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.
By Jonathon Naylor When you see something virtually every week for virtually all of your adult life, it's easy to forget that not everyone views it through the same lens as you. So I was a little taken aback last summer when I heard a young visitor to our community observe that Flinty 'looks pretty weird.' I was so used to that towering statue along Highway 10A that I had to stop and think for a moment: Is it true? Is Flinty's appearance really that odd? I drove by the pudgy explorer's perch near the Station Museum. As I looked up at the man himself, I had to concede that the young visitor had a point. After all this time, I noticed things about Flinty that had previously eluded me. His posture looked awfully awkward, even for a guy bent down on one knee. His protruding ears reminded me of the ears that I used to add, almost as an afterthought, to my Play-doh men as a child. I noticed Flinty's tenuous, almost forced smile and his rounded overbite. I beheld his crazy polka-dotted tie, his unusual, red-rimmed spectacles and just how unflattering a dark green jacket can be. Yep, Flinty is a strange-looking character indeed, I admitted to myself, not really handsome but certainly cute in an eccentric sort of way. But I must add that this realization did nothing to dampen my love for the guy. Enduring symbol As you read earlier in this paper, Flinty is celebrating his 50th birthday this year. During that time, the statue _ both at its current site and its pre-1989 location across from the Gateway _ has been an enduring symbol of our fair city. He has been photographed thousands of times, referenced in dozens, perhaps hundreds of media reports and suffered untoward vandalism. He has greeted visitors and returning residents 24 hours a day, seven days a week, snow or shine. He has helped tell the remarkable story of Flin Flon in a way that no simple plaque or sign ever could. No matter how you slice it, Flinty is an integral component of Flin Flon _ in visual terms, in cultural terms, in historical terms. Sure he lacks the impressive detail of Thompson's King Miner statue. Sure he's starting to peel from decades out in the harsh northern climate. And sure the placement of his left thumb is, shall we say, rather unfortunate. But Flinty is, and always will be, a part of us. He holds a special place in the heart of anyone who has ever called this community home. Happy birthday to you, Josiah. * * * Kudos to the Flinty Committee for gifting an original copy of The Sunless City to City Hall last weekend. This rare novel will now find a (hopefully) prominent place at City Hall where we can all have a look at the text that gave Flin Flon its name. Local Angle runs Fridays.
