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.
Three Flin Flon families have been honoured for their strong holiday spirit. The Mackie family on Bellevue Ave., the Dominey family on Dominion Blvd. and the Wall family on Wallace Ave. are the winners in this year's Light Up in the Spirit of Christmas contest for yard displays. The brightly-lit Mackie household at 83 Bellevue Ave. was chosen as the Best Display. "It's always an honour that people enjoy the display," said Laurel Mackie. "We get a lot of phone calls and we see people standing outside. We know people enjoy it, and that's why we do it." Visible from blocks away, the Mackie's display features hundreds of lights and for years has been among the more popular holiday displays in the community. Laurel noted that every aspect of the display is homemade. "We put a lot of work into it," she said. Included in the display are a set of Santa legs protruding from the chimney and colourful poinsettias. See 'Bell' P.# Con't from P.# High up on a ham radio tower in the back yard is a bell. The Mackie display received nationwide attention in 2002 when a photograph of it was featured on CTV's Canada AM. The Dominey family of 180 Dominion Blvd. won in the Most Lights category. Robert Dominey noted that the display took about 40 hours to complete. "I just enjoy being outside and I enjoy seeing what it looks like at the end of it all," he said. With all of those lights, Robert estimates that his power bill rises by about $30 during the holiday season ? but he said it's more than worth it. "We get a lot of comments and people will phone," he said. Winning in the Best Ice Sculpture category was the Wall family of 110 Wallace Ave. Three generations of the Wall family spent up to 30 hours working on the display, using ice blocks cut from the bay in front of their Bakers Narrows cabin. "The ice is there,the yard is there and the family is there, and they seem to want to do it," smiled Francis Wall. The display features a polar express theme, complete with a train and a station lit. To aid in nighttime viewing, the family placed spotlights to illuminate each carving. Each winning family received a plaque and five sets of LED lights. The Light Up in the Spirit of Christmas contest was sponsored by the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce and Manitoba Hydro.
