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Letter to the Editor: Fears Flin Flon’s rich military history will be lost

Dear Editor, A few years ago, I penned the article “Santa comes from Flin Flon” in honour of my grandfather, Ben Grimmelt, who immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in 1926 and subsequently made his home in Flin Flon.

Dear Editor,

A few years ago, I penned the article “Santa comes from Flin Flon” in honour of my grandfather, Ben Grimmelt, who immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in 1926 and subsequently made his home in Flin Flon.

The Reminder and Cottage North featured this story, as it captures the early days in Flin Flon and highlights a few of the accomplishments of one of Flin Flon’s historical figures.

Among many noteworthy accomplishments to my grandfather’s credit (one being the promotion of imagination in children, another being his interrogation of German officers at the end of the Second World War in the Netherlands), I worry the significance of the role he, and many of the brave men from Flin Flon played in the theatre of the Second World War, will be forgotten.

I also fear that with the major downsizing of the military exhibit at the Flin Flon Station Museum (I read to the tune of a 99 per cent reduction to the military section), his and other significant (now passed) Flin Flonners’ contribution to Flin Flon’s history, and the remarkable bravery they showed, will no longer be showcased in their hometown, but will also be lost forever.

Though I am biased in my love and admiration for my Opa, I can’t help but ask the residents of Flin Flon, do you really support this downsizing? To do away with your own history, and diminish the importance of your own historical characters (namely Ben Grimmelt, Peter Popp, Ralph Bloomfield and Gordon Naylor) may be a grave disservice to yourselves and future generations.

Sir Winston Churchill said, “Those who fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it…” Lest We Forget?
Michelle Grimmelt
Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba
[Editor’s note: Tom Heine, chairman of the Flin Flon Station Museum, has said the space allotted for the military exhibit will be reduced, but by far less than the figure mentioned in this letter).

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