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.
Babe McCullum and Beatty Byers are witnesses to local history like no others. Having moved to Flin Flon on January 11, 1929, they are believed to be this area's longest continuous residents. 'We grew up at Flin Flon Point,' notes Babe, still razor-sharp and vibrant at 86. Flin Flon Point, also known as Callinan Point or simply The Point, was an area north of the copper smelter where early residents made their modest homes. Among those residents were Victor and Isabel (better known as Isa) Bowes, who had made the move from Ontario. Jobs were scarce, so Victor, a plumber by trade, jumped at the chance to work for a young outfit known as Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Ltd. Though his family would not join him in Flin Flon until early 1929, Victor had started at the company in April of 1928. He used his off hours to build the family cabin at The Point. When Isa made the move several months later, she brought the couple's three young children: son Walter and daughters Babe and Beatty. Babe and Beatty, now 84, can still remember walking down the company rail tracks to attend school. Babe went to Main School, Flin Flon's first school building, which stood on what is now part of the hospital. Beatty, meanwhile, was a student in Flin Flon's first, or one of the first, kindergarten classes, held at the old Community Hall in the first half of the 1930s. As a child, Beatty came down with potentially fatal double pneumonia, prompting her doctor to recommend she drink fresh milk. Victor got the family a cow, humourously named Bossy, to supply milk not only to his children, but also to other kids at The Point. Bossy was believed to be the first cow in Flin Flon, and thankfully her nutritious milk helped nurse little Beatty back to health. Unfortunately, Bossy's own long-term prognosis was not so good. Flin Flon's first cow was fatally struck by one of the first trains passing through the community. Bossy's demise may have been big news at the time, but it was nothing compared to what remains one of the most famous events in Flin Flon history. Babe still recalls sights from the 1934 workers' strike at HBM&S, yet it was the compassion shown by several of the picketers that stands out. Since he was on staff at HBM&S, Victor had to work during the strike, leaving Isa to care for the children. One day during Victor's shift, Walter, then just eight or nine years old, came down with appendicitis. Learning of the situation, some of the striking men left the picket line to help Isa take the boy to the hospital. He would be fine. Some of Beatty's early memories revolve around the family heading to Main Street's Northern Cafe, a famed early business, each company pay day. 'We went to the Northern Cafe and had ice cream and those ice cream cookies,' Beatty recalls with delight. 'We never knew what ice cream was before that,' adds Babe, though her mom used to make homemade ice cream out of snow, sugar and vanilla. After leaving The Point, the Bowes family moved to the company apartments and, later, their own home on Church Street, where they met some of Flin Flon's other early families. Unlike many women of her era, Beatty enjoyed a full-fledged career. She spent 25 years at HBM&S, working as a secretary for the stewards department. 'We looked after the dorms and staffhouse and cafeteria,' she explains. Babe also worked at HBM&S, spending about six years in the pay office. Prior to that she was employed at the now-defunct Blue and White grocery store. Both Babe and Beatty married company men, with Cliff McCullum taking Babe as his bride and Del Byers taking Beatty as his. Babe and Cliff had three kids, which led to four grandchildren but, as of yet, no great-grandchildren. Beatty had no children of her own but, as Babe puts it, 'my kids are her kids.' Both sisters are now widows, with Cliff having passed away in 2008 and Del following in 2011. Between the two couples were 110 years of solid marriage. Babe and Beatty have also lost their siblings, as both Walter and younger sister June Johnson, born in Flin Flon in 1933, are no longer with us. The surviving sisters have persevered through the loss with the support of family and a community they never wanted to leave. Asked what she likes best about the Flin Flon area, Babe cites not only the close-knit nature, but also the scenic lakes and the safe environment. 'We never had to lock our doors until recently,' she says. While Babe and Beatty are true pioneers of Flin Flon, they hold the same title for the neighbouring community of Denare Beach. As children their parents maintained a 'shack tent' _ a wooden floor with fabric walls _ at Denare Beach's main beach. It was the family's getaway destination each and every summer. All these years later, Babe and Beatty now call Denare Beach their year-round home. All told, five generations of their family spend all or part of summer in the peaceful village. What's striking about Babe today is her youthfulness. Her keen mind, not-fully-white hair and fierce independence belie her 86 (soon to be 87) years. She drives her own car, owns a cell phone and can ring off the dates of life milestones with a speed that brings shame to people half her age. So what's Babe's secret? 'I never drink, I never smoke, but I swear sometimes,' she says jokingly.
