Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.02.2004, Blaðsíða 9

Lögberg-Heimskringla • 13 febrúar 2004 • page 9
History • Saga
Concordia Church at its original site
Cairn on the original site of Concordia Church
With declining member-
ship in their congregation,
Þingvalla joined with
Concordia in 1963. This same
year talks proposing a merger
with Peace Lutheran in
Churchbridge began. It was
also proposed that the
Concordia Church building be
moved into town. The merger
took effect in 1964 and
Concordia Church was moved
in 1967.
The cairn at the site of
Concordia Hall was disman-
tled and was rebuilt in 1979 on
the original site of the
Concordia Lutheran Church.
“From pioneer days the
church with its lofty spire and
cross on top was recognized
by many a traveller. Now in
the town of Churchbridge its
spire and cross continues to
show the way and the original
bell chimes the call to come
and worship.” These words
are inscribed on the cairn
memorial plaque. This site
now remains as the church
cemetery alone.
Mamma lived most of her
life in Winnipeg but I know
she always thought of
Churchbridge as home. There,
she had family and friends she
could talk Icelandic with and
most of all, she felt conrfort-
able.
When the burden of look-
ing after a house became too
great for mamma she was per-
suaded to move to Nova
Scotia where my farnily and 1
were living at the time. But
even with us close by, it was
never home. After a year she
decided to movg back to
Churchbridge where she still
had a brother and a sister liy-
ing in town. She settled in a
Manor suite there where she
was received with warmth and
loving kindness by family and
friends. In July of 1991 poor
health forced her to take up
residency in the Langenburg
Centennial Special Care
Home. She remained there
until her passing in May 1992.
Following a full circle,
mamma’s life came to an end
where it began. The funeral
service and celebration of her
life took place in the
Concordia Lutheran Church
with burial in the Concordia
Cemetery. The plot chosen is
near other members of her
farnily and is next to the
rebuilt cairn.
Connie and I made several
trips to Churchbridge during
the time mamma lived there
and in the Langenburg care
home. Now we try to rnake a
yearly pilgrimage to visit with
family but mainly to care for
mamma ’s grave site. Times are
different now from the old
days. The grass is kept under
control in the cemetery but
there are no ‘bees’ for weed-
ing and such. Every time I’m
there I pull a few weeds and
wish the grass was thicker
over her grave. Some flower-
ing perennials do provide a
burst of colour if you are there
at the right time. But nothing
short of a full time gardener
and a good watering system is
needed for this country ceme-
tery. Both are just a city folk
dream of mine. The words to
the pop song If I Had a
Million Dollars have started to
run through my mind.
As we drove west from
Winnipeg along Portage
Avenue we would eventually
turn onto the Yellowhead
highway leading to
Churchbridge. The car was
loaded with bags of soil, grass
seed, flats of bedding plants
and a small rose bush. From
home I had also brought gar-
dening tools and gloves and
some wildflower seeds. The
cousin we stay with would
kindly provide anything else
we needed like a huge con-
tainer of water. The day was
sunny and hot as we worked at
our gardening task. We plant-
ed Petunia’s in varied shades
of pink with blue Lobelia for
edging and the yellow rose to
one side. We spread the grass
and wildflower seeds and fin-
ished with a good sprinkling
of water. Then we sat back to
view our handy work and
prayed it would flourish.
We would never know if
the plants survived the hot
summer weather. Very little
rain fell in July. But we had to
try and make things a little
prettier for mamma. She
would have liked that. Soon
we will make some plans to go
back and try again. Perhaps a
little earlier this time, in May,
so the plants have a better
chance to settle in.
Concordia Cemetery is. a
very peaceful place. Tall fir
trees line the sides with other
shrubs in the front. I have
been thinking it would be nice
to have a. park bench there
where one could spend some
time in quiet thought and
prayer. I think I have a cousin
who does very good wood-
working. I’ll have to have a
talk with him next time I go
home to Winnipeg and make
another pilgrimage to
Churchbridge.
Bibliography:
Swanson, Ruth.
The First Hundred Years
Around Churchbridge.
The Churchbridge History
Committee: Friesen Printers
Johnson, Arni & Joyce.
Concordia: One Hundred Years
1901-2001. A Story of Faith
and Survival.

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The entrance to Concordia cemetery
Creating Community • Sköpum Samfélag