Lögberg - 02.03.1950, Síða 4

4
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Drápunnar fyrir löngu verður
Það var vel til fallið og mælist vafalaust hvarvetna
vel fyrir, að Þjóðræknisfélag íslendinga í Vesturheimi
skyldi á nýafstöðnu ársþingi sínu hér í borg, kjósa G. J.
Oleson í Glenboro til heiðursfélaga; mun hann að
flestra dómi slíkrar sæmdar fyrir löngu verður, og ber
til þess margt; hann var fæddur í harðrétti landnáms-
áranna við Winnipegvatn, og gekk ungur í reynsluskóla
lífsins; við þá mentastofnun hefir hann svo fram á
þennan dag aflað sér slíkrar fræðslu í enskum og ís-
lenzkum bókmentum, að til undantekninga má telja
um hérfæddan alþýðumann af íslenzku bergi brotinn,
sem haft hefir, eins og gengur og gerist í mörg horn að
líta, og þurft við misjafnar aðstæður, að afla sér brauðs
í sveita síns andlitis; það dylst engum, er kynst hefir
Júlla, eins og vinir hans jafnaðarlegast kalla hann, að
hann væri í rauninni fæddur til fræðimensku; hann hef-
ir glögt auga fyrir samhengi í sagnfræði og kann ó-
grynnin öll af enskum og íslenzkum ljóðum, og er ekki
ósennilega skáld sjálfur þó ekki sé auðhlaupið að því,
að sanna það upp á hann; en er um rithæfni hans á ó-
bundið mál hvort heldur um íslenzka eða enska tungu
ræðir, verður annað ofan á teningnum'; þar hefir hann
haslað sér völl.
Um nokkur ár gaf G. J. Oleson sig að blaðamensku
og hafði á hendi ritstjórn vikublaðsins Glenboro Ga-
zette; maður þurfti ekki langt að leita til að sannfær-
ast um, hve sýnt honum var um að beita fyrir sig penna,
hve hugsunin var Ijós og frásögnin skipuleg; það getur
naumast hjá því farið, að þeir, sem á annað borð leggja
eitthvað á minnið, og enn eru á ferð, láti stundum hug-
ann dvelja við hina fögru og íturhugsuðu grein hans
um hugsuðinn mikla, Woodrow Wilson Bandaríkjafor-
seta í áminstu vikublaði; núverandi ritstjóri Lögbergs
sneri greininni á íslenzku, og var hún endurbirt í flest-
um helztu blöðum íslands, eins og reyndar svo margt
annað, sem fegurst og bezt hefir hugsað og sagt verið
af íslendingum vestan hafs.
íslenzku vikublöðin vestan hafs standa bæði í mik-
illi þakkarskuld við G. J. Oleson fyrir þann ríkulega
stuðning, er hann um langt áraskeið veitti þeim með
þýddum og frumsömdum ritgerðum um margs konar
efni; þar var jafnan til alls vel vandað, aðeins valið það
hollasta og fegursta, eins og höfundarins var von og
vísa.
G. J. Oleson hefir tekið mikinn og giftudrjúgan þátt
í íslenzkum mannfélagsmálum, bæði kirkjumálum og
þjóðræknismálunum, en fer þó jafnan sínar eigin göt-
ur og lætur pgjarna segja sér fyrir verkum; en störf
hans hafa náð og ná, langt út yfir hinn tiltölulega smáa
og takmarkaða verkahring íslenzka mannfélagsbrots-
ins; hann hefir í mörg ár gegnt lögregludómaraembætti
í héraði sínu, auk þess sem hann nú, í félagi við son
sinn, rekur kaupsýslu í Glenboro í stórum stíl.
G. J. Oleson er gæfumaður; hann er kvæntur úrvals
konu og þau eiga þrjú frábærlega vel gefin börn,
Tryggva, Thómas og Láru, en Tryggvi er þegar eins og
alment er vitað, einn hinn mesti fræðimaður hinna
yngri kynslóða af íslenzkum stofni vestan hafs, og
gegnir prófessorsembætti í sagnfræði við United Col-
ege.
