Lumby will stand in the national spotlight later this year through CBC’s hit award-winning original series Still Standing.
The film crew arrived in the small North Okanagan town Wednesday afternoon to start production. They began at the Pat Duke Memorial Arena to film some skating before making their way to the Community Centre to film some of the town’s Circus Arts program and toes and tutus, a ballet class.
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“We are all really excited for the opportunity and the children are really excited as well to showcase their talents in front of the film crew,” said Program coordinator for White Valley Parks, Recreation, and Culture Christine MacNeill.
She said the entire production came together within about four weeks. With lots of events happening throughout the week, Still Standing producers said their production schedule isn’t rigid.
“It’s always hard to say exactly what we’ll be filming since so much depends on what happens to be going on in town on any given day, and in a vibrant community like Lumby, there are way more events happening than we have time to shoot,” said Still Standing executive producer Anne Francis. “A lot of things we film are planned in advance, segments where our host gets to meet some of the people who live in town. Our week-long shoots are really a combination of finding things on the fly and doing our best to tell the story of Lumby through a few conversations with locals.”
Lumby will be one of several Canadian locations showcased later this year on CBC and CBC Gem, as part of season five of the show. This season, Canadian comedian Jonny Harris hits the road, travelling across the country to discover the hidden comedy in Canada’s struggling communities.
“It’s great that the show wants to showcase our town and all that we have to offer and that they’re interested in all our community programs and what we have to offer in Lumby,” said MacNeill.
The show spotlights rural communities who have faced difficulties and MacNeill referenced mill closures that took place in Lumby.
“That was a big hit for our community. So they want to showcase how communities, like this one, who are are still standing and prospering and becoming alive again,” she said. “So in addition to a lot of our wonderful education programs, the village of Lumby has been really keen on expanding businesses here as well. We have the new True Leaf facility and we’re looking at some downtown revitalization. Being only about 20 minutes from Vernon, we’re really accessible and we really want to increase the number of people that live, work and go to school in our town.”
CBC’s shoot will conclude in a free comedy show celebrating Lumby, featuring Harris, this Friday at the White Valley Community Centre, located at 2250 Shields Avenue. Doors open at 6 p.m.
“We are sort of tight-lipped about what they’re planning on doing because we want the comedy show to be unique and surprising and be really entertaining for everyone.”
The event is free and seats will be filled at a first come, first seated. The stand-up, which will include performances from Fraser Young, Graham Chittenden and Steve Dylan, will also be recorded as part of the upcoming episode. The air date for the episode has not yet been released.
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