Nick Family

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
The Nick Family
Recap By J. G. Bird

August 16, 2005
Five months ago this series aired the affecting story of Kassandra Okvath, quite possibly the fan-favorite to date. Her two-hour special highlighted her catchphrase "love comes first."

And the season ender in May brought us the story of how another Arizona family, Piestewa, must continue on even when a soldier and mother of two dies in Iraq.

So, the newest episode reveals a rarely touched depth of emotion, as if combining these previous stories. The Morgan Nick Foundation carries into the world the message "love always hopes," even when the worst strikes a family and a child goes missing. Realize, sending an important message to the television audience is a goal far above the home renovation for this family.
Are the names Adam Walsh, Polly Klass, familiar to you? Certainly "Amber Alert" and "Megan's Law" are known to you? The topic of missing children and how communities should safeguard against the horrifying statistics of annual disappearances is woven into the usual interplay of our designers during the home renovation. If the volunteer builders and the Extreme team of designers can accomplish anything, it will be to lift the Nick family to higher ground from which to shout a message of courage and hope.

Colleen Nick manages a non-profit organization reuniting missing children with their families. Her experience is one no parent wants, yet she connects to thousands of people across the country using her computer and phone when a family is in the same situation she experienced June 9, 1995. It was from Alma, Arkansas, while attending a Little League game at a new field, that her six-year old daughter disappeared. Alma, Arkansas, population 4,160, has been the Nick family's hometown for the ten years since. Colleen's home buying decision came about suddenly - a visit became a vigil. She moved her family into the only home she could afford in order to stay near the site of the abduction.

Paige, Michael, Paul and Preston understand the weight of the story being related by Ty on the bus. Preston Sharp comments, "A new home is not what they want most…." Ty acknowledges that Colleen has asked that sending the message is what's most important. The show will accomplish it in several ways, beyond documenting the specific efforts by Colleen Nick. Ty is mellower than ever, and I anticipate this will be a trend in the new season. The megaphone and "Ty gym-spastics" seem sparse.

Logan, 13, Taryn, 11, and Colleen are a family that sticks close together. The day of the Design Team's arrival coincides with the ten-year anniversary of Morgan's disappearance. The family is able to stay upbeat considering the weight of this reality. Inside the modest Ranch-style home, Logan makes a show of running his skateboard up and down the interior of the home. The hot water heater exploded a few months previously and all the wall-to-wall carpet is pulled up. A desk no larger than the footprint of a computer is Colleen's base of operations for the Morgan Nick Foundation.

At the Alma High School football field, Colleen, assembled with family, friends and volunteers, release 3,650 helium balloons - one balloon for each day Morgan has been missing. The event is both proactive and purposeful. An age-progressed photo and description of Morgan Nick is attached to every balloon. This "Launch of Hope" is to raise awareness. The family wants a community willing to be watchful, and willing to pass laws that help families not have to deal with similar tragedy.

Taryn is a super bright girl, sweet and decorator-savvy. She's very eloquent for an eleven year old. She notes that she has to live knowing she has a sister, without having her sister. The designers can barely bring themselves to redo her special touches in her room. They compromise, since the house is definitely being razed and built up larger. Paige takes the flower and butterfly theme, superpowers it with lots of girl lounging space and daffodils.

Preston and Paul move Taryn's backyard clubhouse out of harm's way and will add an 80 sq ft addition to the outdoor playhouse.

The Nick family is allowed to be on-site at the demolition of the home, a first for the show. After that, they are sent to vacation at Walt Disney World. Dan Ferguson is the leader for the group of Home Makeover "Heroes" comprised of Northwest Arkansas Home Builder's Association members. Connie and Michael perused a 3-D rendering printout of the completed design for a moment.

"Moms in Touch" is Colleen's local bible study group and they visit in the initial construction phase to emblazon a section of foundation concrete with scripture, including the sentiment, "love always hopes." Ty makes sure Colleen gets video of the special message before building encapsulates it within the new home.

Several cool shots of the designers show up in this episode, (especially Paul and Preston) each placed in the demolition shots, making them seem more in the thick of things: For example, Michael rides the load of wood brought in by big rig; Ty lobs water bottles to volunteers in the heat of Day Two.

A joyful shot of the Nick family at Walt Disney World Orlando on the Mad Hatter's Teacup ride is much like the concrete coolers we see spinning about in the foundation-setting segment just prior.

Paul and Preston head out with 3 of Logan's friends to a skate park for tips on good basic building blocks for designing a skate park in Logan's backyard. Tony Hawk makes an appearance and autographs a skateboard to be given to Logan.
Paige sees Morgan Nick's age progression photo compiled on a computer. She considers how hard it must be for parents to endure even this step in the search process. The photos of other children that the Morgan Nick Foundation has helped in finding become an integral part of the design for Colleen's office space. On Day 4, Connie is installing a custom stained glass window inside Colleen's new home office.