★ ★ ★
Nýafstaðið Þjóðræknisþing
Ársþing Þjóðræknisfélags íslendinga hið þrítugasta
og fyrsta í röð, er nýlega um garð gengið hér í borginni;
það var vel sótt og fór yfir höfuð skipulega fram; frá
störfum þingsins verður að þessu sinni einungis fátt
sagt, því venju samkvæmt, birtir skrifari félagsins vafa-
laust helztu viðburði og athafnir þingsins áður en langt
um líður.
ESns og vænta mátti, kom stærsta mál Vestur-ís-
lendinga, háskólamálið mjög við sögu á þingi, og var
það að sjálfsögðu öllum viðstöddum óblandið fagnaðar-
efni, hve giftusamlega því hefir miðað áfram síðan í
fyrra; utan um þetta mikla menningarmál hefir skap-
ast samræmi, sem einstætt mun mega teljast í sögu
Islendinga vestan hafs, en með hliðsjón af því má nú
víst telja, að Grettistakinu verði lyft; yfirlit yfir við-
horf málsins eins og það kom fyrir á nýafstöðnu þingi,
verður við allra fyrstu hentugleika birt í vikublöðum
okkar, og fær almenningur þess þá fullan kost, að
kynna sér framvindu þess frá öllum hliðum.
Alveg sérstakt fagnaðarefni var þingheimi, að eiga
þess kost, að hlusta á þá óviðjafnanlega fögru ræðu,
sem forseti Manitobaháskólans, Dr. Gillson, flutti á
þinginu; það er ekki einasta að hann sé með ágætum
snjall ræðumaður, heldur mótast hver setning af sann-
færingarhita, sem verkar djúpt á hlustendur; hann
kvaðst ungur hafa kynst íslendingasögunum í hinni
snildarlegu þýðingu eftir William Morris, og dáði mjög
hina óraskanlegu uppistöðu, sem sérkendi íslenzkar
bókmentir. W. J. Líndal dómari kynti Dr. Gillson þing-
heimi, en Dr. Richard Beck þakkaði komu hans á þing
og hin eftirminnilega fögru og hvetjandi ummæli hans.
Samkomur þingsins voru ágætlega sóttar og fóru
hið bezta fram, og var það meðal annars ógleymanlegt
ánægjuefni að hlusta á litlu stúlkurnar á lokasamkom-
unni, skemta með söng og framsögn, þær Lornu Ste-
LÖGBERG, FIMTUDAGINN, 2. MARZ, 1950
iVORTflERiV CALIFORMA
Mewsletter
This Issue is the beginning of
our fourth year of correspond-
ence with you. We wish to re-
cord our deep appreciation of
your friendly and loyal re-
sponse.. We hope to continue at
least another year, as a News-
Letter in lieu of a Personal
Visit. Not that we do not wish
to visit each one of you person-
ally, but lack of time and other
iimitiations have made a 100%
personal visitation impossible.
May we herewith solicit your
cooperation in this respect.
There are only a very few of
you in this Area from whom we
have not yet had the pleasure
of a personal visit. If you will
call us up, we shall be happy to
make a date with you, whenever
it suits your convenience, either
for us to come to you or you to
us. We are not desirous of lim-
iting the visit of any of you to
our home to the 4th Sunday of
each month, our Picnic or Open
House Day. The latch of our
door opens on the outside to any
of you at any time and all the
time. jjj.
Since writing this first para-
graph on the 20th, we have had
our January Picnic on the 22nd.
It was a grand turn-out in many
ways. The best point of it all
was that everybody radiated
with joy and good fellowship. It
was a very good “kick-off” for
another year of picnicking to-
gether. Quite a few regrets have
already been registered to the
effect that they had forgotten
about the date since the notifica-
tion in our December Letter. We
too were sorry that you (if you
were one of those that forgot!)
were not with us. The only rem-
edy we can offer in this sad
state of affairs is that you now
put a red circle around the date
of the fourth Sunday of each
month of this year so that you
cannot use this alibi any more
for non-attendance.
' ☆
You missed it, if you were
not here last Sunday. Our
Doctor Ben made a speech on
behalf of the Old Folks Home
at Mountain, N.D. Believe it or
not, it was a real appeal. Had
we known what was forthcom-
ing, we would have had a steno
present so that we could have
mimeographed the speech and
mailed you a copy. The gist of it
was that as Chairman of our
local Committee for Mountain,
he does not favor at this time
the “high-pressure” type of per-
formance we put on last year.
This time we want to put the
duty and privilege of contribut-
ing to this worthy Home in N.
