The 4,000 residents of the Village of Ellenville, located in the Rondout Valley in Ulster County between the lower Catskill Mountain range and the Shawangunk Ridge, which the Nature Conservancy has named “One of the Last 75 Great Places on Earth,’ have answered HGTV’s nationwide call to find towns that could use some of the ‘Home Town’ touch, part of an ambitious new series, “Home Town Takeover,”’ lead by hosts Erin and Ben Napier and a team of renovation pros to take over and make over six small American towns.
The all-new concept series, Home Town Takeover, is a six-episode special event slated to air on HGTV in 2021. Applicants were asked to highlight aspects of their town that make it special, fascinating, historic or unique, including distinctive features like vintage period architecture, special destinations or a classic main street. The six selected towns, says HGTV, can expect to witness the rehab of multiple individual family homes as well as the revitalization of public spaces, e.g., parks, local diners or restaurants and outdoor recreation areas.
Choosing to go all in to win, a team of Ellenville residents created a seven-minute video.
Growing from a road stop named whimsically for a young Miss Ellen Snyder into a small industrial town in the 1840s, Ellenville has been on an economic roller coaster ever since: from its successful mid-19th century nationally-acclaimed glassworks (Made in Ellenville), to its grand summer mountain houses along the Shawangunk Ridge and the mid-20th century Nevele Hotel, one of the famous Borscht Belt summer resort hotels (LBJ stayed there); from the home of Channel Master that created and controlled the American market for TV aerials in the age of early television before it moved south and was sold; to industrial manufacturer Imperial Schrade, the world-famous maker of knives with a century-long Ellenville-based history. Each has been long gone in their own time.
According to village mayor Jeff Kaplan, the Ellenville video was posted February 5. A day later, it went viral, generating over 35,000 views as well as hundreds of positive, “good luck” comments on the village’s Facebook page. Regional and local news media have taken notice.
“We’re fighters,” says Kaplan. “With help from HGTV’s Home Town Take Over team, Ellenville is poised for an upswing on that roller coaster we’ve experienced for more than 200 years. Ours is a true place of American history. Looking to the future, we’re in it to win it.”
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