Pride Month may be over, but Flin Flon Pride’s plans are just beginning. The group’s annual celebration of the north’s LGBTQ+ community will start in earnest next week.
The Reminder is among the top three finishers in the Salute to Veterans category for the paper’s Remembrance Day special section, which was released Nov. 4. The section was compiled mainly by volunteer Morley Naylor and worked on by Sharon Kirkup, Shannon Thompson, Tracy Trydal, Eric Westhaver and other members of the Reminder team. Westhaver is in consideration for five individual awards, including four for writing and one for photography. Westhaver is one of three candidates for the group’s Photographer of the Year award, with five photos selected by The Reminder being sent for competition judges’ consideration. Those photos include images of a large fire near the Co-op cardlock facility at Timber Lane last May, from the Drag Queen Mermaid event last July, photos from last summer’s Canada Day parade, an image of slo-pitch player Alex Quaal hitting a softball and a photo showing a socially-distanced Halloween snack chute on Hemlock Drive.
“We’re still working out the details,” said Pride organizer Jordana Oulette. Perhaps the biggest change is when this year’s event will take place. Instead of taking place in mid-to-late August like last year’s Pride, this year’s Flin Flon Pride will take place in early July, not long after Canada Day. Flin Flon’s city council approved a measure during their April 6 meeting to proclaim July 2-11 as “Flin Flon Pride Week”, matching up with the dates suggested by the Pride group. The festivities, on first glance, line up close to the Flin Flon Trout Festival, which is typically observed on the last weekend of June or first weekend of July. However, this year’s Trout Festival does not yet have a firm date or events list, leaving the early July time slot available for Pride.