Dakota squarely in the hearts
of each one of you. By the time
of our next Picnic, he hopes
that you will come prepared to
give. In the quiet of your own
home or room decide what you
can and will give. After due con-
sideration, he hopes you will
come forward and voluntarily
give as much at least, and may-
be more than you would under
pressure of pleasure or solicita-
tion. If necessary, however, we
shall resort to the latter. Iíere
you have the plans of his Com-
mittee laid right in your lap.
What are you going to do about
it ?
☆
By unanimous opinion ex-
pressed at our last Picnic, we
hope to begin plans for a íirst
Day of Summer celebration in
the Bay Area. It is to be just a
social without any strings or
ulterior motives attached. It is
to be a gathering of the clans,
as our Scotch friends would put
it, just for the sheer delight of
coming together on an evening
for fun and felowship. Please
send in your suggestions.
☆
PERSONALS
This Department is brief this
month.
We have just leamed that Mr.
and Mrs. Coyle (Vinc and
Runa) have sold their house and
are leaving us for the wilds of
Oregon in February. We shall
miss you (Runa makes the best
brown bread !) but we are glad
that we shall have another
friendly home to visit enroute
when northward bound, if and
when we ever take to the Hiway
again. ☆
Einar Kvaran a post-graduate
student in Mechanical Engin-
eering at our U during the past
year has left us via Colorado to
re-join his family before contin-
uing their homeward journey to
Iceland where Einar has a job
waiting for him. Come again !
Geir Jonsson has returned
from his visit to Iceland a marr-
ied man. He is now on his way
to the fishing grounds in
Alaska. Mrs. Jonsson will come
to America as soon as her entry
permit has been cleared. Con-
gratulations, Geir.
☆
Looking over our Day-book
since Christmas, we mostly see
notations of Hospital and Shut-
ins visitations. Such activities
might easily become routine
matters if one was not dealing
with personalities, each one
different and affording plenty
of variety. Since we last visited
with you, we have had our first
experience with an Iron-lung
patient. She is a 25-year old
mother of 2 daughters. Her hus-
band and we altemate our visits
at the Hospital, he in the even-
ings and we in the aftemoons.
In all our experience this was
one of the most difficult at first,
but now has become easy. The
other day Martha said, “I am
now so happy because I have
learned to say “I believe that
God so loved the world and me
that He gave His only begotten
Son ... I am His and He is
mine. His will be done’.” What
a wonderful attitude of Faith !
☆
Do you remember that little
envelope we enclosed with our
December Letter ? The returns
are still coming in, so we have
decided to keep the final report
on the income to this Christmas
Present Fund on behalf of dis-
tressed persons in Europe open
until the next Letter. (A Red
check in the margin of this
Letter will indicate that your
contribution has been gratefully
received and listed. Please not-
ify us of any error or omission.)
If you have forgotten or mislaid
that little envelope, you are not
too late if you report now. The
response has been very encour-
aging to date. On the whole, the
Group has not let us down. This
is just a reminder to those who
still want to catch the Bus . . .
We had the pleasure of intro-
ducing to the Picnickers present
last Sunday the Reverend Ross
Hidy of Berkeley who was for
some time in Europe very close-
ly associated with this Work of
Relief. He gave us a very con-
cise picture as to how our doll-
ars are spent over there. His
speech, too, will long be remem-
bered.
☆
The above was ready for “the
press” when we were invited
on one day’s notice to attend the
annual Convention of the Cali-
fornia Synod of the ULCA at
Los Angeles as a regular dele-
gate to represent St. Mark’s
Church'of San Francisco. (It
was also our privilege to present
the greetings of the Icelandic
Synod.) Hence, this becomes a
2-in-l issue. We shall tell you
the story of our trip at the Pic-
nic on February 26th, if you
wish, and thus shorten the pres-
ent writing to that extent !
☆
BIRTHS
On January 22nd, a son,
Joseph Thorsteinn born to Mr.
and Mrs. Fred Koeberle, Sunny-
vale, California. (Mrs. K. is
Anna Thorsteinsdottir formerly
of Reykjavik, Iceland.)
On February 5th, one son
born to Dr. and Mrs. M. M.
Farkas of Pittsburgh, Pa. (Mrs.
F. is Pearl Oddstad.) — We re-
joice with these happy parents
in these recent arrivals and ex-
tend our congratulations.
