ARMED FORCES BUILD ALL THEY CAN BUILD ON DIY.Byline: Barbara De Witt De Witt, uninc. town (1990 pop. 8,244), Onondaga co., central N.Y., a residential suburb of Syracuse. Staff Writer 'Warehouse Warriors,'' the lively weekly series on the Do It Yourself network, drafted the U.S. Armed Forces - Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines - and put them to work with hammers and saws. The military men and women will compete in DIY's four-hour Memorial Day special, which also will be offered to our overseas military on the Armed Forces Network. Instead of building war machines, these military units will compete as three-person teams to see who can build the best children's playground equipment for Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity, nonprofit ecumenical Christian organization that enables low-income people to own affordable, livable housing. Headquartered in Americus, Ga., it was founded in 1976 by businessman Millard Fuller and his wife. . ``Now, more than ever, everyone in the country appreciates what these men and women do for us. It's another way of saying thanks,'' says Bill Sykes People named Bill Sykes include:
Television stations air local versions with local hosts with segments produced by the network. . Sykes explains that his production company invited military bases and ports across the country to participate in the special and he's thrilled to have every branch represented. ``Not only do we try to match up the skills of each team so it plays out very well but I noticed there's a lot of service pride and they're motivated to beat the other service unit,'' Sykes adds. Representing the West Coast will be the Hollywood Seabees (Construction Battalion), direct from Port Hueneme Port Hueneme (wī'nē`mē), city (1990 pop. 20,319), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; founded 1870, inc. 1948. It has an artificial deep-sea harbor and is the site of a huge naval construction-battalion (Seabee) center. in Oxnard, and their assignment was to build a huge sandbox A restricted environment in which certain functions are prohibited. For example, deleting files and modifying system information such as Registry settings and other control panel functions may be prohibited. using only the materials found in a prestocked warehouse - without an instruction book. And they had to do it faster and with more imagination than the Navy challengers from Gulfport, Miss. Team leader John P. Theissen, 30, who is the lead petty officer in the technical training department of the 31st Seabee Readiness Group, called the mission difficult but fun. ``We felt like we were movie set builders rather than combat construction workers and worked as a great team, putting aside our military side and using our specialties,'' he says. Theissen, who helps ensure that all units in the Pacific Region are fully deployable for both combat and humanitarian missions, says he was the mathematician who sketched out the design of a desert island-themed sandbox with waves lapping against the sandy shore, while Petty Officer Michael Daniel Hernandez Daniel Demetrio Hernandez (born July 23, 1976 in Tyler, Texas) is an Mexican-American soccer defender. Hernandez played college soccer at Southern Methodist University from 1994 to 1997, where he was a First Team All-American as an attacking midfielder. , 24, was the patient builder who wielded a band saw with skill and Petty Officer Angela Moore, 23, was the artist who added the decorative touches of palm trees and a dock. For Hernandez, the TV project, which was filmed in Knoxville, Tenn., turned out to be a bigger construction challenge than he'd anticipated. ``I've built satellite domes for NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. , a pre-engineered building in Spain and helped train local natives in construction skills on a humanitarian mission on the island Palau (part of the Micronesia Islands), but I was nervous when I was told we were going to do a TV project ... and we had to constantly keep in mind that this had to be safe with no sharp objects or splinters splin·ter n. 1. A sharp, slender piece, as of wood, bone, glass, or metal, split or broken off from a main body. 2. A splinter group. v. splin·tered, splin·ter·ing, splin·ters v. for the little kids who would play in it,'' he says. Moore, a Navy construction mechanic second class, says she has worked on bulldozers, built shipping crates, targets for small arms small arms, firearms designed primarily to be carried and fired by one person and, generally, held in the hands, as distinguished from heavy arms, or artillery. Early Small Arms The first small arms came into general use at the end of the 14th cent. ranges and even poured concrete. But it was her creative plywood palm trees that won her the team's admiration, says Hernandez. ``We came up with the idea for the sandbox together and there wasn't any arguing,'' recalls Moore. ``The idea of the show (creating something for children) was great and we didn't care if we won or not, we just wanted both of our teams to do well and present the Seabees well to the public.'' The Gulfport Seabees also rose to the challenge and created a ship-shaped sandbox. At the end of each service branch competition, a panel of judges Panel of Judges is an indie pop band from Melbourne, Australia. Members
Future ``Warehouse Warriors'' episodes in the DIY DIY abbr. do-it-yourself DIY or d.i.y. Brit, Austral & NZ do-it-yourself DIY abbr DIY do it yourself a DIY shop/job. network's regular slot, 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, will feature Air Force bands, as well as football players, dentists and firefighters. Team applications are encouraged and can be made at DIYnet.com. WAREHOUSE WARRIORS What: ``DIY Salutes the Armed Forces,'' a four-hour special of the weekly series ``Warehouse Warriors.'' Where: Do It Yourself Network. When: 3 and 7 p.m. Monday. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Michael Daniel Hernandez, left, Angela Moore and John P. Theissen represented the 31st Seabee Readiness Group, based in Port Hueneme, in ``DIY Salutes the Armed Forces.'' |
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