DETROIT – Every Black Friday, Local 4's Rod Meloni takes a break from reporting to take on a new challenge as "Rod the Builder."
Last year he did a three-plate food challenge against a chef from the Great Lakes Culinary Center.
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In 2012, he built gingerbread houses versus the owners of Taste Love Cupcakes.
In 2011 he competed against Landscape Services, a professional lighting company, to put on Christmas lights.
In 2010 he battled a mechanic from Bob Maxey Ford to build a Cadillac Escalade Ride-on Toy and in 2009 he competed against a 15-year-old to build a Lego City.
This year, "Rod the Builder" will try his hand at gift wrapping up against Lisa Gleeson, owner of Lisa's Gift Wrappers in Royal Oak.
Meloni and Gleeson will face off Friday at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi. The contest begins on First at 4, Local 4's 4 p.m. newscast, and will continue until Local 4 News at 6 p.m. It will be livestreamed here on ClickOnDetroit.com.
"I'd say I was a gift wrapping expert, yes. I've been doing this for 20 years. Ten years out of my house and the last 10 years here in our store," said Gleeson. "We're a gift wrapping service and we look to help people out of their wrapping dilemmas."
Gleeson has wrapped everything from basketballs to entire cars.
At Lisa's Gift Wrappers, Gleeson and her staff will wrap gifts for holidays, birthdays, weddings, special occasions, anything.
Meloni said anything that needs finesse is not really his strength, and that includes gift wrapping.
"I'm the father of three daughters, OK. My gift wrap is sort of like when dad did the little girl's hair. It all looks like dad did it," said Meloni. "The best invention ever is the gift bag because I can at least stuff tissue paper in a bag and jam it in there and it looks like a good presentation."
Gleeson said presentation can make a difference with a gift.
"If you spend a lot of time and it's a very important gift, how it's wrapped and how you present it is really key and just adding that extra step to make it that much more special," said Gleeson.
She says it's the odd shapes that can give people difficulty.
"Most of the time it's things that don't come in a box and people are kind of stumped by that, so it could be a piece of luggage that didn't come in a box, all the way to, like, a kid's toy. And a kid's toy is just one of those things where they're never really completely in a full box because they want the box to be able to show the presentation of whatever the gift is," said Gleeson.
For more information on Lisa's Gift Wrappers and the services provided, click here.