Nearby lodge hosts ‘Bringing Up Bates’ episode

Fans of the reality TV show “Bringing Up Bates” can watch a special episode that was filmed close to here tonight, Feb. 2, at 9 on the Up channel ( 172 on Xfinity).

The show follows Gil and Kelly Jo Bates and their 19 children. Spoiler alert: In tonight’s episode, Gil wants to surprise Kelly Jo on her 50th birthday with a getaway trip to a cabin in North Georgia. The children have bigger plans.

According to John Afman, owner of The Lodge of McClemore’s Cove, the family spent a weekend at his lodge back in October, when the episode was filmed. She didn’t know the whole family had planned a big party.

“The kids came up first and hid the cars and the whole bit,” he says.

“They were the nicest kids in the world. They came up and the girls started cooking and everybody got to work getting everything ready.”

Afman says there were a couple of funny moments because of the TV crew and the surprise element of the show. First, with day quickly fading to night and the kids huddled up inside ready to yell “Surprise,” Kelly Jo first left her phone in the car, and then wanted to stand outside and chat.

Once inside, the family, being the nice people they are, kept Mr. Afman around and invited him to dinner.

“The f ilm crew f inally said, ‘ We really are here to film the family, and then the family apologized and made me take s o me food. They are really nice people.”

A fm an says the Barry Courter lodge is really two buildings and can accommodate 32 people. This is the second reality television show that has fi l med an episode there. Last year, Ben and Jewel Tankard renewed their wedding vows during an episode of “Thicker Than Water” filmed there.

Primarily the space hosts a lot of corporate and business retreats.

Local musician Jack Gray has a new record in the works, and he has put out a video in advance of the release. In typical Gray fashion, it stretches the imagination and goes beyond what you might expect. Gray has been working of late in the production industry, and he showcases some of his newfound talents on the video for “January Sky.”

Visually, it looks like some of the edgier videos Peter Gabriel did. Sonically, Gray says the record was designed to be listened to in the early morning. Gray will be our guest for an episode of Music Wednesdays (www.timesfree press. com/musicwednes days) on Feb. 8.

You can watch the “January Sky” video at https:// youtu.be/vY0yLEHJkuE.