Extreme Makeover: Home Edition blog, August 23, 2008
And the Build Goes On
It's amazing how much progress can get made in one day when you have hundreds of volunteers helping out. The pool is in and filled, the pavers are in and some of the plants are already in the ground. The gymnasium has paint on the walls and a giant fan hanging from the ceiling. Drywall is up in the house and armies of volunteers are working on the details.
The new white vinyl siding on the house looks great with the contrast of the gray on the training barn. There is something to be said about contrast, right? Now, it's time for the functional mechanical/electrical/plumbing systems inside, along with painting, wallpapering, and more. Sunday afternoon is fast-approaching, when Tim Mahoney will turn over the house keys to the celebrity design team, who will then have fewer than 24 hours to complete the interior designs and decoration. The push is on.
I guess it was inevitable. With the weekend upon us, and more and more visitors stopping by (in some cases camping out) to witness the build in its homestretch, looks like ABC decided that it's time to move some merchandise!
For $20 a pop, people have been lining up and dropping their cash down for EMHE logo t-shirts and other wearables. One of the most popular shirts has to be that with just one simple phrase scripted across the chest: "Move that bus." I expect to see the same folks back on Monday, proudly wearing the shirts and, on command from Ty, exclaiming those three words in unison.
Back to the community-minded reasons we're here, from the neighbors I've talked to - many of them with parked construction equipment, show production paraphernalia, or media tents gracing their lawns - to the blue shirts on the nightshift and those enduring their fair share of heat during the day, I hear absolutely no complaints. Nothing but good things about the family and this mission. It's really refreshing, to tell you the truth. Another outstanding story to emerge in the past 24 hours - Mahoney and the EMHE production team are donating all leftover construction materials and products to Habitat for Humanity of Ontario County. Good to see the giving go yet another step further.
That's all for now - gotta grab one of those t-shirts!