Clara Ward waves to the crowd before seeing her new home at 650 E. 21st St. in Erie on July 2. Ty Pennington, host of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", laughs with Bennie Ward, left. GREG WOHLFORD/Erie Times-News

The bus has come and gone, and Clara is home — her new home, finally.

By now, I imagine she’s investigating every room while the crew from “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” continues to film for a show that will be aired sometime this fall.

More than 2,000 spectators were on hand for the “Move that bus!” moment, including Ward’s grandson, Antonio Ward. Asked what he wanted to say to the crowd of supporters and to the 1,000 volunteers who helped build the house, he said:

“It’s simple. ‘Thank you,’” Antonio Ward said. “Seeing this is going to give her so much strength. It’s going to revitalize her.”

A news conference with the family and the builder, Maleno Real Estate Development, is scheduled for sometime tomorrow.

– Erica Erwin

It’s just past 2 p.m., and still no sighting of Clara Ward — in fact, workers are still cleaning, inside and outside.

The crowd — at least 2,000 strong! — is getting restless. The cheerleaders from Gannon University and the kids from Millcreek Cheer-n-Dance have taken a momentary break from trying to rally the troops.

– Erica Erwin

A bus is pulled in front of Clara Ward's new home at 650 E. 21st St. in Erie on July 2, as part of the popular show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition". GREG WOHLFORD/Erie Times-News

It’s going to be a special day for the five people who won an auction and the chance to ride the “Extreme Makeover” coach during today’s big reveal.

The winners, including 13-year-old Lauren Hammerman, just boarded the bus moments ago as the show’s  film crew started shooting cheering spectators. Right now, the crowd is warming up for the real moment later, yelling “Move that bus!”

Lauren’s mom, Lisa Buffalari, bid $725 to win her daughter’s seat. Proceeds benefit the Maleno Family-to-Family Fund, a fund started by the Maleno family as part of the “Extreme Makeover” project to help needy families and neighborhoods.

“I was so excited,” Lauren said of her mom’s surprise. “I love the show. When they help people, I love it how they’re so caring and so generous to everyone.”

She’ll have a front-row seat for the big reveal, scheduled for between 1 and 2 p.m. this afternoon.

– Erica Erwin

More than 250 have already lined up in the spectator area for “Move that bus!” day, but Tory Reichert might just be the biggest fan here.

Reichert, 20, convinced her mom, Debbie, to cut short their vacation in Lansing, Mich., to make it back to Erie in time to see Ty Pennington and the big reveal. Debbie relented, and she and Tory started driving at 6 p.m. Wednesday. They arrived back in Erie at midnight, and went straight to the “Extreme Makeover” site to scope out a good viewing spot before heading home to grab warmer clothes and supplies for a sign. They were back at the site by 1:30 or 2 a.m. this morning — and have been here since, front and center.

Tory wanted to volunteer to work on the project, but by the time she signed up, the show already had more than enough helpers. Had she been picked, she said, she would have asked Mom to skip the vacation. Instead, she made a sign that said, in part, ‘I (heart) Ty Pennington”  while sitting in the spectator area around 3 a.m. this morning.

“I said I can’t miss it,” Tory said of today’s unveiling. “I have to be here at least one day.”

– Erica Erwin

Ty Pennington, host of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", yells for the furniture truck to be brought in during taping of the popular show in Erie on July 1. GREG WOHLFORD/Erie Times-News

The reveal is now scheduled to happen between 1 and 2 p.m. Thursday.

From Engel O’Neill Advertising, the company handling local media for the show:

Spectators wanting to take part in the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s” “Move that Bus!” event should arrive at the site between 9 and 10 a.m. Thursday.

Builder John Maleno and his family will be on hand to see the reaction of Clara Ward and her family when they first see their new home.

The ABC crew will be filming crowd, bus and limousine shots for the television show beginning at 10 a.m. Spectators are encouraged to bring with them positive signs and their own water and snacks. They are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes since there will be long periods of waiting. And should there be rain in the forecast, they should bring with them raincoats and umbrellas.

Free spectator parking is available at Bayfront and State streets near the Erie Maritime Museum. A shuttle will run to and from the site beginning at 8 a.m.

