A CBC television series that highlighted the people and history of the Lac La Biche area will hopefully have a lasting effect, says one of the local people who appeared in a segment in the recent Still Standing episode.
Hosted by comedian Jonny Harris, the program is in its eighth season, highlighting Canadian communities trying to overcome challenging times.
"The message I wanted to show was that we are all really, really supportive of each other," said Mysoon Tarrabain, a retired local teacher and the daughter of Lebanese settlers who came to the community more than 70 years ago.
The Lac La Biche episode was filmed last summer, and aired in late January. The episode featured information on the Indigenous origins of the area, the multi-cultural settlement of the region, local industry, the commercial fishery, tourism and local business. Tarrabain spent more than half a day with Harris and show producers last summer. Her segment on the television episode is about 10 minutes. She laughed when she said she hoped it got the message across in that compressed time-frame.
"The community is so beautiful and I think the episode showed that. I hope people watching from all over Canada see it and say, 'Holy mackerel, if there's real estate available there, I want to move there."
Tarrabain — who still hadn't seen the full episode days after it aired — said being interviewed for the show made her realize how special her community is.
"I hope I was able to express the love and appreciation we have for this wonderful community," she said.
Brenda Robitaille was another resident interviewed. She watched the show the night it aired with a dozen or so friends at the Lac La Biche Legion.
Her segment focused on the commercial fishery that once thrived in the community, linking to the mink ranch industry, cultural groups and tourism.
Robitaile also said the segment in the half-hour episode was done well - considering the vast amount of history and information the area has to share.
"They could have done a couple hour shows on all the history and culture around here," she said with a laugh, adding that the finished product was done very well, and made the community look good to the outside world. "I think the filming showed how beautiful it is here, and I like how they showed the representation of all of our cultures and heritage."
She was also happy the show's producers chose to highlight the commercial fishery — something her late husband, Myles Maskalyk, was an integral part of.
"It was nice for me, for our family, to speak about the significance of the commercial fishery, the Metis fishermen, of the lakes and the land. Miles was a man who lived off the land. He loved this place like we all do," she said.
Tarrabain and Robitaille said they have had many calls and messages about their TV time. Both say it was a good experience they were proud to do.
Portions of the Lac La Biche episode and others in the eight-year history of the show can be found on the CBC TV website or in the links of the original Lakelandtoday.ca article about the program at www.lakelandtoday.ca.
