OREGON, Ill. (WTVO) — An Ogle County community is the setting of an upcoming Christmas movie. Film crews are shooting scenes in Oregon, putting a local bed and breakfast on the map in the process.
The community is excited to be on the silver screen. The owner of Pinehill Inn Bed and Breakfast tells us that people have consistently been driving by, trying to catch a glimpse of the action.
“It’s one of those Christmas romance movies where boy meets girl, wind up kissing under the mistletoe, but they find each other at a B and B,” said Ken Williams, the owner of Pinehill.
Filmakers set up shop at the B&B in Oregon while shooting scenes for a new made-for-TV movie.
“It’s not a small crew. The cast may be five or six people, but you’re dealing with twenty-five or thirty crew members. You’ve got lights and sound and a whole bunch of people who do nothing but set stuff-up and take stuff down, and they’re constantly doing it,” explained Willaims.
Oregon Mayor Ken Williams has been the owner of the Pinehill Inn for the last 15 years. He says the movie’s title is Lacy’s Christmas Do-Over. He says producers are using the city and B&B’s real names in the script.
“So both the city and inn will gain some notoriety,” he said.
While he’s optimistic the movie will help introduce more people to the city when it premieres, he says the production crew is already making a positive impact.
“They’re going to a different restaurant each day for breakfast and lunch, and they order dinner, so they bring in a lot of money to the community for that,” Williams said.
“First thing in the morning, we were only open like one minute, and they ordered two dozen doughnuts, a dozen muffins, ten breakfast sandwiches, and a couple of jugs of coffee,” explained Tim Talyor, the bakery manager at Village Bakery.
Taylor says the extra business couldn’t come at a better time.
“We have a good business here and we’re pretty steady, but our dining room has only been open for three weeks- we were closed for eleven months. So to have that type of order was pretty exciting, to say the least,” said Taylor.
Williams says the movie is expected to premiere later this year. Filming also took place at Sinnissippi Farm and Forest in Oregon.