Contestants were selected Tuesday for this year’s Hands on a House competition which will be taking place this weekend as a part of the 14th annual Brownwood Reunion Celebration.
This year, 14 contestants will compete for a custom-built “shotgun shack” located at the corner of Carnegie and Adams Street. This year’s contestants include Richard Delgado, Brian Root, Jimmy Newton, Ricky Dixon, Angela Womack, Roy “Redd” Lee, Heather Green, Judy Helton, Lee Ischy, Bryan Gleason, Crystal Newingham, Rontrell Young, Casey Carroll, and Jeff Hughes.
Out of these, four are returning contestants from previous years, two of which have been previous finalists. Lee Ischy was the 2nd place winner in 2012 and Redd Lee came in 5th in 2013. Ricky Dixon is trying again and he competed in both 2012 and 2013, and Crystal Newingham tried in 2013 and is competing again.
The three day competition will be held September 19-21 and the last person with their hand in contact with the house is declared the winner and will take home the custom-built cabin.Key Club students from Early High School and Brownwood High School are both pitching in to help with the food drive that in being held in conjunction with Hands on a House. They will be manning the food drive booth where people can donate cans of food in the name of their favorite contestant. Food donations will be collected for Good Samaritan Ministries and St. John’s Food Pantry. Contestants can win additional rest-breaks during the competition by collecting the most food by 2 or 3 selected times during the event.
There is also a food drive already underway at area local elementary and junior high schools. Those food items collected will “kick-off” the Hands on a House food drive, and there will be a pizza party awarded to each school for the winning class that collects the most cans of food for the competition.
This year’s prize, the “shotgun shack,” was designed and built by Kirby Cabler General Contractors using a railroad container for the main structure and adding the cabin design and removable porch for easier transportation.
This will be the 11th year for Hands on a House, a reunion event originally sponsored solely by Coldwell Banker – Mark Campbell and Associates. Originally Coldwell Banker built large “playhouses,” as the prize, but in the following years, they have teamed-up with additional sponsors in order to build a larger “cabin” – with various themes through the years. This year’s key sponsors include Coldwell Banker, Texas Bank Mortgage, Landmark Life Insurance, Ingram Concrete, and Kirby Cabler.
This year’s Brownwood Reunion Celebration will be held September 19, 20 and 21. The community-wide festival features a variety of contests, events, attractions, music, and food in addition to the main concerts.
