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.
Yesterday, Aug. 8, marked the 80th anniversary of the incorporation of Flin Flon. As part of an ongoing series of articles to celebrate this milestone, today The Reminder presents Flin Flon facts _ some well known, others not-so-well known _ in honour of 80 remarkable years. **** J.E. Preston Muddock, who wrote The Sunless City, the book from which Flin Flon got its name, was for a time as popular a detective author as Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle. On July 11, 1951, the first automobile crossed the bridge at Bakers Narrows. The Daily Reminder was first published on Oct. 16, 1946. On Oct. 18, 1946 came this newspaper's first birth announcements: Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Haggarty of 537 South Hudson had twins, a boy and a girl; Mr. and Mrs. John Zollen of the end of Adams Street had a baby boy; and Dr. and Mrs. Norman Stephansson of 64 Church Street had a baby girl. The budget to build the modern-day smoke stack was roughly $3 million. Flin Flon's first mayor, Ernest (Ernie) E. Foster, was elected on Sept. 29, 1933. Joining Mayor Foster on the inaugural town council were Jacob R. Adams, George T. Boam, Ben Longmore, Lewis S. Bell, Peter McSheffrey and George B. Mainwaring. The first parking meters were installed on Main Street on April 4, 1950. One cent bought 12 minutes of parking, two cents bought 24 minutes and up to five cents bought one hour of parking. One hour was the maximum time allotted. The City of Flin Flon publicly launched its website on Nov. 5, 1999. The Flin Flon Indian-M_tis Friendship Centre, now the Flin Flon Aboriginal Friendship Centre, first opened its doors in 1966 with funding in the amount of $3,930.15. CFAR hit the airwaves on Nov. 14, 1937. Flin Flon-born Dr. Frank Gunston is credited with inventing the first artificial knee. Three men _ Ernie Foster, Dr. Ernest Joseph Kelly and Arthur C. Horne _ were the candidates to become Flin Flon's first mayor in 1933. Foster won. On July 17, 1935, Mayor George B. Mainwaring and Rotary Club president (and former mayor) Ernie Foster officially opened Jubilee Playground (Rotary Park). The year 1935 saw the creation of the Flin Flon Bombers. The club got its familiar title in a 'name the team' contest. The franchise joined the SJHL in 1948. Incorporation of the North of 53 Consumers Co-op took place on Sept. 9, 1946. Lord Tweedsmuir is believed to have been the first Governor General of Canada to visit Flin Flon, in 1939. Both Jean Chr_tien and Paul Martin visited Flin Flon, the former in the late 1980s and the latter in 2001, before becoming prime minister. Before arriving in The Pas (and later Flin Flon), prospector Tom Creighton worked as a sailor. On June 2, 1962 Flin Flon got its first glimpse of television when a CBC affiliate went on the air for testing. CBWBT was officially launched later that month, on June 26. Flin Flon was the first municipality in Canada to sign a policing contract with the RCMP. The Flin Flon Skating and Hockey Club was formed in the fall of 1927 and raised $400 to build a rink on Flin Flon Lake. Constructed of fibreglass in 1962, Flinty stands 24 feet high atop his rock-lined concrete perch at the entrance of the Flin Flon Station Museum. In 1989 Flinty underwent extensive renovations and, amid some controversy, was relocated to an even higher perch at the museum entrance further east down Highway 10A. See 'Cigar' on pg. Continued from pg. Born in London, England, on Oct. 6, 1889, the cigar-chomping Jack Freedman became one of Flin Flon's most beloved _ and controversial _ mayors. Roger Avary, who co-wrote the Oscar-winning 1994 film Pulp Fiction, was born in Flin Flon. He moved to the U.S. as a young child. The Reminder switched from five days a week to three days a week in 2005. The local Knights of Columbus branch was formed on May 24, 1930. The Flin Flon Credit Union was incorporated on Jan. 10, 1940, with its office in a private home. Sportswriters still talk about Flin Flon's Bobby Clarke being selected so late in the 1969 NHL draft. Teams were scared off by the fact that he has diabetes. The Flin Flon Community Hall, complete with the R.H. Channing Auditorium, opened in 1958 with Mayor Frank Dembinsky cutting the ribbon. The name 'Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting' was officially phased out in 2012. All operations within Hudbay now carry the 'Hudbay' name. Flin Flon's Independent Order of Odd Fellows was chartered on January 15, 1930. The organization folded in 2012. With 8,000-plus people cramming the property, the Flin Flon Municipal Airport opened on May 26, 1962. Rather than scissors, pilot Steve Olench, with Mayor Freedman and Diefenbaker cabinet minister Gordon Churchill as passengers, taxied his Cessna aircraft through the ceremonial ribbon. Aviation in Flin Flon dates back to the community's early days, when float planes and similar aircraft known as flying boats would land on, and depart from, Schist Lake near Channing. In early 2007, five graying members of the 1957 Memorial Cup champion Flin Flon Bombers were on hand to unveil a street sign proclaiming the Whitney Forum as '57 Memorial Cup Drive. Milt Young's Sweet Shop, sometimes called Milt's Malt Shop, was a happening place to be for a generation of Flin Flon teens. The Flin Flon Miner, Flin Flon's first newspaper, launched in 1931. Two doctors _ dentist Ed Yauck and optometrist Graham Craig _ have served as mayor of Flin Flon. A crucial figure in the history of Flin Flon, R.H. Channing served as an agent for the Whitney interests involved in Manitoba exploration.
