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CURTIS OSTRANDER	DUAINE HARDING
ELEANOR TODD	ELMER "BUD" HAHN
GERVASE KILEY	MARIAN SUTTON
ORLO KIRKUM	SLAVA KOKOTOVICH
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FLYIN' IN STYLE. Above left, "Chopper" Mike Lee prepares for take-off at Romeo Airport with House Hunters crew members, from left, producer Kathleen, soundman Ed of Imlay City, and cameraman Bruce. For a portion of the show Lee and, below, Romeo natives Don and Kaci Sicheneder were featured, Lee used his piloting skills to get aerial views of property.

(Photos courtesy of Mike Lee)

Former Romeo couple and realtor
on 'House Hunters' show

by CHRIS GRAY
Observer Staff Writer

      Who knew buying a house would get you on TV?
       Former Romeo residents were chosen to be featured on the show "House Hunters," which airs on HGTV. The show followed their journey of buying a new home and aired Sept. 13.

Don and Kaci Sicheneder grew up in Romeo and met while attending Eastern Michigan University. On a desire to move out west the couple moved to California in 2002, but then eventually came back to the Midwest in 2006. This, of course, meant they needed to find a home.
       "We were living at her parent's home at the time, and we love our parents, but we were ready to go back and buy a home," Don said.
       He said while they began their search, they saw a posting for a show called "House Hunters." The program follows an individual, couple, or family as they try to decide on what home to purchase with the help of a realtor. It focuses on the process and the emotional side of picking a home.
       Being long-time fans of the show, the Sicheneders sent in a video application and to their surprise, were accepted.
       "They informed us about it a week before they were going to start shooting," Don said. "I've always been intrigued by movie, TV and film, so I was like `heck, yeah, I'll be on TV.'"
       Of course, they would need the help of a realtor, so they turned to long-time friend and realtor Michael "Chopper Mike" Lee of Romeo. Don said he knew him since he moved to Romeo in the seventh grade. Little did Lee realize that he was being drafted into the show.
       "They are supposed to have my permission in order to have me help out, but I guess they went ahead and said I would," he said with a laugh. "They did get my permission of course, but I think they went ahead because they knew I would do it."
       Once filming began, Don said they had a great time with both the crew and with each other, saying the crew was incredibly nice and made them feel comfortable.
       "We know just about everything with the good, bad, and ugly about each other," Don said. "We were cracking jokes had a good time while filming, but later on we got nervous about the show being aired."
       A usual episode has the buyers looking at three homes and typically deciding upon one of them at the end. Don said in reality, they looked at about 50 homes. In this case, the couple decided upon a home in Ann Arbor.
       "We kept Mike busy for three weeks," he said. "It was 48 hours of shooting for a 22 minute show."
       One unique twist that the Romeo natives added to the show was having Lee use his helicopter skills. He said he originally started as a pilot who would go out and survey property with big oil tycoons. When he moved to Michigan from Texas and settled down with his wife, he changed to the real estate business but still utilizes his talents by flying over property.
       "They filmed a bit of the helicopter portion at Romeo Airport," Lee said before the show was aired. "I don't know whether it'll make the final cut, but they seemed pretty excited about it."
       As for seeing themselves on TV, the Sicheneders said they thought the network did a good job editing and letting them do what they wanted.
       "You never like 100 percent of it, but I thought it was really funny, we enjoyed it," Don said. "A lot of times the people are pretty boring and a lot of it is staged, but we kind of made a lot of it up ourselves, added in our own lines."
       He made sure to thank Lee for his hard work, and would recommend him to anyone looking for a home.
       "He helped in the house-decision process and was very responsive," he said "He helped us find the best possible house for our needs."