Welcome to the red carpet, Fargo-Moorhead.
Just watch out for ice and snow as you take your star turn.
ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will air the episode featuring the home built for the Bill and Adair Grommesh family of Moorhead at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
The home at 803 22nd Ave. S. was built in early October by Fargo's Heritage Homes with a cast that included scores of suppliers and subcontractors and about 4,000 volunteers from in and around the metro area.
The 5,200-square-foot house will be revealed to America just as it's starting to feel like home for the Grommeshes.
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"When we first got into the house, it was definitely overwhelming," said Adair Grommesh. "Nothing in there was our own. Walking in, it felt like we were snooping."
They soon found the handicapped-accessible home a blessing, she said, because she and her husband, Bill, no longer had to carry their son, Garrett, up and down stairs.
Garrett, 10, has spina bifida and must use a wheelchair. His sister, Peighton, 12, also has health issues, including a pancreatic enzyme disorder.
The house, which Adair describes as warm, open and inviting, "is starting to feel like it's a home."
Heritage Homes has arranged an invitation-only event for several hundred people to watch the show at the Fargo Theatre, said spokeswoman Megan Messer. Among the guests are the Grommesh family, the Izja and Valdete Hajdari family - who received the Grommeshes' former home - and numerous subcontractors.
"We're emotionally charged for the show. It's going to be an amazing, amazing evening," said Tyrone Leslie, president and co-owner of Heritage Homes. "It's one more opportunity for us to show off this incredible community."
The Grommesh home was the third "Extreme Makeover" project Heritage Homes has been involved in. The other two were a house in Minot, N.D., and another in New Orleans.
Leslie said that given the opportunity, he and Heritage CEO Daryl Braham would build another "Extreme Makeover" home.
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"It's not just one family that got affected or two families. ... It's three or four thousand families" who were able to give back to the community, he said.
"There's absolutely no question. If called upon again, we would be there," Leslie said.
The Grommesh home was built over 4½ days. It includes a pool that can be used for therapy, an elevator and a special room for Garrett.
The original Grommesh home was moved to north Moorhead, refurbished and given to the Hajdaris, who are refugees from Kosovo.
Bill and Adair manage Hope Inc., a Moorhead nonprofit that promotes independence for children and young adults with disabilities.
"This community is the best place to live. To have that many people step up and build us this house who didn't even know us, it's just a remarkable, humbling experience," Adair said.
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Readers can reach Forum reporter Helmut Schmidt at (701) 241-5583
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