Lögberg-Heimskringla - 12.05.1978, Blaðsíða 2

Lögberg-Heimskringla, föstudagur 12 maí 1978
From Húsavík
to Vancouver
She comes from Husavik,
a small village on the north
coast of Iceland, and now
lives in Vancouver where
she is studying physical edu-
cation. She also works part-
time at a local Health Spa,
and her future plans are to
move back to Iceland where
she hopes to build her own
Health Spa, preferably in
Reykjavik.
Jonlna lnstructs Vancouver stud
ents tn the Icelandlc language.
Her name is Jonina Bene-
diktsdottir, and apart from
her own studies she is also
a teacher of Icelandic at the
Icelandic Language Class in
Vancouver.
The following is a quota-
tion from the B.C. News-
letter:
Much of the success of the
class is due to the efforts of
our teacher, Jonina Bene-
diktsdottir. She is young,
pretty, and full of energy
and wants us to enjoy leam-
ing Icelandic. Jonina has an
impressive array of teaching
aids to help achieve this
aim. We use Icelandic work-
books and readers; we listen
to Icelandic spoken on a
taperecorder; and the young-
er children have leamed
some Icelandic by singing
songs. In addition, we have
had and will be having vari-
ous guests at the classes in
order to learn about the cul-
ture and country of Iceland
as well as the language.
In her o 1 d hometown,
Husavik, Jonina played team
handball on the local team
and later when she moved
to Reykjavik she played for
one of the capital’s clubs.
She was also selected to play
on the Icelandic National
Team.
Jonina has now been play-
ing for a local club in Van-
couver, and it did not come
as a surprise when the Na-
tional Team Handball Asso-
ciation 'spotted her talents
and skils and the field. The
national coach approached
her and asked if she would
like to be a member of the
Canadian National Team.
This Jonina could not resist
even if it was not all that
easy. She has to travel a lot
for her practices with the
team, a n d every month,
sometimes twice a month,
she has to fly out of Van-
couver all the way to Ed-
monton or even to Montreal
to meet her team mates.
Jonina is planning to stay
in Vancouver for another
year and. has applied for fur-
ther studies in the physical
education field. já
Although her days are busy, Jonina finds tíme for a blt of soclalliingr.
This plcture was laken ai ihe Annual Þorrablót In Vancouver.
Mr. Jack Vanderloo
JACK
VANDERLOO
Jack Vanderloo has beén
appointed Regional Director
General of the Manitoba Re-
gion, Employment and Im-
migration Canada, effective
May 1, 1978.
Mr. Vanderloo, 54, has
worked for the Federal Gov-
ernment since 1964, when he
was hired as senior analyst
in the Department of De-
fence Production. He trans-
ferred to the Department of
Manpower and Immigration
in 1976, as Director, Plan-
ning and Development, in
Operations Canada. He was
assigned to the Pacific Re-
gion as Acting Director Gen-
eral in 1972 and the next
year was appointed Director
General. After coming back
to Ottawa on special assign-
ment in 1976, he assumed the
position of Director General,
Projects.
Born in Indonesia, Mr.
Vanderloo was educated in
the Netherlands and worked
there following his military
service from 1945-50. He
emigrated to Canada in 1958.
Mr. Vanderloo ánd his
wife have two sons.
WWWVWWAVWWWAV
Have you ever had
children grumble to you
that there is a Mother’s
Day and a Father’s Day,
but no Children’s Day,
and perhaps tried to tell
them that every day is a
Children’s Day? Well, in
Iceland, there is an offi-
cial Children’s Day, the
first day of summer cele-
brated on the first Thurs-
day after April 18.
óftWWWAWWWWAW
"LOVE OF THE OLD LAND . ..
SERVICE TO THE NEW"
The one thing in life Gun-
nar Einarson doesn’t remem-
ber is how he arrived in
Canada. Of course, he was
but a tiny infant when he
made that journey across the
sea way back in 1893 . . .
with his parents, Sigfus Ei-
narson and Gudrun Thor-
laksdottir.
Nevertheless, w h a t he
doesn’t remember about that
long and trying voyage is
made up for in the lifetime
that followed. A lifetime
that is filled with heart-
warming memories. Recol-
lections of the first few
years in this new land, as his
family moved from a tempo-
rary home in Arnes to Sandy
Bar to Big Island . . . before
finally settling at Ljosllandi,
Hnausa in August, 1902. The
stories of events and hap-
penings that took place dur-
ing the years that followed
are stories that Gunnar tells
with pride and joy.
man the neighbours looked
to when that team of horses
needed a new set of shoes.
And year after year, the
sight of his horse-drawn
saw-rig approaching a neigh-
bouring farm was a remind-
er that there would soon be
enough firewood cut to last
another winter.
Malla, too, did her part in
contributing to the family
lifestyle, as humble as it
was. She was always bent
on making certain her fa-
mily had the best of every-
thing within their means.
And, did so, by clothing her
children in sweaters, mitts
and socks that she knit with
her own homespun wool. In
the fall, she even made a
practice of selling her knit-
ted goods, in return for a
small sum of money that
would provide her children
with the joy of opening a
gift on Christmas morning.
On that note, we turn to
The fondest recollection of
all being that sunny day in
May, 1918 when he took the
hand of Malfridur Juliana
Jonsdottir in marriage. Gun-
nar and Malla lived the first
year of their marriage with
his family at Ljosalandi, be-
fore settling in at their first
permanent homestead . . .
There, Gunnar built a small
two-room dwelling, with just
the bare minimum of tools
. . . in much the same way
he cleared the tall forest and
broke the sod.
And, being a man of great
ambition, Gunnar was al-
ways willing to provide for
more than just his own. He
set up a blacksmith shop on
the homestead, and was the
that joyous event that took
place on November 6, 1920
. . . when their life together
took on a totally new mean-
ing with the arrival of their
firstbom. An event t h a t
spurred the eventual Einar-
son boom . . . their own per-
sonal contribution to the
population of New Iceland,
with a family that finally
stopped at a count of seven
girls and five boys. Today,
that number has increased to
include 36 grandchildren and
10 great-grandchildren . . .
a clan of ‘New Icelanders’
who proudly uphold t h e
wonderful traditions of their
heritage. The beauty of the
Icelandic language has dis-
appeared over the years, but,
/