Still Standing (2015) s01e08 Episode Script

1
I punched myself
in the face hard.
Twice.
He did a solo of Stairway
to heaven with
a glue gun and leather.
Nellie Mclung, she
fought to insure a
better standing of
women in society,
that's amazing like, for a girl.
When you grow up
in a small town in
Newfoundland, you see the
people have a sense of
humour about hard times Check Check
I turned that into a career
and hit the road.
Mr. Jonny Harris!
Now I'm on a mission to
find the funny
in the places you'd
least expect it,
Canada's struggling small towns.
Towns that are against
the ropes but hanging in
there, still laughing in
the face of adversity.
Welcome to Manitou, Manitoba!
Here we are in
Manitou, Manitoba.
Just west of Morden and Winkler.
When I first heard that
I was like Morden and Winkler,
aren't those
the two old guys on the
muppets sitting
up in the balcony?
And just like the muppets,
Manitou sadly is on
these days which is too bad.
Back in the day, this place was
really moving.
I mean, it was really going
places. Literally.
Of course the start of
things right here in
Manitou didn't start right
here in Manitou did they?
It was up the road
a little bit right?
Originally called Manitoba
City it was to be an
important stop on the
new cross Canada railway.
We all know that the
railway came and took a
sharp turn left and missed
Manitoba City by a country mile.
So you guys uprooted,
the business, houses,
put them all on skids and
towed them by horse.
And I've heard incredibly
stories of families still
inside the houses, kids kids,
make sure the paintings
don't fall off the wall.
And remember don't
use the toilet.
And it worked. Manitou went to
the railroad and built
a beautiful little town.
But 100 years later, their
future is more elusive
then the railway ever was.
There's been a concern
about will Manitou become
a ghost town?
You know over a hundred
years of history,
is that gone,
is it out the door?
Richard Klassen
took me for a tour,
a walking tour around the town.
With the businesses that
have been shutting down,
change is inevitable.
One of the difficulties
living in Manitou is
that we are close to
Morden and Winkler.
They've got the
bigger box stores.
That can suck the life
out of a small town. -Yes.
Richard told
me that the railway was
going to close the line.
So a number of farmers got
together, they created a
cooperative which they
bought the line
from the railway company.
Is it profitable?
We're not dead yet you
know they're going to keep
it going, they want to
keep it going and
it's just not for themselves
it's also for the future.
Of course anybody's who
has played monopoly
as a child knows you
buy the railways,
you buy the railways.
You guys got that one
now, if you buy three
more you'll be building
hotels in Saskatchewan.
I visited Bette Mueller
at the Log Cabin.
The log cabin of course
was not built there
it was moved there like
everything else in this town,
you guys love moving your stuff.
It's weird when you check
into the hotel right
it's well what's my
view, well today
you're overlooking the pool.
So Bette what's holding the
town of Manitou together now?
Well that's a good
question I think that
people are here because
they love the place and
they're willing to
put the work in some of
the people here volunteer.
My method has
always been to whine
from the sidelines.
I asked I said is there
like a little something
I could read up on the
town, maybe a pamphlet
or something you know?
We have this wonderful
history book that we
developed several years ago.
Careful what you wish for folks,
careful what you wish for.
It's the history of
Manitou and the area of
Manitou and you'll find
almost everything you ever
wanted to know in there.
It's enormous.
900 pages, 900 pages!
I've seen western Europe
covered in less than that.
They're trying to
put the thing online but
the ran out of internet.
The name of course is in
rhythm with our roots was
a weird choice for you
guys considering
I was doing some reading
I found a story that at
first I found hard to
believe, I found out that
the two mild mannered
gentlemen who run the
hardware store are
hall of famers.
Sport super stars.
Walt for baseball,
Lew for hockey.
I did play against
Gordie Howe once.
Did you really?
Yeah.
Mr. Hockey and
was he any good?
Ah yeah pretty good.
Lew was offered to go try
out for the Red Wings.
How come you didn't go try out?
Well a lot of the fellas
did go but I think they
were a lot of them
didn't have something
like this to keep them home.
It's either the coolest or
craziest thing I've ever heard.
I said to Lew I said
listen could you imagine
if you went down to
Detroit way back then and
bought a house for $5,000
dollars today it could be
worth almost $500 dollars.
Lew felt a sense of civic
duty and he looked into
the future and said if
I go to Detroit
what's Manitou going
to do without me?
There isn't a day goes by
we don't cut keys or put
batteries in people's
watches for them.
We have cut a lot of
keys in all those years.
But they did a lot more
than just cut keys.
Walt was the mayor for a
long time, was on council
for like 37 years.
Lew was on the hospital
board, the school board,
the cemetery committee,
basically if you were born
here or raised here or
paid taxes here or died
here these guys
helped you out and they
changed your watch battery.
With the brothers retiring
and no one to take over
this hardware hall
of fame is closing.
Putting a crucial question in
everyones mind.
Who's going to cut the keys?
I can't believe it because
I thought in Manitou
whenever somebody moved
they brought their house
with them, why would
they need?
