One of America’s leading pop culture and political websites just devoted 999 words to the story of Flin Flon.
The Daily Beast published “Inside Flin Flon, a Town of Gold, Ganja, and Hockey” last Sunday,
Oct. 11.
“A town by any other name might just be your
typical company mining town in the remote reaches of Manitoba, Canada,” begins journalist Nina Strochlic. “But not so for the sci-fi-loving, marijuana-growing, NHL-player-breeding hamlet of Flin Flon.”
Strochlic refers to Flin Flon’s “minuscule yet eccentric population” and to the community’s ore-generated origins a century ago.
She unravels the well-known story of how Flin Flon got its name and touches on how the community entered – and then exited – the medicinal marijuana scene with a government-sanctioned grow-up.
Strochlic throws in some lesser-known tidbits, including the tale of Flin Flon servicemen throwing a reunion in London during the Second World War in 1943.
The gathering “stretched through the day and ended only when the bar’s entire supply of alcohol had been depleted,” she writes, citing The Maclean’s Book of Lists as her source.
Strochlic covers more familiar ground by delving into Flin Flon’s deep hockey roots. At least 17 Flin Flon players have cracked the NHL, she writes.
She also landed an interview with long-time Flin Flon resident and former mayor Dennis Ballard.
Among the good-natured 74-year-old’s thoughts: “When you go somewhere and say you’re from Flin Flon, the first thing people say is, ‘That’s a weird name.’ Then they say, ‘The Flin Flon Bombers.’”
Ballard describes his fellow Flin Flonners as “a bit wild and unruly” and without “the same inhibitions” as others.
“There’s an old saying,” he adds. “‘Once a Flin Flonner, always a Flin Flonner.’”
How Strochlic got wind of Flin Flon is unclear. She did not respond to an interview request, but an automated email response informed that she has now moved on to National Geographic magazine, where she begins work in November.
According to Capital New York, as of June 2014 the Daily Beast enjoyed a monthly average of more than 17 million unique visitors. The site also won a Webby Award for Best News Site in 2012 and 2013.
