A film crew from Chicago was in Clermont last week to shoot footage of the President’s Hall of Fame museum for a television show called Wild Travels.
The show’s website describes the series as “intelligent, funny unexpected and a bit irreverent; spotlighting the colorful, unconventional and downright quirky people, places and events all across the USA.” It goes on to say that the show’s goal is to celebrate “the uniqueness of America in its unusual festivals, eccentric characters and offbeat museums.”
Falling into this category is the Clermont museum at 123 N. Highway 27, which is filled with wax figures and memorabilia of all 42 presidents, and many first ladies. There’s also miniature replicas of White House rooms and a 10-ton White House replica.
The Wild Travels’ “three amigos” – Executive Producer Harvey Moshman, host Will Clinger and cameraman David Seman – said they were in awe of the museum’s contents.
“It’s astonishing, really,” Moshman said. “There’s quite a bit of work that went into this and it’s definitely no small tribute to the executive branch of office. It’s incredible.”
Clinger interjected strategic wit and humor into a fully improvised script taped as Museum Coordinator Joy England led them on an actual tour. Clinger said he was impressed with the White House replica built by the museum’s owners John Zweifel and his wife Jan, in the 1970s.
“I think the museum is great,” Clinger said. “Certainly, the highlight is the miniature White House. You can spend a week looking at that alone.”
According to Moshman, the subjects for their show are hand-picked from many sources, including online research, personal recommendations and tips emailed or faxed to them from people all around the world.
Moshman said visiting the President’s Hall of Fame was a suggestion from a close friend of his who came across the roadside attraction in his travels.
“We’re looking for wacky and offbeat attractions, but that still have some substance to them; something you can learn from,” he said.
The taped segment will be part of season two of the Wild Travels show, airing in July 2016. The show won an Emmy Award for its first season.
Moshman said that the segment will play on WTTW, a public television station in Chicago. However, after the season airs in its entirety, the segments will be made available online.
Ultimately, he said the goal is to package both seasons into one large collaboration to air on national television in 2017.