It has been nearly two months since Hollywood left Voluntown, and the impact on the small town and surrounding community - and on one special family - is still being felt.

For the builders who participated in the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” project to help the Girard family of Voluntown, getting back to normal is all relative.

[naviga:font size="2"]THE VIEWING[naviga:li][/naviga:font]

[naviga:li]WHAT: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” episode involving the Girard family of Voluntown[/naviga:li][naviga:li]WHEN: Sunday night at 8[/naviga:li][naviga:li]WHERE: ABC affiliate channel[/naviga:li][naviga:li]WHY: The one-hour show will chronicle the construction of the 3,368-square-foot, 13-room Victorian-castle style house by volunteers from throughout the region and the series of tragic events that the Girard family endured.[/naviga:li]

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Since Project 615 was completed - at least by television standards - several people have asked lead contractor Bruce “Bruno” Hayn whether his life, and his business, has gotten back to normal.

”Well, it depends on what 'normal' is,” Hayn said Friday evening.

”Before the build, customers were calling asking when we could get things done … then the build happened. I guess while we were building the economy changed dramatically. Customers aren't calling as much now,” Hayn said.

Not that he's had much free time, though.

For weeks following the end of the shooting, volunteer crews that worked on the project have been back at the house touching up areas that needed work.

Building officials gave Hayn his official certificate of occupancy for the house on Dec. 23 - 12 days after filming had stopped.

Hayn said the building officials gave him a punch list of 41 items to complete on the new $563,200, two-story house before giving him the certificate. Hayn gave his crew a list of 400 items that he said needed finishing touches, from fixing paint jobs that were done in little time at the end to tweaking cabinets, faucets and toilets.

All the interior work is now complete, Hayn said. In the spring, or when it gets a bit warmer, the exterior work will begin, such as leveling and seeding the lawn and installing drain pipes (the crew didn't want them installed for the show because they might have taken away from the view of the façade). One of the ropes on the faux drawbridge needs to be re-hung - the Girard children like to swing on the ropes, and one dislodged.

Looking back, Hayn said all the work - including the unexpected glitches when some contractors pulled out at the last minute - was worth it.

On Sunday night in the MGM Grand Theater at MGM Grand at Foxwoods, the volunteers, builders and community will be celebrated with a viewing party. The event is open to the public.

The festivities begin at 6:15 with a performance by the Ledyard High School jazz band. Everyone is invited to mingle and reminisce until 7 p.m., when a locally produced “behind-the-scenes” video will be shown.

Hayn said the video is important because it is a tribute to the hard work and perseverance exhibited by the volunteers.

Of the hundreds of hours filmed by ABC, only 42 minutes of that film will air during the 8 p.m. broadcast of the show. Hayn said he realizes much of that footage will center on the Girard family.

There won't be much in there about the unpredictable weather, the fact that at one point the builders were 20 hours behind and how they worked until the bus was literally pulling away from the front of the house to show the family their new house.

Hayn said he doesn't want people to be disenchanted and think their efforts were overlooked.

”The bottom line is we started on time and we ended on time,” Hayn said. “And that we will continue to work with Carol and her family to make sure they are successful.”

A trust fund for the family has finally been established, and a blood drive in their name will be held Sunday morning to help the American Red Cross blood bank and to remind people how precious life is.

The drive, which will run from 10 a.m. until 3:45 p.m. on Sunday in the Voluntown Elementary School gymnasium, is similar to one held over four days during the build. That drive, which also included a bone-marrow drive, collected record donations.

Carol Girard and some of the local builders are expected to visit the blood-and-marrow drive throughout the day.

M.BARD@THEDAY.COM

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