In a place where buildings move,
you'll find Manitou's roots
in the most unlikely
house of them all.
It's the very centre
of the community.
Manitou's beautiful opera house.
This place has geothermal
heating, the opera house
in Sydney, Australia doesn't
have geothermal heating.
That old [beep] hole right.
We've done Diary of Anne
Frank, Shrek the Musical,
Guys and Dolls, Footloose.
We've got kids that fall
asleep while there's
parents are up on stage
right, some of them have
gone away, they've come
back to Manitou and
they've got involved with
the show, of course they
bring back the talent.
Richard showed me this
struggling town still has
the getup and go that got
up and moved so many years
ago and that gave me an idea.
I think Richard you should
do a play about the
moving of Manitoba City
and how it became.
That's in the works.
Me and Richard we started
spitballing some ideas.
Moving production sort of
like wind its way down
the road and you could
sing and dance.
It's going to be an epic,
it's going to be an epic,
it's going to be called
Manitousical the moving musical.
Manitousical the moving musical.
Not bad right?
900 pages!
900 pages!
I've seen western Europe
covered in less than that.
I guess it all depends on
how many details you want
to keep in the thing, like
Europe 1914 Archduke Franz
Ferdinand assassinated,
prelude to war.
Manitou 1914, Bert Smith
collects eggs from
hen house, prelude to breakfast.
As I discovered more and
more the town was full
of talent, I realized I
had to go talk to next.
He's an eleven time
international
yodeling championship.
He's somewhere around 300 songs,
the living legend The Yodeling
Cowboy, Stew Clayton.
[yodeling]
Nice one, Stew!
I did one really
good yodel in my life.
You did?
But it was when I got hit
with a really cold hockey
ball in the crotch.
Well you'd certainly
hit the high note.
Stew is another
character who could have
taken his talents elsewhere.
He was offered a tour and
he had young family here
in Manitou and he chose to
stay and also part of the
reason was he had heard
a lot of stories about
you know he was weary
of road life.
Of course we all know
Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley.
So I thought it over
for a long time,
I think maybe it was two
seconds, possibly three.
I said no cause there
was always smoking
and drinking, drugs.
Having meaningless
trysts with women half
your age in hotel rooms.
Must be awful.
You don't sound too serious.
The farm and family were
what Stew wanted
so that's what Stew did.
He also became one of Manitou's
biggest volunteers.
We were there, we
were playing some
guitar and yodeling,
he took out a saw.
I thought this is
taking a weird turn.
Despite staying, he
still managed to become
a champion yodeler
and saw player.
He played Amazing Grace
for me on the saw and then
he did the solo from
Stairway to Heaven with
a glue gun and a level.
Very impressive,
very impressive.
Best version of
Amazing Grace I ever saw.
It's not just homegrown
talent but stay home
talent that keeps this
place on the move.
Anyway I went back over to
visit Richard again at the
Opera House again trying to
weasel my way into the show.
While Manitou is losing
young people to other
opportunities, the summer
play actually draws them back.
Why are you saying this?
I only wish to speak to her.
Jealous.
I've been in 26 different
productions here
in the Manitou area.
While I was waiting for
my audition I got to
talk to some of the
kids involved here.
I got to talk to
Skye Thorleifson.
He wants to become a
filmmaker, director,
big Ingmar Bergman fan.
I play Yasir who is an
Egyptian aristocrat.
He says he finds he gets
recognized around town
now which is always nice.
I said to him I know buddy
exactly what that's like
I said listen back in
Toronto at my grocery
store I get recognized,
now I think it's because
the cashier has a picture
of me saying don't
accept personal cheques
from this man.
I finally got my audition.
Mr.Klassen I'm
doing a piece from
In Rhythm With Our Roots.
That sounds great.
I can handle that.
We are indebted to Mr.
Lee for some very fine
watercress which he
brought to our
office on Friday last.
It was taken from a spring on
Mr. Lee's farm in the valley.
He can always secure as
much of the dainty
relish as there once required.
Ah ah
and that's scene.
Thank you.
Give us a chance to
talk things over.
That's it, I'm staying and
8 am tomorrow morning in
this building we're having
an open casting call
for Manitousical the
moving musical.
They're so many hall of
famers in this town,
there must be a trick involved
they must have like a
restaurant called the hall
of fame or something like
anyone can go and be like
yeah I'm in the hall of fame,
eating poutine.
I went to visit
the archery club.
I got to talk to Clayton Sprung.
The guy's 13 years old and
he's the provincial champion.
Though he's won provincials
a bunch of times,
a family vacation
kept him from the
national's last year.
Are you going to go to
the national's this year?
No actually we have
cattle show this weekend.
I was like what you
are going to miss the
national's for that,
are you mad about it?
No I like cattle.
I'd be kicking and screaming.
But he's so cool and
confident the national's
will always be there next year.
I have to show my heffer.
I'd make some more jokes
about him but I'm pretty
sure he could hit a
moving target so
Will you show me how to
shoot a bow and arrow?
Yeah sure.
- Alright let's do it.
Will you carry that.
Yeah sure.
Back is shot.
