Castlegar's TV cameo

Photo: Amazing Race Canada

Residents of Castlegar gathered at the old movie theatre in town to see themselves on television last night.

Tuesday's episode of Amazing Race Canada featured the city, and was screened publicly at the Castle Theatre to celebrate the community’s moment in the spotlight.

The reality TV series pits contestants in a travel-focused scramble of puzzles, challenges and obstacles as they try to be first to reach a destination. 

This year, the race goes right across the country as part of Canada 150 celebrations. It also features a Kootenay-local team, as Kenneth McAlpine and Ryan Lachappelle from Rossland took part in the race.

Tuesday's episode was actually filmed last May. Contestants were spotted at Zuckerberg Island, Chances Casino, the local Tim Hortons, and at Selkirk College, Nelson Brewing Company and underneath the Orange Bridge in that city.

Castlegar Mayor Lawrence Chernoff says he thinks the visit by the show will be a boost for the community.

“It’s exciting because the Amazing Race is so famous, just to get Castlegar mentioned is huge to the community,” he said. “It puts us on the map, especially for Canada.”

Andrea Ryman, the destination marketing coordinator for Castlegar says her organization worked hard to convince Bell Media producers to use the city as a backdrop. 

“We have some great historical places and unique locations,” she recalled. “So I compiled a list of my top 10, we toured the scouting group around, and they were able to choose two locations out of it all. So that’s how it all came about.”