Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/141834
Before joining the cast of Gold Rush, Turin served as vice president and quarry manager of his family's business, Mt. Hood Rock. Dave Turin talks about growing up in the family aggregate business and finding fame with the Discovery Channel's Gold Rush. by Michelle Cwach 12 J ust five years ago, Dave Turin was living a quiet, comfortable life in Sandy, Ore., serving as vice president and quarry manager of his family's aggregate business, Mt. Hood Rock. Flash forward a couple of years, and suddenly Turin is one of the most beloved reality TV stars on Discovery Channel's smash hit series, Gold Rush, watched by millions around the world every Friday night. To understand how Turin made the leap from sand and gravel to stardom is to understand Turin himself. Fiercely devoted to his profession, family, friends and faith, Turin isn't the kind of man to turn anyone away. So when fellow church congregation member — and Gold Rush visionary — Todd Hoffman asked him for a second opinion on a homemade gold recovery plant, Turin gladly assisted in any way he could, even though his expertise didn't involve gold mining. "I went to look at it, and I thought it was poorly done. So I started to help him learn about mining," Turin says. "I just kind of put my arm around Todd and was helping him out so that he could know a little bit more about moving rocks and screens and all of that." At that point, all Hoffman had was a vision — that he would produce a TV series that would focus on down-on-their-luck men exploring the Yukon wilderness to discover gold. It was a dream that would save Hoffman from financial ruin, after his small sewer/ excavation business in Sandy, Ore., started to deteriorate in 2008. But in the beginning, it was just that — a dream. "In the process of helping him, Todd told me, 'Oh, by the way, I'm going to do a TV show.'" Turin says. "And when he told me that, I thought, 'This guy is crazy! He really thinks he's going to do a TV show?'" At the time, it seemed funny to Turin, who describes himself as a realist, because Hoffman was unshakably certain of his dream. Politely noncommit- AGGREGATES MANAGER July 2013 SpecialReport_AGRM0713.indd 12 6/17/13 12:50 PM