The community is still buzzing over the depiction of Chemainus in the Still Standing TV series episode on CBC Jan. 26.
Some are over the moon with excitement from what they watched, others enjoyed it but had some creative criticism and still others just plain disliked it. No matter what category you fall into, the common bond is a love for Chemainus and the reason for some of the comments.
It should first be said that Brittany Pickard, Michael Marks, Karl Schutz, Maynard Johnny Jr., Lucie Cerny, and Aly Tomlin and Ralf Rosenke all did a great job speaking as ambassadors for the community. It’s unfortunate Cerny has left the community after a health scare and the Rescue and Sanctuary for Threatened Animals is not longer operating here or that segment could have been replaced, but it was too late after going to production.
There are others who could have been selected, sure, but you have to draw the line somewhere.
In the big picture, you must concede it’s almost impossible to really do justice to any community in a program that boils down to 21 minutes and 30 seconds after editing and commercials in a 30-minute time slot.
Related story: Chemainus on the Still Standing show schedule for Jan. 26
The absence of the Chemainus Theatre on the show was certainly notable, other than one quick glimpse of host Jonny Harris playing air guitar in front of the building.
Loyal followers of the series have probably noticed there’s been no mention of COVID. Rightly or wrongly, the series brain trust wanted to get Season 7 filmed and onto the air rather than waiting around for COVID to miraculously disappear. So that meant a lot of concessions had to be made and there was no sense mentioning the theatre now if people wanted to visit and performances still aren’t taking place.
It’s really a case of bad timing or the program on Chemainus would have looked slightly different. But most would agree it’s better than not at all or waiting for another time that might not ever come.
Make no mistake about it, Chemainus will be on the tourist destination list just because of the show and we need to be ready when that happens to show them the times of their lives and what this community is all about.