Hapnot Lake Wetland Conservation Project is located in downtown Flin Flon.
Don’t forget to attend one of the city’s many festivals or hit a round of golf during your stay. Manitoba’s sixth largest city, Flin Flon is one of only two border cities in Canada. It straddles the Manitoba–Sas-
Residents dance down Main Street during Culture Days.
katchewan border, with the tiny town of Creighton on the Saskatchewan side. Flin Flon is definitely a place to put on your “to visit” list. What a wonderful and diverse province we live in.
Flin Flon’s remarkable Crystal Kolt
Flin Flon, population 5,836, has always been an unlikely place – a place of dreams and of “strange things done in the midnight sun” (Robert Service). We think of Flintabbatey Flonatin and cartoonist Al Capp, of the search for minerals and the discovery of copper and zinc, and the smoke-belching smelt- er that fueled the economy for much of a century. Then there was the medical marijuana plant deep in an abandoned mine that supplied buds to Health Canada for several years.
No less than 17 major NHL stars, includ- ing Bobby Clark, came out of Flin Flon and a Flin Flon-born doctor, Dr. Frank Gunston, gets credit for the first artificial knee replacement. Neil Young’s grand- parents are also products of Flin Flon.
Today, instead of minerals and mari- juana, the town’s major claim to fame is – the arts! Thanks to an extraordinary woman named Crystal Kolt, Flin Flon has become the culture capital of northern Manitoba – perhaps even of northern Canada.
When Culture Days, a national celebra- tion of arts and culture in Canada, was initiated in Manitoba by former chair of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Jean Giguere, Crystal took on the massive job of orga- nizing participation by the towns in the northern half of this province. In 2013, Flin Flon hosted the seventh largest (50 separate events) Culture Days celebra- tion in Canada!
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Crystal Kolt has helped make Flin Flon the culture capital of northern Manitoba.
Crystal chairs the Flin Flon Arts Council, which promotes arts and culture in the town and surrounding areas. It supports local talent, including the Flin Flon Community Choir (led by Crystal), the Flin Flon Theatre Group, the Northern Palette Art Club, Flin Flon Pottery Club and the North Star Quilter’s Guild, as well as numerous other arts groups and touring artists.
This remarkable woman sings, conducts and plays several instruments. A graduate of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Music, she studied piano in New York City with Jeaneane Dowis, a teacher at Julliard. She and her now- lawyer husband, Mark, also a musician, have become the lynchpins of art and culture in Flin Flon. Together, they have so nurtured the talent of others that
the Flin Flon Community Choir has performed with the Winnipeg Sympho- ny Orchestra and in Carnegie Hall for the New York premiere of Celtic Mass for the Sea by Canadian composer Scott Macmillan.
Most recently, Crystal has helped create the Flin Flon Film and Music Co-op to provide opportunities for burgeoning northern film makers.
That dry recitation of her contributions and achievements in no way does justice to the vibrant and dynamic live woman. Crystal is usually the happiest person in the room, spreading optimism and energy like sunshine on all those around her. She inspires people with her passion and impresses with her modesty.
Over the past couple years Crystal has been rewarded for her efforts. A recipi- ent of the Order of Manitoba, she is now on the Manitoba Arts council, a continu- ing member of Culture Days Manitoba, and was also given the Leadership award by the National Culture Days board of which she is now a member – but none of this has weighed her down with her own importance.
Crystal is thrilled that Flin Flon has been chosen to host the Manitoba Contact Showcase this October, where 15 of the top Canadian artists will gather to show off their talents. It’s just one more achievement to add to her list, which is endlessly focused on promoting the artistic talents of her community.
Summer 2015 • 49
Supplied photo.
Photo credit: Culture Days Flin Flon, Daniel Dillon.
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