Just when those VANOC buses began fading from memory, the Olympic Games are back, but this time it's only for 24 minutes rather than 16 days.
On Sunday June 27, the Brackendale Art Gallery hosts a screening of The Shadow of the Podium, a student documentary inspired by corridor residents' reaction to the Games.
Last summer, while Toronto-based Ryerson University film and television student Kelly Ebers was living in Squamish, she noticed the impact the upcoming Games were having on some residents.
"I realized it was actually affecting a lot of the locals," said Ebers. "People weren't able to afford the property taxes on their house, there was environmental damage happening, and the construction of the highway - everybody seemed pretty bitter about that too."
She also realized the Olympic impact on Squamish was not being communicated to other parts of the country.
"I discovered the Olympic buzz here wasn't exactly what it was in Ontario," she said.
What disturbed Ebers most was unbalanced media reporting. After doing a bit of research, Ebers found local media outlets reported a full picture of the Olympics' impact on the corridor whereas papers based in Ontario didn't.
"There was a major bias in the media, the way it was represented and there were lots of stories out here in the Pique, in the Question or the Chief. Lots of people were upset and I could see that, but then when I went home and I was researching all the papers out there like The [Toronto] Star and The Globe, you don't see any articles like that.
"It was just completely biased. It was really unsettling."
When Ebers headed back to Ontario in the fall, she was armed with an idea for her final year practicum project: a documentary on the positive and negative consequences of the Games.
"I just wished things were presented a little more evenly that's why we made the documentary."
Ebers said she wants to bring the 24-minute documentary to Squamish to show the fruits of her labour to the community that had helped inspire her.
Ebers said the film crew of seven Ryerson students received tremendous support from locals including John Buchanan, Ana Santos and Francois Leh.
When Buchanan wasn't busy showing the students around town, he helped them understand highway development and environmental impact concerns.
Santos provided Ebers with countless useful contact people during the pre-production phase, and even made an appearance on camera as someone who lived through the Olympics during the 1992 summer games in Barcelona.
"I think she's one of the strongest characters in the documentary," Ebers said.
The documentary's director Blaise Power was also able to secure star power by interviewing high-profile names such as Premier Gordon Campbell and Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed.
"It was definitely an experience of a lifetime. We had never actually made anything of this calibre," said Ebers.
Leh, a pilot, helped the crew by giving them a discount rate, which allowed the students to capture jaw-dropping aerial shots of the corridor for a fraction of the regular price.
"It was a mind blowing experience," Ebers said of the flight.
Despite tight deadline challenges and having to rely on filler shots filmed in Toronto, Ebers said she's quite please with how the project turned out.
"I think we can all give ourselves a pat on the back. It was definitely a student project and there are some things that went wrong technically, but otherwise we're all pretty proud of ourselves."
In hindsight, Ebers said the Games unified the nation. She admits she was glued to the tube every day of the Games, but she said she still feels the international sporting event is more of a cash grab than a showcase for athleticism.
"It's true, it's believable, but it gets to point to where it becomes a business rather than just about the athletes."
Catch The Shadow of the Podium on Sunday June 27 at 8 p.m. at the Brackendale Art Gallery. Admission is by donation.