Spectators may take canned goods, children’s books and gently used toys with them on the shuttle as part of a suggested ‘Read & Feed Admission’ to the event. The blood drive will continue Thursday from 8 a.m. to noon for spectators, vendors and volunteers to donate blood. The Community Blood Bank will have its mobile unit stationed at the volunteer check-in area, located at East 21st and Wallace streets.

During Thursday’s festivities, a raffle will take place naming four lucky winners who will receive a private tour of Clara’s home with builder John Maleno and production coordinator Rachel Kielborn. Since the extreme build began, volunteers have been selling $10 raffle tickets for the exclusive tour that will take place Friday, July 3. All proceeds will go to the Maleno Family-to-Family Fund established by the Maleno family to fund future building and renovation projects in Erie.

Spectators who want to be on hand for tomorrow’s unveiling can arrive at the site, 650 E. 21st St., starting at 8 a.m., and are encouraged to be here as early as possible to snag a good viewing spot. ‘

The big reveal is tentatively scheduled to happen sometime between 1 and 3 p.m., so be prepared for long periods of standing outside in an uncovered area, and wear weather-appropriate clothing. Cameras, positive signs and umbrellas are allowed. Bring your own water and snacks, as there are no concession stands for spectators on site, and a strong voice to yell those three famous words.

– Erica Erwin

The keys to Erie’s first “extreme” home are now in Ty Pennington’s hands.

Maleno Real Estate Development, the local builder chosen for “Extreme Makeover: Erie Edition,” turned over the keys to Clara Ward’s new house to Pennington and the rest of the crew around 3:45 p.m. They were still filming that scene at 4:15 p.m.

Between now and tomorrow’s unveiling — tentatively scheduled for between 1 and 3 p.m. — volunteers will  move in a houseful of furniture donated from Schultz Furniture Superstore, and the show’s designers will do their thing, turning the house into a home.

In the meantime, intermittent rain hasn’t dampened the spirits of the spectators watching the action from a yard across the street. By 2:45 p.m., a crowd of about 350 had gathered.

It was Luane Martin’s first time at the site.

“We wanted to see history made in Erie,” Martin said. “It’s a great experience.”

Andrew Delgado, a soon-to-be eighth grader at Erie’s JoAnna Connell Elementary School, did her one better.

“It’s a once in a lifetime experience,” he said.

– Erica Erwin

As part of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" hundreds of volunteers are building a new home for Clara Ward at 650 E. 21st St. GREG WOHLFORD/

The house  — or at least the outside of it — looks like something from a Better Homes & Gardens spread.

The frame, roof and siding are up. The windows are in. And a blue-and-white flag with the name of Clara Ward’s mission — the Youth Development & Family Center — is flying from a pole in the front yard. The yard itself is manicured and landscaped, with dark black mulch and  bright green and burgundy shrubs and trees that offset the red siding and the white porch pillars. The yards of the neighbors to the right and left have been landscaped, too.

It’s just after 10 a.m., and workers are sweeping and vacuuming inside and out, trying to put the finishing touches on the home before 3 p.m., when Maleno Real Estate Development is scheduled to hand over the keys to the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” crew. Erie-based Robertson Kitchens is already here, unloading what looks like appliances for one of the two kitchens that will be in the home.

“It’s a mad house in there,” one volunteer said to someone standing in the group of spectators that has taken daily residence in the yard across the street.

Had he spoke a minute later, he would have been drowned out by a chorus of cheers: Team leader and show star Ty Pennington just walked by in a white hard hat.

– Erica Erwin

Members of the “Extreme Makeover” crew will race against the clock to see who can east the most Quaker Steak & Lube wings, starting at 10 p.m. at the Peach Street restaurant.

Guys who lose get a makeover of their own: they’ll have to shave half of their beards, on the spot.

Get a photo? Please share it here!

– Erica Erwin

Work pushed on at Erie’s “Extreme Makeover” site at 650 E. 21st St. this morning despite heavy rains.

Builder John Maleno from Maleno Real Estate Development said crews were able to continue interior work after installing the roof Sunday night, and that they are on schedule for Thursday’s big reveal.

Maleno said workers poured quick-drying concrete for the driveway last night. He was hopeful that concrete for the sidewalks could be poured during a break in the weather today. Around 11 a.m., workers were busy shoveling water out of the sidewalk areas and laying down gravel.

The rain wasn’t enough to keep the spectators away — by 11 a.m., between 35 and 40 had gathered behind metal barricades across the street from the home to watch the action.

— Chase Klingensmith