Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen delivered the following member’s statement in the legislature on Wednesday, June 10:
I have been looking forward to giving this member’s statement all session.
Back in March, Travel Manitoba put on the Roadside Madness competition, pitting prairie giants from all over Manitoba against each other to find out which one of these iconic statues is most popular.
You may already have guessed who won the competition since I’m giving this statement, and you would be right.
The grand champion at the end of the day was none other than Flin Flon’s fabulously famous figure, Flintabbatey Flonatin.
The competition was held in a single elimination format, and people from across the province were able to cast their votes for their favourite roadside attraction.
In each consecutive round, the attraction that received the most votes moved on to the next round. It seems that Flinty was a crowd favourite right from the start.
In the first round of the competition he sped past McCreary’s Alpine Archie with ease. In the next round, Flinty was matched up against Dauphin’s Beaver, who tried to take a bite out of him but couldn’t hack it.
In the quarter-final round, Gimli’s Viking gave him a good fight but Flinty ended up giving him the axe. The semifinals saw Flinty matched up against Erickson’s Viking Ship, which he scuttled handily.
It was the final round that was truly a matchup of titans: Flintabbatey Flonatin versus Glenboro’s Sara the Camel. In the end just over 7,000 Manitobans cast their vote and helped Flinty leave Sarah hogtied in the dust.
I know that all 32 communities in Manitoba who are home to roadside attractions are very proud of their giants. From Churchill’s polar bear to Steinbach’s Rolls Royce, these statues are full of charm and they often tell a story of their town.
But Flintabbatey Flonatin wasn’t worried about their charm. He tamed the polar bear and crushed the Rolls.
Flinty really doesn’t like to gloat; he’s far too modest for that, so I have to do the gloating for him. There can no longer be any doubt as to which town has the greatest attraction, and I think Flinty wears that honour well.
