Crystal Kolt is one of the most recent recipients of the King Charles III Coronation Medal. The Flin Flon arts figure was honoured in Winnipeg last month for her contributions to northern culture and life.
Kolt received the award during a ceremony at Government House in Winnipeg Oct. 24, being presented the medal by Manitoba Lieutenant Governor Anita Neville. Kolt was one of 55 Manitobans to earn the honour.
“This really was an amazing experience. I don’t think I realized exactly how wonderful it was going to be and the people who I was in the presence of there - there were so many of use that got the medal that day, the very first dispersal of those medals at Government House,” said Kolt.
Kolt received the honour for her time spent promoting and organizing arts and cultural events in Flin Flon, whether it be through her over 15 years as cultural coordinator for the Flin Flon Arts Council, organizing Flin Flon Culture Days, serving as the long-time conductor for the Flin Flon Community Choir and helping cofound and organize the Blueberry Jam Music Gathering. Kolt now serves with the City of Flin Flon as its director of culture and community initiatives and still works with the Uptown Emporium and the imagiNorthern campaign, a group meant to inspire and assist northern artists she started while with the council.
Kolt found out she would receive the medal a couple of weeks before the ceremony, but knew someone had put her name forward for it months ago. After allowing her name to stand, she forgot about it until her phone rang last month.
“It was kind of a surprise to me personally, to be able to know at this point that people I’ve met have really supported me, have supported Flin Flon. It was a wonderful experience,” she said.
Kolt said that the celebrations always feel slightly odd, particularly for someone in the north not used to major galas and events, but the honourees have always earned the accolades through their own hard work and she tries to learn new things from them.
“I always feel a little uncomfortable with it all, but at the same time, I also believe that these things need to be acknowledged and recognized. Otherwise, nobody knows the great things that are happening in our province and it's just a little summary of the many, many things that are going on,” she said.
“You know that there are people who are really trying to make our province a better place to live in than it was before. They’re spending a lot of their life and a lot of their time and energy into these things for the love of it.“
Kolt has a long list of honours she’s received for her work in Flin Flon. These include the Order of Manitoba, to which she was inducted in 2012 - Kolt is the only Flin Flonner to be inducted to the order. Kolt also received both the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee and Platinum Jubilee medals in 2012 and 2022 respectively, along with the Lieutenant Governor’s Volunteer Award in 2012 and the Rotary Club’s Paul Harris Award.
Ever the promoter, Kolt even used the event as a chance to get some of Manitoba’s movers and shakers up to speed about Flin Flon and the goings-on up north.
“Whenever I attend these things, I almost have an ulterior motive - to have an opportunity for people to get to know Flin Flon, get to know our projects or things that I'm trying to do and have an opportunity to speak with people face to face,” she said.
“When you're in a rural community, it's harder to do, but this was it in spades.”
