The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor On the outside, Crystal Kolt wore a bright white smile as she accepted her province's highest honour. On the inside, the Flin Flon arts advocate was overcome with awe at her induction into the prestigious Order of Manitoba. 'It was so much more than I could have expected,' says Kolt, who was in Winnipeg for a formal ceremony last Thursday, July 12. 'It was really awesome in the literal term.' Kolt was one of 14 people _ and the lone northerner _ inducted into the Order by Lt.-Gov. Philip Lee at the Legislative Building. 'It is a really humbling experience,' she says. 'The other recipients, they're such amazing and significant people in the province, or in Canada. 'I think I've never been as nervous as being acknowledged at that moment with those people.' Kolt says the honour _ which includes a medal and a framed certificate _ is not solely an individual achievement. 'I wouldn't be able to do the things that I do unless people sort of jumped on the bandwagon with some of my wacky ideas,' she says, 'and so it's a real public acknowledgment of what the North can do, to a certain extent, and what an individual can do, whether it's myself or whomever.' See 'Kolt...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 1 While Kolt has plenty of support in both the Flin Flon and northern Manitoba arts communities, her own drive has been integral to the success of a range of arts initiatives. She works as cultural coordinator of the Flin Flon Arts Council and is musical director of the widely acclaimed Flin Flon Community Choir. Some of her accomplishments in those roles include helping to organize Flin Flon's Culture Days celebrations and the recent Royal Weekend in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee. She has also been fundamental to the many blockbuster musicals of the Community Choir, which she and husband Mark founded in 1996. Among their more memorable performances are 1999's Bombertown, which told the story of the underdog Flin Flon Bombers' 1957 Memorial Cup win, 2007's Beauty and the Beast, and 2011's Fiddler on the Roof. In 2002, Crystal was among 23 Community Choir members to take to the stage of New York City's world-renowned Carnegie Hall. And she was essential to securing the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's historic performances in Flin Flon, The Pas and Thompson this past spring. If that (and much more) weren't enough, Crystal is part of an effort to bring a prominent arts academy to the Flin Flon area. 'We have a very strong, strong (arts) community here, so this would be the logical place, or close by here,' says Crystal, who moved to Flin Flon from Winnipeg in 1995. Nomination Crystal is not sure who put her name forth for the Order of Manitoba, but she believes her husband played a role, as did friends who supported her nomination. It usually takes three years before a nominee is awarded the honour, but against the odds, she made the cut in the first year. Kolt recalls the induction ceremony, where family and friends joined her, as 'an extremely dignified experience.' 'It was a very sophisticated, very regal ceremony,' Crystal adds. 'I really didn't know what to expect going into it.' Lt.-Gov. Lee, the chancellor of the Order, inducted 13 other individuals along with Crystal. They were: Mark Chipman, whose company brought the NHL back to Winnipeg; Al Simmons, an award-winning family entertainer and philanthropist; Randy Moffat, former head of Moffat Communications, who created the Moffat Family Fund; Etienne Gaboury, an architect who designed Winnipeg's Royal Canadian Mint, St. Boniface Cathedral and Esplanade Riel; Art Miki, a key player in bringing to fruition the historic Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement of 1988; Deborah Thorlakson, a volunteer who has aided foundations, organizations and boards across Manitoba. Brian Postl, the founding president and CEO of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority; Bob Silver, president of Western Glove Works, co-owner of the Winnipeg Free Press and the chancellor of the University of Winnipeg; Pauline Clarke, Winnipeg School Division chief superintendent, whose work on inner-city education is distinguished; James Coyne, the second governor of the Bank of Canada, who helped promote the autonomy of the central bank; ÊDarlene Dziewit, former president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour; ÊLen Flett, former vice-president of the North West Company, who created employment for aboriginal people; and Leslie Spillett, principal founder of Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc., who is an advocate for Winnipeg's inner-city and aboriginal community. The Order of Manitoba has now inducted 172 members since its inception in 1999.
