Lögberg-Heimskringla - 20.12.2002, Blaðsíða 1

Week at a glance
Jón Ragnar Johnson and Gail The Cantabiles release a CD
Einarson-McCleary receive papers
in Toronto Page 7 Page 9
Friday, 20 December 2002 • Number 44 / Númer 44 • Föstudagur, 20 Desember 2002
Lögberg
Lögberg stofnað 14. janúar 1888
Heimskringla stofnað 9. september 1886
Sameinuð 20. ágúst 1959
Heimskringla
The Icelandic Weekly
www.logberg.com
PAP Ftegistration no. 08000
Agreement no. 1402161
116th year /116. Árgangur ISSN 0047-4967
Nelson Gerrard Bestowed with Order of the Falcon
Nelson Gerrard (right) listens as Ambassador Eiður
Guðnason reads from The Order of the Falcon Citation.
Eygló Haralsdóttir looks on.
In his last official act, on
behalf of Ólafur Ragnar
Grímsson, the President of
Iceland, Eiður Guðnason,
Consul General, presented
Nelson Gerrard of Eyrarbakki
with Iceland’s highest honour,
the Order of the Falcon.
In his presentation, Eiður
quoted the Presidential letter
regarding the Icelandic Order
of the Falcon, “The order may
be conferred upon Icelandic
and foreign nationals for
achievements to the benefit of
the Icelandic people or in the
intemational arena.” He then
went on to say “We all know
the vast and varied achieve-
ments of Nelson Gerrard.” He
described him as “a man of
many trades and a master of
them all.” He called Nelson
“truly a modern Saga writer.”
In saying “What would our
heritage be without the Sagas
old and new?” he referred to
one of his favourite quotations
from Danish writer Martin
Anderson Nexö who said, “A
nation that brings no luggage
from the past has no freight for
the future.” He then said,
“Men like Nelson Gerrard are
seeing to it that we have some
valuable freight for the future
for our children and their chil-
dren and so on.”
When he pinned the order
on Nelson’s lapel, Eiður said
“My deep and heartfelt con-
gratulations. This is an honour
well deserved.”
All of Nelson’s five sib-
lings and their spouses, ten of
his eleven nieces and nephews
and his parents were present
for the ceremony at Wellington
One, the official residence of
the Consul General in
Winnipeg. They came in from
Strathclair, Nelson’s home-
town, Shoal Lake and
Winnipeg. Because “It was
important to me that the family
be able to be there,” Nelson
elected to have the presentation
done in Winnipeg, rather than
when he was in Iceland next.
As his mother has not been
well, he was particularly
pleased that his parents could
be there. “And it was important
to all the family that Mother be
there,” he said.
Nelson said that he “con-
sidered it a great honour” to
receive the Order, and “was
pleased that Eiður was able to
make the presentation as his
last official act.”
“For all you have done,
what you are doing now and
for your future work, the peo-
ple of Iceland express their
deep gratitude to you Nelson
Gerrard,” Eiður said.
Early in the New Year, the
L-H will speak with Nelson
about his life and all that he
does on behalf of the Icelandic
community.
A Round of Farewells
Photo by Kristin Jóhansdottir
Eygló Haralsdóttir and Eiður Guðnason, Consul General say
goodbye at the Nordic Centre in Winnipeg.
We have enjoyed it, every
single day.” These were
the sentiments of Ambassador
Eiður Guðnason during his
final week in Winnipeg. He
and Eygló left for Iceland on
the llth of December, and
early in the new year they will
travel to Beijing, China to take
up their new post there.
They have been feted at
functions all over the Interlake
and have had several farewells
in Winnipeg. The Frón
Chapter of the INL/NA held an
evening in their honour, which
Eiður described as “a very
memorable evening.” They
attended the Framfari Chapter
Christmas dinner and the
Scandinavian Choir perform-
ance in the Nordic Centre. At
the Vigfusson’s log cabin in
Hnausa they met people from
Lundar, Riverton and Arborg.
Eiður has made his farewells in
small groups with people who
have helped him and worked
closely with him during his
nearly eighteen month stay as
Iceland’s Consul General for
Westem Canada.
He was working right up to
the end. He performed his last
official function at 3:00 pm
Sunday, December 8th when
he bestowed upon Nelson
Gerrard the Order of the
Falcon. He said that he was
“proud and pleased that this is
my last official function.” The
following morning the packers
arrived at 8:00 am and on
Wednesday moming they left
for Minneapolis on a moming
flight.
In Minneapolis, they spent
the day meeting friends and
relatives. Eiður has met rela-
tives there who originate from
the eastern part of Iceland.
During their Christmas
break in Iceland, Eiður “will be
reading books about China”
and “will be meeting with peo-
ple who have lived and know
the customs and culture of
China.” He described his new
post as “a very challenging
job”. It is where things are
happening more rapidly than
other regions of the world.
China will have the Olympics
in 2008 and the World
Exposition in 2010 in
Shanghai. It has 1.3 billion
inhabitants, which is mind
boggling for someone who
comes from a country with less
than 300,000 people.”
He went on to say that “Our
job there will be different. This
post in Winnipeg is unique in
the Icelandic foreign service. It
is not working with officials
and diplomats, but rather with
ordinary people and associa-
tions of people of Icelandic ori-
gin. It is a unique experience in
all respects. I had never been to
this part of the world, and didn’t
know what to expect.”
Please see A Round on page 4
Creating Community • Sköpum Samfélag