Grand Manan and its population of just 2600 will be in the spotlight tonight.
The community will be featured on the CBC television show Still Standing.
“It was January of last year, and I had an email from one of the producers, and they were looking at different potential locations. They had done some research and discovered that Grand Manan was originally one of the world leaders in smoked herring. They felt that would fit in with the story. When it was pitched to the production crew, we were one of the locations that was chosen,” Grand Manan Mayor Bonnie Morse explained.
The production crew came in July last year, along with Jonny Harris, who is the host of Still Standing, as well as a comedian.
“We had beautiful weather here on the island in the summer. There are a couple of things, obviously they talked about our smoked herring industry. Johnny did the greasy pole, which was one of our traditional Canada Day activities. We attended the comedy show while they were here filming, and we got to hear about some of the people that they met and some of the stories, and so we’re just all really looking forward to seeing how this turns out,” Morse said.
Some of the residents Harris spoke to are natural storytellers, and Morse said that helped the comedy come quite naturally for the show.
“It’s always scary when people come into your community to tell your story, but I feel like we’re in really good hands. I’m just really looking forward to seeing how the final product turns out tonight,” Morse expressed.
She added that she’s very excited for the opportunity.
“Certainly raises awareness of Grand Manan. It’s a great place to visit in the summer, and there are some really unique things to see and do while you’re here,” Morse said.
Still Standing airs on Tuesday at 8:30 pm AT.
