'Today' show features Havreites' success

NBC News' "Today" show visited Havre Thursday to showcase the seemingly ordinary work of a local couple.

Erica Farmer and Marc Whitacre's work on the Havre Historic Post Office was featured in a Missoulian article that went in-depth about the married couple's story. From there, it was picked up by the Bozeman Chronicle and eventually caught the eye of someone at the "Today" show.

Someone who lives in Havre called the "Today" show and asked if they had seen the article.

"This story fit perfectly in the kind of thing I do," said Bob Dotson, a national correspondent for the show.

"'American Story with Bob Dotson' on the 'Today' show is a segment that looks for people who are seemingly ordinary but they have solved something. They've completed a task, they've done something you wouldn't expect and they didn't do it in a traditional way."

Dotson has been with NBC News for 40 years and has had this segment on the "Today" show for 25.

Farmer and Whitacre bought Havre's old post office when it was in disrepair and was on its way, if not already, to becoming a blight on the city. In the past couple years, they have worked on the building, keeping true to historic registry codes, and turned it around. The building now sports an impressive facelift and houses offices, a convention center and their very own living quarters.

Whitacre is an ophthalmologist and Farmer is an optometrist. On top of his work, Whitacre is now certified to work on the antique boiler that sits in the basement of the building. Both have worked hard with others to bring the building back to life and have experienced humble success.

Dotson said this type of story is right up his alley.

"There's a lot of buildings, I guarantee you, in 40 million miles in this country and so my measure is, what am I looking at here that I haven't seen in a thousand other places?" Dotson said. "Well, I've seen this building in a thousand others places when it's finished. I haven't met this particular family and how they got it done and why they decided to do it and what were the challenges."

Whitacre said he initially thought a phone call from the "Today" show was a prank. When someone called him to tell him they wanted to feature their historic home and story, he didn't believe it. But, he checked on it and found it was legitimate.

"It's been exciting having him here," Farmer said.

She said they were filming all day Thursday, in various locations and scenes around the building. "It's a little bit of a curiosity. I mean, we found our work interesting, and we were proud of the work we've done. But, I'm a little surprised the this has nationwide interest."

Whitacre agreed, stating it doesn't seem plausible that other people would find it so interesting. To them, it's just their normal lives.

There is no word on when the show will air on the "Today" show, but the date will be announced in the Havre Daily News once it is released.