TV series featuring 2 Beaver County women gets February premiere date

TV's Outdoor Channel announced a Feb. 24 premiere for "Renovation Hunters," a program about fixing up hunting cabins, with a cast featuring two Beaver County women.

Viewers tuned in to "Renovation Hunters" will see Christy Miller of New Brighton and Joanie Sprague, formerly of Patterson Township, putting creative, modern and practical touches on hunting and fishing camps and outdoorsy cabins in Nebraska, Virginia and Tionesta, Pa.

That Tionesta cabin is owned by a Beaver County family.

"And guess what? They are going to put Christy and I on a (Brighton) Hot Dog Shoppe cup," the now California-based Sprague said in an all-caps, double exclamation point text message. "It's the coolest thing. I am so honored."

Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe is one of Sprague's favorite places to visit when she's back in the Beaver Valley visiting family. She knows she and colleague/friend Miller together will join the ranks of local celebs like rock star Donnie Iris, Major League Baseball All-Star John Burkett and "Survivor" champ Amber Brkich in being immortalized with their hot-dog-ish likeness on the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe's locally iconic plastic cups.

Alex Winger, of the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppes, said the Sprague and Miller cups are in final design phase and aimed for release four or five days before "Renovation Hunters" makes its national debut.

"We thought it was a great opportunity to highlight two local women who took very unique paths to careers in television," Winger, who attended Geneva College with Miller, said. "We're flattered how excited they are to be on our cups."

Officials at the Beaver County-based fast-food chain decided to feature the Outdoor Channel pair in the next batch of cups after seeing an article last April in The Times where Miller said she didn't realize her new TV partner Sprague hailed from the Beaver Valley, too, until she saw Sprague post about her love for Brighton Hot Dog Shoppes.

"It's so surreal," Miller said. "I can't even process it."

"It's such a huge deal to our families and communities about the cups," Sprague, a carpenter on TLC's 2018 reboot of "Trading Spaces" and DIY Network's "Run My Renovation," added. "It's the coolest thing in my whole life. Seriously."

Even cooler than when she finished in second place on TV's "America's Next Top Model" in 2006, evidently, or her two-year run on "Trading Spaces" that helped her establish a side business where she does renovations such as closet installs.

Sprague is planning a public viewing party for the 8:30 p.m. "Renovation Hunters" premiere, likely at an Ellwood City area location, near family she visits when back in western Pennsylvania. For party updates, follow her on Instagram at @joaniesprague where she describes herself as a "Handy ma'am."

Miller, a designer/maker/influencer, will attend a watch party with the cast and crew in North Carolina.

Now an Indiana resident, Miller runs Oak Mill Works, a business she founded in New Brighton, "that creates content focused on DIY, tool reviews, and small business ownership," she explains on the company's website. "When I am not creating content, I'm helping other people market their businesses through a multitude of (laser-made) promotional products."

She's your go-to person if you want a company logo etched into products such as drinking glasses, cutting boards and keychains.

"I sell bulk and wholesale to clients all over the United States," Miller said.

Her business went viral when she started snapping photos and posting videos of her craftwork and side projects like when she and her husband renovated their mud room and stained their deck.

Miller has used the Oak Mill Works Facebook page (@oakhillmillworks) to publicize the "Renovation Hunters" premiere, saying "This is pretty exciting!" and "I’m proud of what we accomplished. Tune in on Feb 24th to see what I was up to in 2022 with my team."

Interviewed by phone last Tuesday, Miller said "I've seen a few sneak peeks of the show, and I was blown away. Honestly, it shocked me. They did a fantastic job. So many of the shots actually are in the communities where we filmed. They wanted to show the history of those areas, and the fly-fishing, or rodeos or cattle ranches there. It's beautiful."

The Murphy-Lutz family of Beaver County learned last year about "Renovation Hunters" seeking applicants from cabin owners and submitted an entry for their shared Tionesta cabin, which was among the three chosen for the show's three-woman, three-man cast, headed by Hal Shaffer from Outdoor Channel's "Drop Zone."

On the show's website, Shaffer explains "Our mission is to ensure that your hunting, fishing, or vacation camp can be passed on to the next generation."

A town of 175 people in the middle of Nebraska was where the first three "Renovation Hunters" episodes were taped. Unlike many renovations shows on TV, three episodes take place at each chosen location. Also unique to the home renovation genre, "This is not so much about being pretty; it's about functionality," Sprague said. "These cabin owners say, 'We need a place to put our boots, and hang our laundry, and gut the animals and cook, and maybe have a home whiskey bar.'"

"The mindset is not so much about fine furnishings that are really expensive, but an overhaul of a space that's kind of an attainable renovation," Miller said. "So that makes the show more relatable."

Viewers can watch on Outdoor Channel (Channel 270 on the Comcast network in Beaver) or on Hulu, Roku or Sling TV.

More:Beaver Falls chili contest involves 27 competitors

More:Sheetz in Baden to close for remodeling

More:Hunting cabin TV show features Beaver County talent

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: TV series featuring 2 Beaver County women gets national premiere date