As the Flin Flon Homecoming approaches, I have found myself reflecting on my life and the circumstances that brought me to this place of beauty I call home.
This is a story about a smart, well-respected, kind, compassionate man, a man who was an important part of Flin Flon’s history. A man who knew everyone and everyone knew him. This man’s name was Peter Boyd, and he was my father.
My parents, Peter and Corinne Boyd, were both born and raised in Winnipeg. They were married in 1948.
Dad was employed by Famous Players Theatres as assistant manager of the Metropolitan Gaiety and Capitol theatres in Winnipeg. In 1952 he accepted a transfer with Famous Players to become the manager of the Northland Theatre in Flin Flon.
The transfer was supposed to be for a two-year term, at which time he would return to Winnipeg. Mom and Dad arrived in Flin Flon with their four-year-old son Ken and their baby daughter Lisa (myself) to begin their new life in this unique community.
Fluent in Ukrainian courtesy of his parents, Dad could converse with members of Flin Flon’s Ukrainian community. He immediately became involved in the Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club, Phantom Lake Golf Club, minor hockey and minor ball, while Mom joined the Lion L’s, where she used her creative talents in organizing many of their social events. We became parishioners of St. Ann’s/St. Paul’s Catholic Parish.
The theatre business was thriving in Flin Flon with the Northland Theatre being a very exciting place to go. Showtimes were 7 pm and 9 pm nightly, with Saturday matinees attracting long lineups of children at 1 pm and 3 pm.
Every Sunday featured a midnight movie, which was very popular with shiftworkers at Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting. The theatre also hosted local talent shows and, on at least one occasion, the renowned hypnotist Reveen.
Two years went by quickly and my parents made the decision to stay in Flin Flon, where Dad could continue to manage the theatre.
Four more Boyd children were born in Flin Flon: Vernon, Nikki, Todd and Lashia. The Northland Theatre was a happy and exciting place for the Boyd children. We were able to treat our friends to movies, give theatre passes to our teachers, and meet and spend time with the employees.
Even though Dad was very busy with the operation of the theatre, he always found time to fit in part-time employment with other businesses in town, such as Kullberg’s Furniture and Excelsior Fuel and Ice, to name a couple.
This allowed Mom to concentrate on the important job of raising six children, introducing us to the many activities Flin Flon had to offer, such as hockey, figure skating, baseball, music lessons, ballet, gymnastics and Ukrainian dance. We were able to spend every summer day at Phantom Lake, where Dad regularly fit in a round of golf.
Dad was a sports enthusiast who had played hockey and baseball while living in Winnipeg. He was asked to write a column for the Winnipeg Tribune, reporting on sporting events in Flin Flon. I recall watching many baseball games with him at Foster Park as well as hockey games that he reported on.
There were two movie theatres in Flin Flon at the time. When TV arrived, there was no longer room for both of them. Famous Players closed the Northland Theatre in 1963.
Shortly after the closure, Dad went into partnership in the lumber and building supplies business under the name Flin Flon Building Supplies Ltd. The business operated out of the industrial area of Flin Flon, later moving to Main Street.
In 1975 Dad became the sole owner of Flin Flon Building Supplies Ltd. He operated a successful business that grew to include hardware and sporting goods.
Dad had wonderful employees and sold sporting goods to everyone in town. He supplied hockey sticks and skates to the Flin Flon Bombers. His window always displayed photos of the Bombers teams as well as photos of individual Bombers who would send him pictures after advancing to the NHL. All of us Boyd children learned about business working at the store in our youth.
Dad was a long-time executive member of the Flin Flon Bombers and the Western Canada Hockey League. He loved serving in this capacity, especially throughout the exciting era of Bob Clarke, Reggie Leach and Gerry Hart. He always sponsored a minor hockey team under the name Flin Flon Building Supplies.
Throughout Dad’s life in Flin Flon from the 1950s to 1995, he enjoyed weekly poker games with his many friends. In the early days the games took place after hours at the Northland Theatre; after the theatre closed he and his buddies rented an apartment for the weekly games. Whatever it took for the love of the game!
Dad once told me he was so excited to get to his poker game one winter night that he forgot to turn the car off. When he came out in the wee hours of the morning, his car was out of gas. He always had the ability to laugh at himself.
Dad closed the doors of Flin Flon Building Supplies in 1988 but never slowed down. He worked as a part-time guard with both the Flin Flon and Creighton RCMP detachments. He had the utmost respect for the members and the work they do.
He explored many other interests in his retirement, such as selling used furniture out of the Flin Flon Building Supplies location, and buying pelts from trappers and selling them to fur buyers. We jokingly called him a fur trader and used-furniture dealer extraordinaire.
Dad was always joking with people he met and had a great sense of humour. My husband recalls a person from an outlying area coming into the hardware store one day and saying, “Pete, I have a bear problem and need to buy a gun.” My dad replied, “You don’t need a gun, I will sell you a sign that says ‘No bears allowed.’” That comment inspired my husband to make that sign, which still sits in our yard.
He was a generous gentleman who had a way of brightening people’s days. People still tell us about his acts of kindness. We hear stories of him giving people sports equipment from Flin Flon Building Supplies for free to enable their children to play a sport; of him giving theatre passes to people so they could enjoy a movie; and of what a kind boss he was.
Dad was a familiar face on Main Street. You would find him in front of the Northland Theatre in the early years or in front of Flin Flon Building Supplies welcoming you to Flin Flon if you were new to town – and he was always interested in your life story.
He was a devoted father and grandfather who loved and was proud of all of us. He was a friend to all of his children and grandchildren’s friends, often having cute nicknames for them.
Today as I think of my parents in Heaven, embracing their first-born and last-born children, I am deeply grateful for the decision they made in 1952, the one that will always allow their children to call Flin Flon home.
Lisa Crone is the daughter of Peter and Corinne Boyd. She and her husband Roger live at Sourdough Bay, a beautiful cottage area just outside of Flin Flon. It is their favourite place on God’s earth.
