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.
Say it with me, people who haven't been to our community. "Flin Flon." There, that wasn't so hard, was it? It seems the admittedly unusual name of our community is always being twisted and mispronounced by those from outside the confines of our fair city. I've had plenty of firsthand experience of this phenomenon during various travels over the years. Whenever the question of where I was from came up, you can be sure my answer had to be repeated at least three times. "Flint what?" they ask. An online investigation found no less than nine misspellings of our community's name. Here are some of the more humourous examples: "...Bob (Clarke) should run for mayor in Flim Flam, Manitoba..." "...a number of other mines along the Flon Flon-Snow Lake greenstone belt..." "...Flin Flong, Canada..." "...a small town called Flip Flop..." "...Flim Flon Bombers..." "...but Terry-Lynn from Fin Flon..." "...his early childhood in both Flin Fon, Manitoba..." "...Flint Flon..." Truth be told, Flin Flon isn't all that odd of a name when you take a good look at the map. Some of our southern neighbours in the United States live in places like (and I'm not making these up) Idiotville, Oregon; Gnaw Bone, Indiana; Whoopee Hill, Kentucky; and Bummerville, California. My favourite, though, would have to be Toad Suck, Arkansas. Can you imagine telling someone with a straight face that you hail from Toad Suck? "Toad" or "Suck" would be unusual enough names on their own. Combine the two and it's extraordinarily silly. Sometimes town names are downright unpleasant (though I'm sure they're fine, fine communities). How would you like to visit, for example, Satan's Kingdom, Vermont or Hell, California? At the end of the day, Flin Flon's unique name is part of its charm. We should all be proud each time we get that funny look from the person who just asked us where we are from. "Flint what?" "Flin Flon." Local Angle runs Fridays.11/25/2005
