A Brush with Hollywood

Who would have thought that of all places, "celebrity" would arrive in Pekin, Illinois?

Well, celebrity they are... EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION is filming about 10 blocks away from our house! We heard rumors of it about 3 weeks ago, but didn't hear anything again until yesterday, when Ty and the gang hollered "Good morning Grys family!" We weren't aware that yesterday was the day until after the fact when someone from church stopped by and showed us pictures of the luxury bus the cast rides into town in. This morning, then, they demolished their existing home, and as I was coming home around 4:30, the radio said that Ty was still around. So I ran into church, grabbed Brad, and the three of us went down to check things out. They have a small spectator area set up with bleachers and a fence, and there were maybe 100 people milling about in that area. There wasn't much going on; they were finishing digging out the debris from the hole created from the demolition of the old house, and we saw a few security guards and some people in their official Extreme Makeover volunteer t-shirts. No Ty, though, so I'm pretty bummed about that, BUT we did rub elbows with one of the designers, Paul DiMeo. He walked right by us as we were walking into the gated area. Didn't get my camera out quick enough to be one of those in-your-face-"can-I-take-your-picture" fans, but trust me, it was him. Ty apparently had to jet set off to Pennsylvania, where he'll be for the next couple days to film another episode, before he returns to Pekin to finish the house and welcome back the family.

I don't think we've heard the whole story surrounding the family that was chosen for the show, except that they are adoptive and foster parents who are raising an 8-year-old boy with brittle bone disease. They are building a 7-bedroom home that will accommodate all of his needs. (I think I heard they have a total of 6 kids, but there may be more, not sure.)

The picture below is the best shot we got as we were down on the construction site tonight. You can see a couple of the cranes as they excavate the ground, two security guards, and a few volunteers in their bright blue Extreme Makeover shirts. (Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Drew and I hope to go down again tomorrow morning sometime...Not sure much will be going on, but we'll update on any celebrity sitings!