Extreme Makeover Home Edition: C-U/Philo Edition

I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but the ABC show, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, has been in Philo, IL since last Tuesday, a town about 9 miles south of Urbana. Since Tuesday, it has been the top story on every news broadcast. In fact, it has been only 1 of 3 stories on each newscast I've seen over the last 3 weeks. Along with the Makeover, Illini football bootcamp and move-in weekend are the two other stories I've seen. Although, they did do a profile on the guy who sells pictures during move-in weekend, so if you count him, that would be 4 stories but to me that coincides with move-in weekend and so I say it's three.

Anyway, I went church shopping again today and chose Stone Creek Church as my destination. It is a very diverse cultural church located on the south end of Urbana with 4 services, one of which is in French, a large parking lot and a new building. It seemed the most comparable to Park in the sense of size, which is one thing I've been struggling to find. It turns out that Stone Creek is the home church to the Montgomery family, the ones receiving the new Makeover home! 

So after the service, which was great and about financing/budgeting (perfect in lieu of the lesson being learned and witnessed by the Montgomery's calling to serve the community) I decided that since I was already on the south side of Urbana, I may as well drive the 9 miles further south and see what I could find in Philo. 

Now, to be clear, I really, really love watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition. It's a relief to have something positive on TV. Something that is really focused on doing good for others rather than some self-serving realty show or sitcom character. I think it's similar to the Christian artists I worked with who go out on tour preaching the gospel through music on the road for weeks at a time. It's not a glamourous job and it can be very tiring. The Makeover crew does the same thing and probably spend more hours working than the musicians do!

I parked my car in quaint, downtown Philo and crossed the railroad tracks with a photographer from the News Gazette who was out to the site for his 2nd time. All the local roads leading into the neighborhood were blocked off so we walked about 1/4 mile. My first visual onsite was the Red Cross RV. I think my feet decided before I did, but I signed up to join the bone marrow donor list and then went in and donated a pint of blood. I did really well until about the 18 minute mark, just as they were finished. I got a bit lightheaded and laid down for about 5 minutes before grabbing a bottle of water and a bag of Nutter Butters. 

There is a baseball field across from the house and what looked like a large shed. The new house is gorgeous from the front (the only angle I had). A big maroon-red fire truck was outside, probably in place to water the landscaping which was being done. It was a brown and light blue-green color with white trim. Blue shirted folks were all over the place working outside and I had glimpses of them inside. My guess is the Makeover crew was inside working on their designated rooms. I didn't see anyone famous, although I wouldn't have minded catching a glimpse of Ty Pennington (yes, I think he's sexy to answer the question you are thinking).

All in all, I had a great little adventure this morning. I may never live near or see the Makeover crew again and I'm glad I detoured. The farm country down here is beautiful, especially under a blue sky pocked with big, white, fluffy clouds. The big "reveal" is set for Tuesday between 1-3. I'll be in school meetings so there is no chance to yell "Move That Bus!" That's okay though. I'm sure it will be on the news again on Tuesday night along with more news on football!