Flin Flon museum dedicates Christmas light display to memory of volunteers

The Flin Flon Station Museum light display has been a tradition in the city for decades, but this year it's taken on added meaning: It's being dedicated to the memory of a pair of dedicated volunteers who passed away in 2025 .

The display is smaller this year than usual, but plenty of lights still shine brightly on the museum’s building, its trademark front arch and on its Santa Claus and snowman statutes. The train cars and exhibits out front are bedecked in lights – even Flin Flon’s famed Flinty statue is lit up red for the season.

Overseeing the display's construction is museum board chair Joe Buie. And while the annual display dates back decades, he says, this year has taken on a special meaning. It isn’t simply about celebrating the season, but two people who helped make the annual display part of Flin Flon's culture: Ron Dodds and Glen Eggert.

Dodds, who was on the museum’s board for four decades, had been the display’s main organizer, gathering volunteers and finding equipment. Dodds said every year he was doing it for the last time – but he always came back, Buie recalled

He “was always looking to have some fun and that's what I really liked about Ron," Buie said. "He just wanted to have fun and he brought everyone to laughter. That’s just the guy he was.”

Dodds stepped down from the board in 2021, but still came out to help set up the lights each winter, well into his eighties.

“Ron and I almost talked on the phone every day," Buie said. "We talked about the latest and greatest projects; we talked about what day we're going to set up the lights; what day we're going to take down the lights, because you put them up you also have to take them down.”

Late last month, when the board gathered to put the display up, Dodds didn't arrive.

“The day we were going to set up the lights, nobody could find Ron," Buie recalled. "He had fallen at home and then ended up in the hospital.”

Dodds died on Dec. 2 without seeing his lights one last time.

Making things even harder this year was the death in October of Eggert, 75, another long-time volunteer, Buie says. He had worked alongside Buie and Dodds for years, and helped restore several of the museum’s exhibits.

Buie and the remaining board members had to chart a new course, but their goal was clear.

“I just want to make sure this tradition is carried on. I'd like to dedicate this to Glen Eggert and Ron Dodds this year because they they were special board members and put a lot of work into this — not just the lights, but the museum itself. I really miss them,” he said.

Buie said the light display is both a celebration of Flin Flon and proof that the legacy of Dodds, Eggert and others will live on.

Major motivation

The display is one of the first things people see on their way into town, Buie says, and seeing their smiles is a major motivation.

“They just love the lights," Buie said. "They can't wait for them to be turned on. They say Christmas isn't Christmas until we see the lights on at the museum, so it makes me inspired to get out here, even though it's cold, to get them set up and get them working,” he said.

“It gives me a sense of pride and joy, especially when you're coming from southern parts of the province and the first thing you see is these lights.”

Buie hopes to rally more volunteers next year to help keep the tradition alive.

“It's going to carry on one way or the other, just in memory of people like those people that have passed on or moved on,” he said.

“I'd like to see some more board members come on board, so that we can keep this legacy going. We’re always looking for new people with fresh ideas that we can get together and build on this.”