Lögberg-Heimskringla - 14.06.1985, Blaðsíða 7

WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 14. JÚNÍ 1985-7
The Icelandic Association of Chicago
OLOF (LULLA)
EGILSSON'S ADDRESS
The following are abridged ex-
cerpts of Lulla's address at Thorra-
blot which she titled: 1960 ÞORRA-
BLÓT/SACRIFICE TO ÞORRI 1985,
AN ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS.
After recounting the origins and
history of Thorrablot since the Mid-
dle Ages, Lulla continues:
"(In 1959) the Icelandic Associa-
tion of Chicago was one year old. At
an officers' meeting held October 1,
1959 at the home of Valur and Ólöf
Egilsson the first seed of an idea for
Þorrablót was planted. Instrumental
in planting this seed were Val's
mother, Margrét Árnadóttir, visiting
from Iceland, and yours truly. At the
Annual Business Meeting held 10
days later Þráinn Sigurðsson and
Valur Egilsson were reelected presi-
dent and vice president, respectively.
The newly elected officers met Oc-
tober 28, 1959 at the home of Gissur
and Sigrid Brynjolfsson (Gissur had
been elected Officer-at-large). The lit-
tle seed planted about a month earl-
ier had sprouted, and they nursed it
and rehearsed it, as it says in a song
somewhere! They plotted to bribe
the Gods, come wicked Chicago
winter.
After some legwork, discussion
and negotiations the Norske Club
Kedzie Boulevard in Chicago agreed
to take us in, out of sheer kinship, I
think.
On February 5, 1960 the officers,
meeting at Val's home, decided to
take the plunge. The date was set for
March 5, 1960, and the following
food order was sent to Iceland:
15 kg Smoked leg of lamb
(hangikjöt)
7.5 kg Canned barbecued sheephead
meat (svið)
3 kg Dried fish (harðfiskur)
Small order Pickled whale blubber
(hvalur)
The food was supposed to be ship-
ped Air Mail but February 28 came
and no food in the mail. March 1, 2,
3 and 4 passed and still no food!
Valur' and I were getting pretty ner-
vous. We had a 1/4 barrel brine
cured lamb meat (saltkjöt) so we de-
cided: OK, if the shipment does not
arrive tomorrow we will serve the
saltkjöt, get some herring and sar-
dines and call it Þorrablót. I dragged
Cancellation Announcement
The Icelandic Association of
Chicago regrets to announce that the
17-of-June celebration planned and
scheduled for June 15, 1985 at the
Marriott Lincolnshire has been can-
celled. A telephone survey of a num-
ber of members performed two
weeks after the original announce-
ment promised minimal attendance.
The Icelandic Association event
clearly lost against conflicting ones
including graduations, weddings and
vacations.
This turn of events is a great dis-
appointment for the Officers and the
L7-of-June Committee of the Associ-
ation. We regret any inconvenience
for those who had already made ar-
rangements to attend.
SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 1985
As an alternative to the formal but
now cancelled celebration the Ice-
landic Association of Chicago invites
those members and friends whose
schedule permits to join the Associa-
tion's Officers and other members for
dinner on Saturday, June 22, 1985 at
the Scandinavian-American Cultural
Society ("Scandinavian Club") in Ar-
lington Heights.
This will be an informal affair with
cocktails from 6 PM in the restaurant
bar followed by dinner at 7:30 PM in
the main dining room. The following
choice of entrees, each prepared
Scandinavian style, is offered: ribeye
steak, roast duckling, plaice. Includ-
ed are salad, dessert and coffee. The
Egill Skallagrímsson
Framh. af bls. 6
í bakborðssíðuna, upp til stjórnborðs.
Egill Skallagrímsson lá á hliðinni
með reykháf í sjó. Skipið flatrak
undan fárviðrinu og sjóirnir skullu
yfir það án afláts. Menn kepptust við
vinnuna þar sem þeir stóðu í sjó
sumir hverjir og brátt sáust þess
merki, að skipið væri örlítið farið að
réttast. En um leið og skipið réttist,
byrjaði sjórinn, sem komizt hafði í
lestina, að renna aftur um tunnelinn,
aftur í kyndistöðina og aftur í
vélarrúmið. Sjórinn í kyndistöðinni
var orðinn svo heitur, að ekki var
lengur stætt í honum. Erlendur
Helgason 1. vélstjóri hafði staðið
manna lengst í sjónum og kynnt þann
eina fýr, sem ennþá lifði í, en þrátt
fyrir það var gufuþrýstingurinn mjög
tekinn að lækka. Erlendur var orðinn
brenndur á fótum og alla leið upp
fyrir mitti. Hann flautaði upp til
skipstjórans og sagði honum að það
gufuafl, sem ennþá væri eftir, yrði að
nota til þess að koma sjónum fyrir
borð svo hægt væri að kynda upp á
ný. Erlendur setti dælur í gang svo og
jektor og þetta gekk sæmilega.
