Extreme makeover for Big Sandy?

Big Sandy’s application to ABC’s "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" has galvanized the town’s effort to remake two blocks of downtown in a Wild West theme – an effort it kicks off Saturday with a benefit auction.

Marlys Bitz, president of the Big Sandy Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, said she applied three months ago to have the town made over by the popular television show.
At that time she was worried about the town’s survival. Three businesses were for sale.

"I was worried about the domino effect," she said.

By Ellen Thompson/Havre Daily News/[email protected]

Full Story: http://www.havredailynews.com/articles/2004/12/03/local_headlines/extrememakeover.txt

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Big Sandy shoots for ‘Extreme Makeover’

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041228/NEWS01/412280309/1002

When the folks of Big Sandydecided they needed a pick-me-up they went to the experts at Extreme Makeover.

No, we’re not talking farmer face lifts.

The prairie hamlet of 700 has applied to "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in hopes of rejuvenating Main Street.

"We’re just completely jacked up about it," said Marlys Bitz, a Chamber of Commerce board member who sent the town’s application to the reality TV show this fall and is awaiting a reply.

The community wants to revamp storefronts in its two-block downtown area in a tourist-friendly Old West theme.

The Main Street makeover would energize a town dogged by an ailing farm economy, dwindling population and drought, said community leaders who wrote letters to the show’s producers.

"We currently have three businesses for sale and this makeover would give our town a new breath of life," wrote Chamber of Commerce president Dave Louvar.

Big Sandy is more than a town, wrote Craig Erickson, with the Havre-based Bear Paw Development Corporation, an economic development group.

Big Sandy is a well-deserving family, like those usually featured on the show, Erickson said.

"This may (be) hard to believe for people who live in a vast metropolis like Los Angeles, but Big Sandy is that type of family," Erickson wrote. "Times have been tough in rural America, but the people of Big Sandy have not given up on their small town."

The ABC show usually remodels family homes, but once gave a face lift to a community flooded in a hailstorm.

Though the application is a bit of a long shot, it’s worth the effort, said Bitz, who pasted photos of locals to the box of letters she sent to the show.

Communities have to be proactive she said.

"If you don’t start getting in gear, you could lose your community before you even know what happened," she said.

To learn more about "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" visit http://abc.go.com/prime time/xtremehome/. — K.O.