Cranford’s Anthony Carbone Featured on NBC’s “George to the Rescue”

The team at Your Kind of Cuts in NutleyPhoto Credit: Courtesy of Lisa Carbone

George Oliphant and Anthony CarbonePhoto Credit: Courtesy of Lisa Carbone

By Dinah Dunn

Published October 5, 2024 at 9:36 AM

Last updated October 5, 2024 at 9:36 AM

CRANFORD, NJ – If you were watching NBC at 5:30 a.m. last Saturday, you would have seen Anthony Carbone of TimberRidge Construction on “George to the Rescue,” the renovation show for deserving people facing challenges.

In his third appearance on the show, Carbone teamed up with George Oliphant and a designer to renovate Your Kind of Cuts, a business in Nutley that describes itself as “a sensory sensitivities, special needs” hair salon. They reached out to him last February, but it took until July to get the permits needed to renovate.

The team had 5 weeks to do the renovations, so it could be completed in time to be the first show of the 16^th season. Carbone managed the project himself, had guys there every day, worked with local teams like Montero Painting and A&H Electric, plus was on-site a few times a week to film. But he and the team were able to get it done on time.

While Carbone and his wife Lisa have always been big supporters of local organizations like the Jaycees and Cranford Family Care, this renovation was one of their biggest gives. “Lisa and I talked about this a few years ago. We wanted to try to find ways we could be more impactful for the greater good of people, which is why this project worked for us.”

“George roped us into this story of a business that impacts so many people. Five weeks of time to help these kids for an extended period of time—how do you say no?” Carbone was at the salon for the reveal, which was also attended by a number of the families who nominated Your Kind of Cuts for the renovation. He marveled at the joy on everybody’s faces.

“I just wanted to do something that makes you feel good. You can write checks all day. This is one where I actually got to participate,” continued Carbone,” so I guess it is easier for me to say ‘yes,’ as I felt I could contribute personally.”

Carbone initially got involved with the show in 2016. He was in the office when the phone rang. “Caller ID said NBC Universal. No one wanted to answer the phone, thinking it was a scam,” he said. “I never answer the phone but maybe NBC was really calling, so I picked it up—it was one of the directors of ‘George to the Rescue.’” They were looking for local contractors for a project they were doing in Plainfield and had seen TimberRidge’s good reviews on Houzz.

Carbone went with their team to scout the project, which is when he learned he’d be paid nothing, he’d have to put together a team that would donate their services, plus most of the materials would be donated. That was a big ask.

But it was a great story. “The family couldn’t have been nicer. They had a teenage boy with autism. I said, ‘We’re going to figure this out.’” Everyone he reached out to also agreed to do it, including Chapman Plumbing. “If everyone gives a little, it’s not that big an ask.” And that job went so well, he agreed to a second one a few years later in Livingston for a family with a teenage girl with cancer.

Would he do it again? “I’ve had a saying all of my life, ‘There are people that do and there are people that don’t.’ People that do, always do, like whatever it is, there’s never an excuse. You always find the time to do,” said Carbone. “When [‘George to the Rescue’] came back on this recent show and said it’s now going to be in July and August and everyone’s on vacation, I knew we’d figure it out. That’s just who I am. We always figure it out.”

The ”Your Kinds of Cuts” renovation episode will be airing again soon but can also be streamed here.