Mayo company pitches in for home makeover

By Stephenie Livingston, Reporter

Last week Mayo Truss donated the trusses for an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build in Gainesville. Company employees, as well as other local businesses, donated their labor and materials.

College sweethearts Tobin and Jill Wagstaff, of Gainesville, started their own non-profit music school to provide an arts education that would be available for everyone, including those with financial limitations or disabilities. After dedicating all their time and resources to the school, little was left for the major, and necessary, repairs needed to their home. Last week, Extreme Makeover team leader Ty Pennington and the design team, along with others in the Gainesville community rebuilt a home that was "literally crumbling around them," according to an Extreme Makeover press release.

The Wagstaffs started Studio Percussion, Inc. in 2002 as a non-profit music school and arts center. Specializing in the use of drums and percussion, The Wagstaffs' use music to encourage and inspire students towards community involvement and leadership development.

Moreover, the couple was operating the organization out of their home, in the same space where two of their young children, Dallas, 5, and Larissa Jolene, 4, sleep. According to a press release, the studio currently serves around 200 people, half of which receive either financial aid or a full scholarship.

When Fred and Wayne Hamlin, owners of Mayo Truss, heard that Extreme Makeover planned to help a family so devoted to their community, they instantly decided to get involved. The lumber was donated by 84 Lumber of Gainesville. Mitech donated the plates to build the trusses, and Chad Little, a resident of Mayo and employee of Mayo Truss, went to work designing the trusses especially for the home.

Their devotion to their family, their school, and their community left little time and resources to tend to their home, which was in dire need of repair. The floors and rooftops were rotting away and the electrical system throughout the house was faulty.

That was before the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team tore down the old home and built a completely new one in its place.

"Our business feels we have been blessed during a tough economic time. We saw this project as an opportunity to give back," said Wayne Hamlin. "The entire Mayo Truss team feels grateful to have had the opportunity to help in building a safe and functional home that will allow the Wagstaffs to continue to support the arts."

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