Michael shops Sears while Paul, Connie and Preston work the mall courtyard out front at a Missing and Exploited Children safety event. The volunteers encourage all families to have access to their own children's fingerprints and a photo updated every 6 months.

Ty works out one more big gesture to get the word out on behalf of the Foundation. A full-size Interstate billboard is raised highlighting Morgan's picture at age 6 and how she might look now at age 16. John Walsh then appears with Ty and other members at the building site to aid in a segment in which several photos and names of still missing are highlighted. John's own son, Adam, disappeared 24 years ago and was later found dead.

Kathy Mattea, country singer, makes an appearance (5 minute break called by Ty to share the song with the volunteers). The song she sings, written by Peter McCann, is called "Among the Missing," created in 1999 and from a CD produced for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

When the Nick family returns home, they are standing with the bus directly in front of them - if it was any further back on the street, this huge house could be seen. Colleen and the kids are quite shocked when the bus pulls away and they see their new tall and stately home. All throughout the show, when you are seeing interior shots, it's like half of the house is just two-story openness. The Broadbent's home was similar. So, opening the front door is awe-inspiring for each. They pour over the large Kenmore-clad kitchen and small, elegantly appointed dining area, then the huge laundry room. The colors are bright and sunny on the walls. The darkly finished wood rims on the window interiors is not a stark contrast because there is a huge amount of light coming in. Some of the furniture and finishing elements are Moroccan.

Colleen's master bedroom was the work of Ty. I felt overpowered by the singular use of yellow in this room, yet she finds it a beautiful, calming retreat. There's intricate Moroccan-style panel work routed out of the bed's wooden head and footboards, plus end tables and cabinets. The master bath is completely neutral and oversized. She notes the whirlpool bath is going to be a big stress-reliever.

The walls of Taryn's room are covered with sweet green knolls of flowered murals, and a light box with a multitude of flower-encrusted lampshades is hung center. Colleen calls Taryn's new bedroom design a "slice of sunshine!" There's an adjoining pink bathroom also orchestrated by our pink-obsessed Paige.

The soundproofed punk rock bedroom of Logan is spiky, explosive and high volume (those are design terms, as far as I'm concerned.) It's a lot of red and black in fabric accents and on the walls. The bed and surrounding décor is mostly working and some decorative musical instruments and devices. To mom's relief, the six to ten amplifiers comprising the headboard and baseboards of the platform bed are not working equipment. A full drum set and a couple electric guitars do work however. One corner in the room carries the bulk of the smashed equipment in a 3-D collage, which makes this the "exploding guitar room."

The homebuilder assured that one more room was kept available in the Nick house for Morgan. Michael decorated it in hues of lavender and purple. Walls, fabrics, drapes - all. It was sweet yet still. I think Michael did continue a thread of hope for her return.

A concrete slab from the drive at the original home has been salvaged and reconstructed into an outdoor bench. It also marks one of the family's efforts to keep Morgan as part of the family - her name is given a space next to their names and handprints. Now Taryn's clubhouse is wired with electricity and her secret entrance addition has a TV and greater capacity. Additionally, there's an outdoor pond and Logan's "super awesome" skate park in the backyard. Here, of course, Ty makes pratfalls look easy, if not comfortable, flinging himself off a skateboard.

A copper porch lantern is a beautiful enhancement to the large front porch entryway. And it is the image we are left with at the show's close. Leaving the porch light on is a symbolic gesture families waiting for the return of missing children share. This porch light glows the message, "love always hopes."

The show had about a six-week hiatus between the production dates of the Piestewa and Nick Home Makeovers. Michael Moloney's hairstyle changed a bit - a lot less shaggy, which makes it shockingly more "bed head" in front. Is it cheap for me to note that here? Probably. Where else do you expect me to rant? The website has new images (not up-to-date images) of the designers in a redesigned header graphic.

Anyway, on ABC's site, the Nick family has been listed as a summer installment of Season 2. I have no understanding how ABC makes its programming decisions, so there's no clear answer why the Nick family special was aired 5 weeks in advance of the announced premiere of EM:HE's third season. The back-to-school sale advertising potential, sure, Sears wants to capitalize on that. Is there a more profound reason? Before watching, I considered the reason was in how hard-hitting this one would be. My young daughter expected the design miracle workers to bring Morgan Nick back to her family within the span of the episode. Not all stories have the fast food happy ending you wish. So, like Colleen Nick advised, if we can teach parents, whole communities, to put our attention on our children, then they can be home and safe in every town.