Town Haul, a reality show on TLC, has caught the attention of viewers who are fans of reality design television.
The show is marked by the impact it is having on small-town America. Designers pick a small town whose businesses and buildings could use a facelift in their interior and exterior design and spend a few weeks capturing all of the small town renovations on television.
“Watching the show always makes me think of Hillsdale,” junior Kara John said. “There are so many buildings around Hillsdale that I think would fit in well with what the Town Haul designers try to do in the small towns they visit.”
The show has already done renovations in the small towns of Jeffersonville, N.Y., and Laurens, N.C. The design team participated in a variety of different projects bringing life back to the small towns.
Giving the small towns' main street buildings fresh coats of paint, constructing a park for the children of Laurens (which included a miniature golf course), are just a few of the changes the show has made to these small towns.
“Hillsdale would be such a good candidate for this show,” sophomore Lisa Collins said. “There are so many places in downtown that could use renovating. The Gathering is an example of what other downtown businesses should look like. If the downtown looked better maybe more businesses would come into town.”
Genevieve Gorder, the host of the design show, was first introduced to viewers on the design show Trading Spaces.
On the TLC Town Haul Web site, Gorder expressed why she thinks it's important for the show to make an impact on small town America.
“TLC has given me the chance to actually move into towns across the country and work with them to re-create their identity,” Gorder said.
“From the baseball team to the church basement to Main Street, this new series is going to demonstrate the power of what design can really do in a very big way.”
Sophomore Gray Zollner said she thought that if Hillsdale had a type of Town Haul renovation, then keeping the changes maintained would be an important part of a town makeover.
“It would be a great opportunity for Hillsdale if the older buildings of the community could be updated and preserved,” Zollner said.
For students here who may want a change of pace in small town Hillsdale, nominating our town is the next step.
Visit http://media.tlc.discovery.com/fansites/townhaul/townhaul.html.
“This could be a way to get Hillsdale on the reality TV map,” John said.