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.
Jonathon Naylor Editor The holidays may be over, but Dianne O'Brien is already back in the Christmas spirit. The Main Street Business Builders Committee, which she chairs, has for months been working toward purchasing a towering artificial Christmas tree for Pioneer Square. Now, after accepting a $10,000 donation on behalf of the committee last week, O'Brien says there is little doubt the tree will be in place for next Christmas. 'This definitely took me from 'I'm not sure' to 'Yes, I know we can get there,'' she says. 'I'm very excited.' The committee has devised a budget of about $30,000, most of which will go toward a 24-foot artificial tree to replace the real trees the city purchases and erects each holiday season. The cash will also fund a four-foot star to top the tree and, potentially, decorations and any costs associated with storing and putting up the tree. From that budget, the committee has already purchased string lights that were wrapped around the light standards along Main St. over the Christmas season. 'I know now with this (new funding) that come June I'm going to have raised enough money to buy that tree, buy the star, get the support stuff and have it ready for Christmas,' says O'Brien. O'Brien smiled gratefully as she accepted the latest funding source, a $10,000 grant from the HudBay Minerals 80th Anniversary Fund. 'This money is going to go a long way to helping us procure any other grants we might need,' she says. The Main Street Business Builders Committee now has $17,500 for the tree project, or nearly 60 per cent of the required total. Other funding has so far come from the committee itself, Pepsi and the Flin Flon Neighbourhood Revitalization Corporation. Landscaping Also last week, the HudBay fund presented $10,400 to pay for landscaping at the Flin Flon Station Museum. Lois (Bunny) Burke, museum treasurer, said the landscaping will be completed in front of the displays located near the entrance to the museum property. The work is expected to be completed by the end of August. As The Reminder reported Friday, HudBay also last week contributed $106,844 to the planned Flin Flon skate park to be located near Many Faces Education Centre. All three presentations were made simultaneously at the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce meeting, held at the Friendship Centre Restaurant.
