Flin Flon is so full of characters that Bill Gaston could write a book about it.
Gaston, the not-actually-from-Flin Flon author who claimed to be from Flin Flon made a Maclean’s headline earlier this week, along with area resident Greg East.
East intends to present Gaston with an official certificate of honourary Flin Flon residency in BC, signed by the mayor and all, to make an honest man of him.
The lede of the Maclean’s article sums up so many questions quite well: “Who lies about being born in Flin Flon?”
The obvious follow up is, “And how did he get away with it for so long?”
It’s a place where a person who grew up here can tell you in complete and intricate detail who all of their local relatives are, who they married, who they grew up with and who those people married, all of their children, where they socialized in what year and with whom, and who left town and when. It’s impressive, really.
There’s not much wiggle room when it comes to the collective Flin Flon memory, so it’s difficult to understand how Gaston somehow slipped through the cracks.
Gaston said the fib rolled off the tip of his tongue one time, decades ago. He’d heard his dad talk of epic fishing trips in our neck of the woods.
It alludes an example of a line that is tossed around often, particularly in circles of leaders and stakeholders in the community: “Flin Flon is known far and wide.”
Flin Flon’s actual celebrity products probably have something to do with the widely known nature of the place – hockey legend Bobby Clarke, and Dr. Frank Gunston, who created the world’s first artificial knee, to name a few.
But it’s the average Joes – or maybe they aren’t so average – from Flin Flon who represent themselves so well elsewhere that also give this place its good name in other corners of the world.
It’s the people who act as ambassadors – who wear a T-shirt promoting a local artist in other provinces and countries, who tell stories about life working at the mine in other communities, who share a laugh about a funny thing that happened here one summer – who make it a place worth remembering.
The kind of people who make a stop along the way with a token of good will from a town in northern Manitoba with a strange sounding name.
And while Gaston may wish he were from here – and can now say he is, in fact, a resident – there are those who wanted to be here and made it happen. People who moved here, loved it and stayed for a length of time.
These are the characters Gaston can now call neighbours. They are sure to inspire him if he makes his way to Flin Flon, as they are part of the heart of the community, and what makes it so appealing as a hometown.
