Stay connected to tvilletimes.com for more Extreme Makeover coverage DCCC offers help, gifts to Extreme Makeover family. See Story, Page A10
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Coming Saturday
THOMASVILLE
Find results from the Bulldogs second round playoff game against Polk County.
Times
119th Year - No. 22 50 Cents
www.tvilletimes.com
Creaseys’ return to find dream home Reveal brings excitement for family, spectators
Family thanks community for caring efforts
BY KARISSA MINN Staff Writer
BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer
LEXINGTON — Thousands of people welcomed the Creasey family home Tuesday with wild cheers and applause as they rode up in a limousine. William, 40, Tricia, 37, Brittany, 12, and 5-year-old twins Makenzie and Makayla were arriving from a week-long vacation to Walt Disney World in Florida, during which the local community built their dream home as part of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Chants of “Creasey! Creasey!” gave way to “Move that bus!” — a call to get rid of the only obstacle standing between the Creasey family and their new home. When the bus finally rolled away, Tricia and William doubled over in disbelief and amazement. The couple also looked overwhelmed by the support from volunteers and community members, some of whom held signs that said, “We love you, Mrs. Creasey!” and “We missed you!” They gave emotional greetings and hugs to several people in attendance. Christy Sarver, Crystal Sexton and Christy Slate all taught seventh grade on a team with Tricia two years ago at E. Lawson Brown Middle School. Sexton continues to work with her, and says that Tricia teaches as much as she can while battling stage four colorectal cancer. “It’s very difficult, because she’s tired when she comes back to school,” Sexton said. “She
wants to be there, because she feels like her job is important, and she wants to do the best she can for her students.” Sarver said she has known Tricia for more than 10 years, and she is glad that the Creasey family will get to relax a bit. “It’s so nice to know that the family has something now that they don’t have to worry about,” Sarver said. “William doesn’t have to worry about the house anymore, and Tricia can get some rest.” The Creaseys’ old 1,180square-foot home had numer-
LEXINGTON — Tricia Creasey and her family stood out in front of their new dream home Wednesday afternoon and thanked a community for making the impossible a reality. “This has been a whirlwind,” Tricia Creasey said. “This week has been so incredible knowing how the community cares and seeing all the people who have given their time and put in so much effort to giving our family our dream — and that’s a safe home and a healthy home, a place where I can recover, relax and hopefully get better.” Despite seeing their new home on Tuesday when Extreme Makeover: Home Edition unveiled the house to the Creasey’s, Wednesday marked the first time the family actually got to spend the night. Tricia Creasey, who is battling Stage 4 colon/rectal cancer, said a few of her favorite things about the house so far is the fireplace and a dining room table constructed from remnants of her old porch. Perhaps the most important feature to the new four bedroom, two and a half bath home for Tricia is her bedroom. In her old house, the master bedroom rested in a high traffic area in front
See REVEAL, Page A8
See EFFORTS, Page A8
TIMES PHOTOS/KARISSA MINN
Above, The Creasey family double over with amazement as the bus rolls away and exposes their new dream home Tuesday afternoon as supporters cheer. Below, is the Creasey family’s new dream home.
City council presents annual audit report
Software creates virtual classroom BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer
Liberty Drive Elementary students got a unique art lesson from a famous author on Monday and never had to leave the confines of their library. Thanks to a new software application called Skype, students at LDE were able to link up with author and artist Mike Artell from his home in Louisiana via the Internet, allowing the school to bring an expert to the children while saving money in the long run. “Skype is something we’re going to be doing here this year,” Jennifer Newby, LDE’s instructional technology facilitator said. “It will allow us to collaborate and
‘We wanted to get the children connected outside of these four walls.’ — Jennifer Newby LDE Technology Facilitator
communicate with other schools across the state and across the country. We wanted to get the children connected outside these four walls. We got in touch with [Artell] through Skype and he was real excited about doing it.” Four different classes got to sit in on 45-minute sessions with Ar-
Community Sponsor
tell, asking the author questions on how he got into drawing cartoons and writing children books. Artell read a portion of his book “Petite Rogue” A Cajun Red Riding Hood” and proceeded to give students a quick tutorial on how to become a better artist. Through a simple click of the mouse, Artell could actually draw with the students, allowing them to see his creation come to life step by step. “The trick to cartooning is to keep it simple,” Artell said to Craig Stesnewski’s fifth grade class. “You don’t want to over draw. You can do all kinds of things with cartooning. There really is no limits as to what you can do.”
See SOFTWARE, Page A6
BY KARISSA MINN Staff Writer Thomasville City Council was told it had a clean bill of financial health during the presentation of its annual audit report Monday. “We had an unqualified statement by Martin Starnes and Associates,” said City Manager Kelly Craver. “Our finances are still doing particularly well, and we are improving even though we’re in poor economic times.” At its Monday meeting, council also approved a
Today’s Weather
Rain Likely 61/49
Full Forecast Page 2
What’s Inside
Weather Focus Opinion Obituaries Business Sports Classifieds
Thomasville, North Carolina • Your Town. Your Times.
resolution supporting refinancing bonds from 1997. Craver said that those bonds were sold Tuesday, and they will net the city savings of $418,000 in interest payments over next seven years. Council members also considered changes to three of its merchants ordinances, tabling an amendment to the itinerant merchants ordinance requiring a background check for further review. They approved
See AUDIT, Page A6
A2 A3 A5 A6 A7 B1 B8