“Overwhelming gratitude,” that is the way that Vickie Biichle feels after winning the 2019 KISS FM Extreme Kitchen Makeover. When she sent her one and only entry into the contest, she never really expected to win. “I never thought I would win with all those thousands of other entries,” Vickie told Webb Weekly. “My husband, Howard Biichle Jr. and I were so surprised and so happy winning this.”

Vickie strongly believes that some “good karma” came into play for them to have won a contest of this magnitude.

“A couple of years ago my father, Paul Harris, a retired pressman at the Grit, was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy,” Vickie said. “His disability prevented him from living by himself anymore and he needed constant care, so my husband and moved from our fairly modern house in Loyalsock Township to my dad’s house on Sherman Street. It was like stepping back into the 1950s or 1960s and it lacked a lot of the conveniences that we had in our Loyalsock home.”

She said that they made the move fairly cheerfully but it was still a tough adjustment that required a lot of sacrifice. Her father died last year.

“I think that the sacrifices that we made were well worth it and I would not trade for anything the wonderful memories I was able to share with my dad during his last years,” Vickie said. “I thought if we were lucky enough to win the contest we could update the house in a big way.”

Well, the Biichles are going to be able to do that update in that big way and Vickie wistfully believes that the “heavenly hand” of her late father may have played a role in their good fortune. “I firmly believe in doing good for others and that the kindness you show to others comes back to you in many good ways,” Vickie declared.

According to Gary Chrisman, host of the “Chrisman Morning Show” on WKSB-KISS FM, this is the eleventh time that KISS-FM has had the Extreme Kitchen Makeover contest. He said it worked this way, there were thousands of people listening hourly for the key word and then entered on line to win the grand prize. It eventually boiled down to five finalists. A secret drawing was held among the five finalists off-air and the Biichles found out they were the lucky winners on the morning of November 8, when a caravan of contractors and Chrisman and people from KISS FM pulled up to their house and delighted the surprised Biichles. The “big reveal” of the finished project came on November 18.

“You can’t do something on the scale of this without the help of some very generous sponsors,” Chrisman said. “They went the extra mile for the grand prize winners. They received not only a brand new kitchen, but an entirely new state of the art living area.”

He said for the second year in a row TurnKey Construction headed up by Maurice and Matt Bower, oversaw the work and. Mike Bower of TurnKey Electric, handled the electrical work.

Chrisman said “Once again Maurice Bower and his team from TurnKey went above and beyond and hit it out the park to make this Makeover even bigger and better.”

The kitchen design was provided by Paul Albert, Architect.

There are a lot of other sponsor-contractors that helped make the happiness of the winners of the Extreme Kitchen Makeover.

The cabinetry was provided by Lezzer Design Center of Lewisburg. Susquehanna Marble and Granite of Montoursville provided the granite countertops. Penn Hills Flooring of Muncy provided brand new flooring. Seidel Shiffer of Timeless Furniture and Interiors Williamsport, did the design work, picking out the colors and other related things and Timeless did the windows and window accessories and allied items. Jean Lowery from Timeless did the window treatments. Compu Gen provided an electronic home security system, Service 1st Federal Credit Union donated a $1,000 Visa gift card to the Biichles, and Bill’s Appliance on Lycoming Creek Road, supplied brand new stainless steel Maytag appliances for the new kitchen.

Williamsport Moving Company took care of moving and storing the Biichles’ furniture and other items while the 10-day makeover was taking place. The Biichles themselves were put up at the Genetti Hotel and Convention Center during this same period.

Other businesses and sponsors involved in the Extreme Makeover included: Modern Heritage of Mifflinburg, Art of Living Design, Mifflinburg, Bob’s Disposal, Howe’s Painting and Dry Wall, Elery Nau Hardware in Montoursville, provided the paint for the project, the plumbing was done by R&J Ertel, Ralph Colone of Woodrich, Dave Stom of New Life Floors, as well as Chef Hosch and Ann Catering will provide a fully catered meal for eight for the Biichles, and Pudgies Pizza of Lycoming Creek Road provided lunch for the workers each day while working on the Makeover.

For Chrisman a promotion like this is what makes working in radio fun and worthwhile for him.

“This is what it is all about, to see the joy on the faces of our various winners is so much fun and is so satisfying to me,” Chrisman said. “Times like this are why I enjoy working in radio. This is one of the greatest radio promotions ever done in this radio market. It is a big time production. We have great sponsors and great listeners. It does not get any better than this.”