Around the Corner: TV Show to Feature Port Washington

Though the TV series spent time in 13 Wisconsin communities last year filming its first season, Around the Corner host John McGivern told owners on Friday that this was the first bed and breakfast he was interviewing for the show.

Around the Corner is a show that was created to "inspire pride and interest in Wisconsin's communities," according to the show's Production Consultant Deidre Martin. The show dives into three main aspects of each community, which producers describe as the "working here, living here and playing here" aspects of the chosen town.

• Working here: McGivern introduces people as they do their jobs. He interviews workers and business owners, talks to patrons/customers and maybe even tries his hand at the jobs.  
• Living here: McGivern meets people who embody the spirit of the community. This could take place in someone's home, a community building, a church, or a garden.
• Playing here: McGivern finds out how people enjoy themselves in a particular place. (descriptions provided by Martin.)

But a stop at the Port Washington Inn Bed and Breakfast isn't the only place McGivern could be seen on Friday.

He also stopped by the home of ; he met Pat and Amy Wilbourne, who operate an aquaponics system out of their home near downtown Port; he got a ; and met with a local resident Al Klopp to see his large shipwreck collection.

McGivern will be back in town filming on July 5 and July 16; other people and places that will appear in the feature include: Jeff Ewig of fish smokehouse; executives at the Sailing Magazine; ; Bill Prince of Bill Prince Yacht Design; Jim Wirsching-Neuser of ; Harbormaster Dennis Cherny; Tourism Executive Director Kathy Tank at the Pebble House; Local artist Shirley Schanen Gruen; ; ; and Steve and James Schowalter of Port Washington State Bank.

Season two will have a total of 14 episodes and will air statewide, according to Lois Maurer, creator and producer of the show.

It will be available for viewers throughout Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, airing twice weekly on Milwaukee Public Television, Channels 10.1 and 36.1 and on Wisconsin Public Television and Time Warner Cable's Wisconsin on Demand, according to Martin. All episodes are also available online.

Port Washington's feature will likely air in February or March; if it keeps the same slot time, it will show at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Maurer said.

Maurer added that the staff with Around the Corner will also organize a community preview event, in which the public will be invited to come and watch the episode in a local venue in a way that will also help them celebrate the place they live, Port Washington.