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.
There was no better way to ring in the new year for Mandy Ballantyne and Justin Halcrow than the arrival of their first child. Justin Ryan Halcrow-Ballantyne came into the world at 11:38 a.m. on New Year's Day, giving him the title of Flin Flon's New Year's Baby. Justin is the first child born to Mandy Ballantyne of Deschambault Lake and Justin Halcrow of Pelican Narrows. The infant weighed nine pounds, one ounce and measured 22 inches long. It didn't take long for young Justin to receive his very first gift. Sally Popp, president of the Flin Flon Health Auxiliary, presented Justin and his mother with a Christmas stocking and a spoon. The group has been presenting gifts to the first baby of the new year each year for a number of years. Justin's proud parents planned to head back to Deschambault Lake by today with other family members who made the trip in for the birth. Hospital staff commented that the New Year's Baby usually doesn't arrive this early into the new year. The first baby of 2003, Clara Marie Michel of Pelican Narrows, wasn't born until January 5. Inside today's Reminder is a special insert celebrating the New Year's Baby.
