In an effort to tell some of the unique stories offered by local West Michigan communities, WGVU announced its launch of a documentary series highlighting specific towns in the area.

The new documentary series, “Michigan Hometown Stories,” begins with a close look at the Saugatuck/Douglas area. Each one-hour episode in the series, which is set for a December 2012 debut, will focus on a different community in West Michigan.

Jim Rademaker, development coordinator at WGVU, said the idea for the series came from speaking with a public television station from Wisconsin while at a conference. Rademaker said the idea seemed like a natural fit for what public media stations are supposed to be accomplishing.

“It’s kind of giving people a behind the scenes look at their own community and opening their eyes to the events that they most likely would not be aware of,” he said.

Rademaker said when looking for the first community, WGVU decided on Saugatuck/Douglas because of their well developed historical society and good previous ties to the community through businesses and nonprofit organizations.

“Part of the project is we build these lasting tools that the historical society can use to further their mission into the future,” he said.

These lasting tools that the documentary will create are to be used by community members along with the Saugatuck school district in an effort to build curriculum that meets state and national standards, he said.

“Another thing that a documentary does is it kind of galvanizes a community, it brings them together on this common mission,” he said. “We find that amazing things can happen when these stories are told that move a community forward. It’s just a sense of pride.”

In addition to strengthening community pride within a town, Rademaker said another benefit of these documentaries is the exposure of the local stories on a much larger scale.

Ken Kolbe, executive producer for WGVU agrees with Rademaker, saying these documentaries will be successful because of the popularity of the local history genre.

“We thought that we could take advantage of that and perhaps help inform and entertain our viewers and listeners a little bit,” Kolbe said.

For the Saugatuck/Douglas documentary, WGVU is partnering with the Saugatuck/Douglas Historical Society, the community chamber of commerce and the Saugatuck school district.

WGVU has been working on the Saugatuck/Douglas documentary for a few months and Rademaker says every documentary in the series will take around 18 to 24 months to produce.

Kolbe reiterated the point of the potential these documentaries have on not only highlighting and exposing several unique stories but also the potential to leave a lasting impression on the local communities.

“That’s what we’re about,” Rademaker said. “It’s about taking people on a journey of discovery, whether it’s of their own town or something nearby that they can go and experience.”

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