Hay River (Apr 11/05) - When the long-running CBC TV program 'On the Road Again' is seeking unique people to profile, it often looks north to the NWT.

Over the past 18 years, it has interviewed dozens of Northerners.

And the show, hosted by Wayne Rostad, plans to be back in the NWT in July.

The TV show 'On the Road Again' will be filming Hay River barber Henry White as he takes his hair-cutting skills to Fort Simpson and Fort Providence this summer. - Elizabeth Hargreaves/NNSL photo

So far, it has contacted one person to interview - travelling barber Henry White of Hay River.

White will be followed on a circuit to Fort Simpson and Fort Providence.

"I'm looking forward to it," he says, adding he was surprised and flattered when contacted by the show's producers.

"I think it's awesome," he adds.

The producers of 'On the Road Again' found out about White's travels on the Internet. In fact, it was on the Northern News Services Ltd. website, which contains a News/North story on the travelling barber from 2000.

White has been living in Hay River for about nine years. He moved from his native Labrador, where he also took his barbering skills to remote communities.

Rostad says the show makes a point of coming to the North to meet its many unique people.

"The North is the North," he says. "It will forever stand out like a beacon on the Canadian landscape."

Rostad says he loves the Northern attitude - a lack of false mannerisms and a sense of individuality. "The people are wonderful. They shoot from the hip."

Malcolm Hamilton, a producer with 'On the Road Again' in Ottawa, agrees the North is "absolutely" fertile ground to find unique characters.

"There's just a strong individuality and strength of the people there," Hamilton says.

On a per capita basis, 'On the Road Again' likely interviews more people in the North than anywhere else in Canada.

Hamilton says the show is looking for a couple of more interesting people to interview in July. He says anyone who may know of someone who might make a good profile can contact the show (www.cbc.ca\ontheroadagain).

The producer says the general guideline is that a person must have an interesting personality and be a "character." The person should also be doing something that is out of the ordinary and visually interesting. As for White's travels as a barber, Hamilton says, "That's got visuals built in."