Hometown troubadour Gordon Lightfoot is the subject of a profile by a major U.S. network that sent a crew to the Sunshine City Wednesday.
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CBS crew visits Orillia for Lightfoot profile
CBS Sunday Morning filmed at the Orillia Opera House and St. Paul's United Church Wednesday in preparation for a profile on Gordon Lightfoot.
Orillia Today
ByFrank Matys/Torstar Network
Hometown troubadour Gordon Lightfoot is the subject of a profile by a major U.S. network that sent a crew to the Sunshine City Wednesday.
CBS Sunday Morning was scheduled to visit St. Paul’s United Church and the Orillia Opera House – both of which played important roles in Lightfoot’s development as a world-renowned singer/songwriter.
“Gordon is an icon of Orillia,” said Gillian Stockdale, office administrator at St. Paul’s. “The fact that he started here at St. Paul’s is just fantastic. This is where he started everything.”
Lightfoot was a member of the youth choir at St. Paul’s and credits the experience with setting him on the path to a career in music.
His ties to the local congregation remain strong, and were evident during performances and interviews held at the church in recent years.
Lightfoot has performed at the opera house since childhood, and has played benefit concerts there.
“They are coming back to his hometown and obviously doing some video of it,” Stockdale added. “They told me it would (air) later in September.”
Representatives of the CBS show recently contacted opera house manager Krista Storey, asking for location suggestions to help tell Lightfoot’s story.
“I suggested the church, I suggested ODCVI, where Gordie went to school,” she added. “(At the opera house) we’ll go into the Gordon Lightfoot auditorium.”
Storey noted that Lightfoot turns 75 this year.
“Maybe they are doing some sort of a celebration, I don’t know,” she added. “It’s a true testament to Mr. Lightfoot that he has the attention of New York.”
Stockdale said the show’s producers provided few details about their plans for the visit.
“They are going to do some filming of the sanctuary so they can get some background from where he started,” she added.
"The broadcast does stories on interesting people, and his name came up,” said CBS correspondent John Blackstone, adding Lightfoot was recently recognized at the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City.
CBS working on LIGHTFOOT profile
