Ordinary/Extraordinary

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A sportsman goes ocean boating at breakneck speed, and a special summer camp is designed to soothe the pain and offer new hope to young fire victims, on ORDINARY/EXTRAORINDARY, a reality-based series hosted by John Schneider and Leanza Cornett, Friday, Aug. 15 (8-00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Among the inspiring and astounding stories about ordinary people who achieve extraordinary accomplishments:

• Cornett learns to skim across the ocean at a terrifying 125 miles-per-hour aboard champion race driver Matt Alcone’s 45-foot power boat in Sarasota, Fla. Alcone is among the leaders of power boat racing, a sport requiring

astounding amounts of money, skill and nerves.

• Young people whose very flesh and souls have been seared by fire are given special treatment at a summer camp near Houston, Tex. At Camp Janus, all staff members are fire experts. They include firefighters, hospital burn unit workers, and adult burn survivors. Its guests have all

endured physical pain and, due to their scars, many have suffered the taunts of other youngsters. The beautiful outdoor scenery, invigorating camping activities, and the chance to play with other fire victims just like them gives the youths a chance to feel normal again and rebuild their confidence.

• Montana resident Bob Munden is the fastest gun in the

West—and the East, North and South. He holds 18 world records for his quick draw skills and has been called the fastest man with a gun who has ever lived. He gives Schneider and the studio audience a demonstration of just how fast he really is.

• Cornett travels to West Palm Beach, Fla., to learn the hot new sport of wakeboarding. A

combination of snowboarding and waterskiing, it has caused a tsunami of interest in the water sport world. Wakeboarder Darin Shapiro, 23, demonstrates his own amazing stunts, including an extraordinary double front.

• "Fear No Ice" is a three-man team of ice carvers who use chainsaws and other power tools to create amazing works of art out of blocks of ice.

• "T’is better to give than to receive," could be Thomas Cannon’s motto. The retired postal worker from Richmond, VA, averaged a salary of $20,000 a year while he was working. Yet he has given away close to $100,000 in the last 24 years, to people he has never met. His gifts are usually in the form of $1,000 checks he sends to people he has read about in his local newspaper.

• Photographer Pete Murmer, of Albrightsville, PA, has found a model who will literally work for peanuts. The retired truck driver has spent years taking pictures of common domestic scenes that star Charlie, a wild chipmunk. Murmer uses toys and handmade props to set the scene, then coaxes Charlie into posing by scattering seeds around the props. The photos will eventually be used in a children's book. Pete Murmer's e-mail is PMURMER@webtv.net.

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