Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.07.1991, Blaðsíða 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 26. júlí,1?9,1
by W.D. Valgardaan
I won’t make it home for
íslendingadagurinn this year. Not that
I won’t be there in spirit. On the long
weekend, I’ll wake up and think about
my parent’s kitchen, the sound of the
door opening and closing as relatives
and friends come and go. Of the voices
as visitors drop by.
Not being able to come to
íslendingadagurinn forces me to
think about what the Celebration
means to me.
I’ll be busy in my office (as you get
older, work and responsibility invade
every day I’ve found) getting ready to
take over as Acting Chair of the depart-
ment for August, and I’ll look at my
watch and think about the sun-hot
sidewalk, the smell of the dust, as the
Icelandic Celebration parade goes by.
I’ll be checking enrollment lists, last
minute room changes, shuffling
through paper, and I’ll remember last
summer, and many summers before
that, sitting under my umbrella, my
books on display. In the evening, while
I work in my garden (eveiy Victorian
has a garden, even someone as unlikely
as I), I’ll imagine what is going on and
who is there and as I think of them I’ll
say hello, hello, how are you, how have
you been this past year.
Not being able to come to
íslendingadagurinn forces me to think
about what the Celebration means to
me. We all acknowledge that it is a time
for the gathering of the tribe. Of renew-
ing relationships. But that tribe has
changed over the years. It is not so
exclusively Icelandic any more. Now,
it is ethnic-regional and the region in-
cludes a lot of people from different
groups, including Ukrainians and oth-
ers, summer campers presentand past,
former air-force personnel, people who
have lived and worked in and around
Gimli over the years and have earned
the right to a place in the community.
Whatwas usisnow US. There’sasense
of loss in that. Usness is very impor-
tant. So important that in some parts of
the world, Jugoslavia at the moment,
people are dying to preserve usness. At
the same time, when I think of the
people who have been added, through
marriage, through friendship, through
business relationships, I’m glad to have
jieilb
baRöal
FAMILYl funeral
COUNSELLORS
them join in. For one thing, it tells me
that there is something attractive about
being Icelandic-Canadian. Otherwise
why would so many be attracted?
But that sense of identity which coa-
lesces once a year at íslendingadagurinn
extends far beyond the boundaries of
Gimli and far beyond three days in the
year. More importantly, it includes
rather than excludes.
Just recently, I had the good fortune
to spend five days at Elkford, B.C.
Elkford is two hours north of
Cranbrook, a coal mining town at the
end of the road. It is closed in by
mountains. At first glance there might
not seem to be much connection with
Icelandic Celebration. Except that I
was invited to Elkford to cut the ribbon
for the opening of the Elkford Public
Library. And where there’s a library
But that sense ofidentity which
coalesces once a year at
íslendingadagurínn extends far
beyond the boundaríes of Gimli
and far beyond three days in the
year. More importantly, it
includes rather than excludes.
there’s books and where there’s books
there’s probably an Icelander or even
two. As a matter of fact, the person who
suggested I be invited was Faye
Sigurdson, the daughter of Brandur
Finnson of Vidir, whom I used to meet
and speak with once a year at the Ice-
landic Celebration. The Library board
didn’t believe I’d come but Faye phoned
me anyway and since it was Brandur’s
daughter, I took it for granted that
going to Elkford, wherever that was,
would be all right and said yes. And
hada magnificentfíve days in the moun-
tains, staying with Ralph and Faye and
their children Amber and Thor. As a
matter of fact, on the two hour car trip
from Cranbrook to Elkford, Thor
played his tapes of Icelandic stories for
me. During my stay, I chalked up a
number of firsts. I visited an open pit
mine, I ate huckleberry pie, I attended
a Colin James concert, spent an evening
watching a herd of elk, and attended a
mud-bog race. I also cut a ribbon and
made a speech about the importance of
Iibraries and books and felt as I did so
that I was being watched with approval,
by both Brandur and Miss S.
Choices. . .
How will you make the choice that is right
for you and your family?
Ask us.
949-2200
Stephansson. Although, remembering
Brandur, I expect he was making up
some devestating verses about our sil-
lier activities.
What is celebrated and acted out at
Icelandic Celebration was re-enacted
in Elkford. Books were the centre of
importance. Two little girls who had
raised the most money for the libraiy
got to take out the first books. I got to
meet Yvonne Torgersen, the woman
who, year in and year out, for as long as
she’s been in Elkford, has worked for a
library and now has a beautiful one and
is its chief librarian. And Donna
Whitford and Linda Ma, local artists.
And a host of others. I made, in five
days, a circle of new friends. All be-
cause of what? Because of writing
some simple stories of Nýja ísland
Photography by Mlke Hastle
and its people. Because of a sense of
Icelandic Celebration is, then, a
time ofmaking new fríends and
renewing old fríendships.
community yearly reaffirmed at Icelan-
dic Celebration.
Icelandic Celebration is, then, a
time of making new friends and
renewing old friendships. It is,
however, also a time of establishing
a sense of community which is so
strong that over years and geography,
we maintain loyalties. Even when we
have not met personally, or have only
met in passing, we know who we are
and are both able to ask and to give
because of that knowledge.
THE EATON
CELEBRITY
CONCERT
The Council of the Performing Arts of the
Icelandic Festival of Manitoba
proudly presents
Heather
Sigurdson Ireland
Lana Thorarinson Betts
and David Enns
Saturday, August 3, 1991
Door open at 7:00 p.m.
Gimli Composite High School on Hwy. #9
Adults - $7.00 Children under 12 - $3.50
RUSH SEATS ONLY

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