Ga., is owned by the husband-and-wife team of Tony Perry and Patti Bachtel. Perry is considered among the leading builders in the Greater Atlanta area, having built both residential and commercial project in this area since the late 1980s. In Georgia, he is currently building in the Woodstock/Towne Lake area, at Lake Arrowhead in Waleska, as well as in the Dallas area. Honored as Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association “Builder of the Year” in 1999, Perry holds the Certified Professional Home Builder (CPHB) designation through the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, and he is both a past and a current recipient of Professionalism Awards from the association. In addition, he is a former president and the incoming 2007 president of The Housing Institute Inc., which administers the builder certification program for the local home builders association.
Bachtel is broker/owner of Lifestyles Realty, whose agents market the homes built by Oakwood Homes Inc. While she also is an experienced home builder, she is known for seeing a home from the viewpoint of the resident and creating livable homes with an overriding sense of style. Bachtel is a winner of the Magnolia Award for her work with Easy Living Homes through the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association.
About RBC Centura Bank
RBC Centura Bank, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., offers a wide range of financial services and advice, including a complete line of banking, and mortgage services to individuals, businesses and public institutions throughout the Southeast. RBC Centura Bank's multi-faceted customer access network includes nearly 290 full-service banking centers, an extensive ATM network, and telephone and Internet banking. In addition, RBC Centura Bank offers builder finance products through its RBC Builder Finance division. According to SNL Financial, RBC Centura Bank is the 41st largest U.S. bank based on assets as of June 2006. RBC Centura Banks Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) (NYSE, TSX: RY), Canada’s largest bank as measured by assets. Additional information about RBC Centura Bank may be found at www.rbccentura.com.
About Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which has won back-to-back Emmy Awards as Best Reality Program (non-competitive), is in its 4th season on ABC. The program is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. Denise Cramsey is the executive producer; and David Goldberg is the president of Endemol USA.
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