Clayton has the Manitou
motto down pat, stay home
and pitch in but keep your
eye on the prize.
So you guys, what's all
you guys favourite
target to shoot at?
Yellow
Yeah you want to get
it right in the yellow.
Some of the 3D targets
we were shooting
at were really cool.
Is it alligator or
crocodile, I forget which
one is indigenous
to the prairies.
When I tried my hand at
shooting the bow and arrow,
right at the hardest part,
it's all shaking like that
I punched myself in the face.
I punched myself
in the face hard twice.
Oh I did it again!
And then I was all
cranky I had a sore lip.
Don't laugh I
really hurt myself.
You got to pull it
all the way back.
But after a few
lessons from the pros.
Hey Sam, thanks buddy.
I decided to downsize.
Town of champions here.
No pressure.
Perfect. That's exactly where
the heart is in
whatever that was.
You moved and changed
your name which officially
makes Manitou the first
municipality to
enter the witness
relocation program.
In fact I'm told Manitou
is the first nation word
for I don't know what
you're talking about,
I don't know.
That got me thinking
about all these
hidden heroes in one town.
And then Wilma Walcraft showed
me the humble homestead of
the biggest hero and yes
the building was moved here
from somewhere else.
We're in the log house
and Nellie lived in this house.
She became known because
of her interest in
women's rights, her
interest in temperance.
I guess she's Manitou's
claim to fame then.
Definitely.
Nellie McClung is one of your
town's first champions.
Manitoba women got the
right to vote first of
all partly thanks to her.
I can't imagine the
adversity that she would
have faced, the
gender discrimination.
One of the greatest
feminist in the world,
she managed to write 16 books.
She went to the Canadian
Supreme Court to insure
that legally women were also
defined by the word persons.
They rejected her,
she went to the
Supreme Court in England.
They said that she
could just hold you
in the palm of her hands.
She went to the Supreme
Court in England and she won.
That's amazing, like for a
girl, that's
give me a joke, give me a joke.
Squaring off with Wilma I
knew you don't get to
be a town of champions
without fighting for it.
If you want anything in a small
town people have to step up.
Like our beautiful ball diamond,
people stepped up.
If there's anyone that
can take a joke it's the
Manitou Ladies beer
league players.
The Manitou mood swingers,
love that name, love that
name and babes with balls,
also very good name,
very good name.
Oh yeah!
It was too high.
Pretty much all I know
about baseball is stuff
I've learned from
movie quotes right.
Of course we've got
Field of Dreams,
if you build it they will come.
And that's what happened
here, Manitou, the farmers
and the fundraisers built
the ball diamond we were at.
And people did come.
Alright ladies you
ready for this?
Bring it on, show
us what you got.
Your mascara runs
better than you.
There's definitely
something going on
with these ladies.
And of course the quote
from League of their Own,
there's no crying in baseball.
Everyone move in,
it's a no hitter.
Ah don't move in!
Don't move infield in!
I was not crying,
that was ragweed,
that was ragweed girls.
I keep wondering how
come so many talented
people in Manitou choose
to stay here?
And then I had an
epiphany I realized
that's a stupid question to ask.
All that matters is that
they did and the town
benefited from it and now
it's going into the next
generation and now you
can see it already.
I did chip my tooth but
I got the crocodile
in the end, I got it,
right in the arse,
it was an arse shot.
If I learned anything
in Manitou,
it's that the heart of
the town's survival is
the power of its story
All you can do is show up,
do your best and good
lord willing,
things will get better
from here on in.
Finally show time, the
town's arrived,
the thespians are ready.
And I'm wearing a costume made
for someone smaller then me.
I auditioned literally
for spear carrier
number two and I did
not get the part.
You know those who
conspire against us and
yet you allow them
access to my throne.
I did still end up getting
a very vital part,
I got fanner number two.
As Canadians we're naive,
we don't know how hot it
was in Egypt so it's very
important my fanning,
you know how does the saying go,
there's no small parts,
just [beep] ones.
I have discovered that
Manitou is a town of champions,
everywhere else
I go in the country I will
tell them about Manitou,
what a great town it is,
I'm going to tell them
where you are,
tell them that they
should come visit,
just do me a favour,
don't move the town again.
I'll look like an idiot,
I'll look like an idiot.
You know just before I
came over here my mom gave
me a call for the first
time since I got to
Manitou, she said how's
it going out there?
I said oh mom you
know it's a pretty
typical prairie town.
I struck out with the
ladies, fanned a pharaoh,
yodeled with a yodeler and
basically just hang out
with hall of famers.
She said what are
you talking about?
I said mom I'm talking
about Manitou, Manitoba,
thanks so much everybody,
you've been great.
It's a celebration of Manitou.
He understood what
we are all about.
We're so proud of
our town and proud of
everybody that's here.
That was fantastic.
Very talented.
He moves around really well.
It was very good.
Enjoyed it very much.
Hit home on all
the points he made.
Bow and arrow's not
really working for him.
Our hometown presented to
us in such a positive way.
My cheeks just hurt
I laughed so hard.
Thanks for helping us to see it.