Skipið réttist eftir því sem
mönnunum í lestinni vannst að kasta
fiskinum yfir í stjórnborðssíðuna, en
nú fór gufuþrýstingurinn þverrandi,
dælurnar hægðu á sér og ljósavélin
stanzaði og litlu síðar skall yfir hana
sjór er skipið valt og nú var ekki um
annað að gera en ausa skipið. Sem
betur for voru til nægar fötur, og nú
röðuðu mennirnir ser upp
vélarrúmsstigann og aftur eftir
ganginum. Valdimar Halldórsson
stóð neðstur og hélt sér í
skrúfstykkið, en með hinni hendinni
sökkti hann fötunum - fyrir aftan
vélina. Hann rétti fötuna næsta
manni og svo koll af kolli upp
stigann, aftur ganginn of út þar, sem
efri hluti hurðarinnar var hafðour
opinn. Menn drógu ekki af sér, og
föturnar gengu eins fljótt og auðið
var. Kveikt var á lukt, svo að sæist til,
og þegar allt var hljóðnað og engin vél
í gangi, heyrðu mennirnir, hvernig
sjórinn löðrungaði skipið og hvæsið
í óveðrinu var yfirþyrmandi. Uppi í
brú hafði Snæbjörn skipstjóri látið
binda stýrið hart í bakborða. Skipið
lá á lögginni, og í verstu hryðjunum
fór það næstum því á lens og svalaði
fram eftir. Menn kepptust við sem
þ'eir máttu, og þótt flestum væri
engin gleði í huga höfðu ýmsir uppi
gamanmál, sem léttu andrúmsloftið.
Framh. í næsta blaði
fixed price for each dinner is $16. —
which we will collect on location.
Dinner reservations should be
made directly with the Scandinavian
Club at 870-1710. Please mention
that you will join the Icelandic Asso-
ciation group. It is suggested that res-
ervations be made as early as pos-
sible and no later than one week be-
fore. (Note that our group will be in
direct competition with the restau-
rant's regular clientele for seating, so
late reservations may not be avail-
able.) Please also indicate your choice
of entree when you make your res-
ervation.
Location: Scandinavian-American
Cultural Society, 2323 North Wilke
Road, Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Directions: Take Route 53 to Pala-
tine Road, exit east-bound. Turn left
at first stoplight at Kennecott. About
50 yards past the intersection turn
left again (at the Greenbriar sign) in-
to Wilke Road, which is a frontage
road to Route 53. The Scandinavian
Club is located on the right about 3/4
mile down the road.
JOIN
ICELANDIC
CANADIAN FRÓN
Send membership fee of
$5.00 singie or $10.00 family
to
Scandinavian Centre
764 Erin Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 2W4
Telephone: 774-8047
TAYLOR
BRAZZELL
McCAFFREY
Barristers & Solicitors
4th Floor — 386 Broadway
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 2R6
Winnipe^ phone 949-1312
Gimli phone 642-7955
Winnipeg Beach phone 389-2999
out 'all the pots and cooked the salt-
kjöt that night.
But Lo and Behold! At 12 noon on
Saturday, March 5, the mailman de-
livered the goodies. Out came all the
pots again and 15 kg hangikjöt were
cooked. At 5 PM Valur and I were,
food in hand, at Norske Club. At 6
o'clock 45 cold and hungry Vikings
started to arrive.
Yes, we had a raffle and the prizes
were: 8 beer glasses and a bottle of
champagne. Consul General Árni
Helgason was our speaker and talk-
ed about the tradition of Þorrablót in
Iceland. Jón S. Jónsson, then a
student of music at Northwestern
University played the piano. He
brought the house down with his per-
formance.
As I recall the evening lasted well
past the designated hour of 1 AM,
with dancing to taped music and
community singing accompanied by
Jón.
So here we are tonight, celebrating
our 25th Anniversary of the ancient
tradition of Þorrablót. It may not be
an earthshaking accomplishment,
but it makes me feel good, and may-
be a little proud, that we were the
pioneers!
Let's keep it going and HAPPY
BIRTHDAY!"
Needless to say the audience
thanked Lulla for her talk and pres-
entation with resounding applause.1
We thank you again, Lulla! Those
wishing to receive a copy of the en-
tire text of the address (with an ap-
pendix received since) please contact
the Secretary of the Association.
THE ICELANDIC
UNITARIAN CONNECTION
by V. EMIL GUDMUNDSON
$14.95 (Cdn.) $11.00 (USA)
Rural Outlets: H.P. Tergeson
Store, Gimli, Man.; Palmi Palsson, Ar-
borg, Man.; Johann Sigurdson, Lun-
dar, Man.
Winnipeg Outlets: Mary Scorer
Books, 389 Graham Ave.; Eaton's
Downtown Store; Book and Briar
Patch, Grant Park Plaza; Book
Browser, 61 Sherbrook St.
Mail orders handled by G. Eric
Bjornson, 321 Moorgate St., Winnipeg,
Man. R3J 2L4. $16.50 (Cdn., postage
incl.); $12.50 (USA, postage incl.); pre-
payment requested.
Bulk Orders: (5 or more books)
eligible for discount up to 40%, will be
billed for payment within 30 days —
postage added to discount price.
Look for a review of this book in the
next issue of The Icelandic Canadian
Magazine.
Mr. David King and Mr. Eric Lister attend
in Gimli and Riverton on the first and third
Friday of each month and in Winnipeg Beach
in the afternoon on the second and fourth Fri-
day of each month.
Office hours are held in Gimli at 3rd
Avenue and Centre Street between the hours
of 9:30 - 12:00 and 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
In Riverton, Mr. Kingor Mr. Lister attend
in the Riverton Village office between the
hours of 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
'i