Interior and

exterior design shows involving friends, family and neighbors are all

the rage these days. Stop a stranger on the street and ask who their favorite

designer on "Trading Spaces" is, and you're likely to get a

30-minute dissertation on the benefits of Vern, Genevieve or Frank.

Now there is

a new show in the mix, "Rally Round the House," which airs weekdays

at noon and 3 p.m. on the Discovery Channel, and this week there will

be an episode featuring people from Peachtree City.

In an episode

originally called, "The Honeymoon That Got Away," Debbie McFarland,

her husband Kevin and their family got a few surprises in a very short

time.

Kevin and Debbie

were friends long before they were married. Several years ago, Kevin tragically

lost his wife and his friends and the community rallied around him. Their

friendship progressed and a few years later Kevin and Debbie were married.

They blended their families together and have a house full that Debbie

compares to the Brady Bunch. There is a 17-year-old, Miranda; three 13-year-olds

(two of whom are twins), Phillip, Hannah and Adam Toksoz; a 10-year-old,

Bailey Toksoz; and now a three-month-old, Sean, who was born four days

before their episode started taping.

On bed rest

for the latter part of her pregnancy, she and her friend and co-worker,

Leslie Sayers, wanted to do something special for Kevin. They heard about

this new show where family and friends get together to do something nice

for someone who they think deserves it. The women felt that they deserved

it as much as anybody and apparently, the producers of "Rally Round

the House" agreed.

"Rally

Round the House" works like this. The homeowners and their family

get locked in their house for 48 hours. The windows are boarded up so

they can't see outside and anytime they need to leave the house, say for

soccer practice, the family members are blindfolded and led away by staff

members of the show. Sayers was the ringleader who got close to 45 family

and friends together for the weekend-long project, which made their backyard

more tropical, thereby giving them the honeymoon they missed due to remodeling

Debbie's business, The Memory Cottage, and the pregnancy. The project

included the building of a grill and table, the installation of a patio,

$2,500 worth of plants and more.

The television

experience was very surprising for everyone involved. While the family

was stuck inside, the producers had them put together family photo albums

as well as do silly dances and make funny posters begging for freedom.

Meanwhile, the crew of family and friends was assisted by a "Rally

Round the House" crew, had to shoot retakes of some dialogue that

did not get captured by the cameras, and enjoyed fantastic catering. They

also had to deal with equipment running 17 hours of each day and the pouring

rain on the second day of filming, which led to some planting while in

ponchos.

Everyone involved

had a great time and both McFarland and Sayers wanted to make sure they

thanked everybody who helped out during the weekend. Debbie is excited

that Peachtree City will be featured on television, as she is a native,

who was a member of both the first classes at Booth Middle School and

McIntosh High School.

Their episode,

now called, "San Juan Honeymoon," will air Tuesday, Sept. 30,

at noon and 3 p.m. on the Discovery Channel.