CYNTHIANA — It was the true story of how small-town people really do know their neighbors and really will do anything for them. And it played beautifully on TV on a Sunday night in spring of 2006. Three years later, it's a test of the meaning of generosity and, maybe, its limits, reports The Lexington Herald-Leader in its Sunday edition.
In 2006, ABC's Emmy-winning feel-good show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, challenged a Cincinnati homebuilder, a handful of Cynthiana contractors and every one of that town's subcontractors, churches, painters, drywallers, carpenters, restaurateurs and good-hearted others to donate tons of materials, labor and time to help build a house for the Hassall family of Sunrise.
The Hassalls were mighty deserving. Brian, a Cynthiana police officer, had been shot when he served as a Transylvania University officer and had continuing trouble with migraines, significantly aggravated by light. His wife, Michelle, was a much beloved high school music teacher who had a long battle with cancer as well as a blood disorder. They had two young adopted children, one with special needs. No wonder ABC was on board.
Unfortunately, the build for the Hassalls' home occurred during some of the most relentlessly nasty and thoroughly soaking 105 hours that spring could manage. Nevertheless, 300 volunteers a day came trudging up the slippery roads toward the house to mop or nail, or to serve hot food to the dozens of other volunteers who were slogging to get the house ready for when the Hassalls were set to return from Disney World.
But, sure enough, when the Hassalls' then 6-year-old daughter, Alex, appeared fresh from Florida in her Disney princess gown, the 3,298-square-foot house was more than ready. With all the accompanying fanfare that ABC and an excited town of 6,272 and the Harrison County High School choir could manage, the family was given the keys to their brand new home. The tears shed that day were real. The camaraderie of that day has lingered.
That is, until this month, when the Hassall family announced that they have put the house up for sale.
They have tried explaining themselves. Many of Michelle's medical problems, she says, are exacerbated by stress, which will be eased when their household debt is erased. They would also like to be closer to the center of downtown Cynthiana, to their families and a little closer to Lexington and to their medical providers.
They are not leaving Harrison County. They are downsizing. Their goal is to become debt-free, they say. It is a goal they began to embrace only six months after the house was built when they attended syndicated talk radio show host Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University workshop at their church.
Before the announcement, the Hassalls said, they prayed extensively about the decision and did not make it lightly. They then notified the production company, their church and the construction companies that handled the load back in 2006.
The asking price for the home on 5.17 acres on Kentucky Hwy. 1284 is $349,900. There are only five other homes in the county in that approximate price range, reports The Lexington Herald-Leader.
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