☆
BAPTISMS i
On February 5th, John Fred-
rick and Marion Aldis, son and
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M. J.
Crane, Long Beach, California.
(Mrs. Crane is Sylvia Reykdal
whose Aunts, Sylvia and Aldis
Sveinson are nurses at the Long
Beach Hospital.)
On February 6th, Robert
and dáughter of Mrs. and Mrs.
Anton and Nancy Marilyn, son
John F. Bresnik, Pacific Pali-
sade, California. (Mrs. B. is
Olof, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Bert Clark. Mrs. C. is Clara
Oddson, formerly of Winnipeg.)
☆
New residents of the Bay area
whom we hope to welcome at
our February Picnic:—
Mrs. Bertha Walruth, former-
ly of Minneota, Minn, now liv-
ing with her daughter, Mrs. W.
E. Wade of Oakland.
Mrs. Dora Thorsteinson, For-
merly of Seattle, Washington,
sister of Mrs. Ellis Stoneson of
S.F. and Mrs. A. R. Richardson
of Oakland. — A double Wel-
come to you both.
☆
Have you heard the latest
about our Bay Area Prima
Donna, Eileen ? She is now Miss
Color Television of the West
Coast. She will be featured in
Color TV tests scheduled to ap-
pear before the Federal Comuni-
cations Commission in Wash-
ington, D.C. on February 23rd.
Hurrah for Eileen ! We rejoice
with Norman and all the Christ-
opherson tribe (including rela-
tives like ourselves !) in the hit
that our “Cameo” is making in
Visual Singing.
☆
The Coyles (Vinc, Runa,
Mary and Vinc Peter) have now
left us for greener fields in
Oregon. — Their address is,—
1411 Playford Lane, Grants
Pass, Oregon. According to a
recent letter, Vinc is quite busy
laying foundations for, and
building their new home. On the
evening of January 28th, a
number of close friends had
gathered together at the home
of Mrs. and Mrs. Barney Her-
mann for a Farewell Party
where all enjoyed an evening of
Canasta with delicious refresh-
ments. An Electric Waffle Iron,
as a token of good wishes, was
presented to them by those pres-
ent.
☆
We were called home from
Los Angeles at the passing of
Lisa Abraham on Februry 5th.
A funeral service was conducted
in Berkeley on the 8th, and the
interment service was at Mt.
Tamalpais Cemetery, San
Raphael on February llth. Lisa
had been failing for some time.
Having had quite a spell at the
Hospital, she had been home
with her son Peter for less than
a month when the end came.
How she had come to love every-
thing Icelandic was supremely
demonstrated in her art of
painting acquired during her 8
years of residence in Iceland.
We shall miss her smile at our
Picnics. Our prayers ascend to
the Highest on behalf of her
two boys, — Robert in Iceland,
and Peter in Berkeley.
☆ •
The Chairman of our Mount-
ain Old Folks Home Committee
has just called us up to ask you
please to make up your minds
about your contribution to this
worthy project, mentioned
above in the January portion of
this Letter, by April 20th. Many
tharlks.
☆
Welcome to the February Pic-
nic on the 26th. It will be a fare-
well party for Gudlaug Sigur-
geirsdottir and Olafia Sigurdar-
dottir who are returning shortly
to Iceland. We also hope to
feafure Miss Thea Herman, RN,
from Winnipeg, and Mr. Jo-
hannes Newton, President of the
Icelandic Society of Southern
California. Mr. and Mrs. Sumi
Swanson of Long Beach are re-
ported to be in this Area, and
we hope that they, too, will pre-
sent themselves at our Picnic.
Again, Welcome.
Very sincerely yours,
Rev. and Mrs. S. O. Thorlaksson
Ég virði hjónabandið mjög
sem stofnun. — Ég hefi altaf
haft þá skoðun, að alt kvenfólk
ætti að giftast, en enginn karl-
maður.
Bns. Phone 27 989—Bes. Phone 38 131
Rovaizos Flower Shop
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Hlss K. ChrlsUe, Proprietress
Formerly with Robinson & Co.
253 Notre Dame Ave.
WINNIPEG MANITOBA
fnsson frá Gimli og Pern Hallson frá Riverton; sú
fyrnefnda söng enska og íslenzka söngva, en hin síðar-
nefnda las kvæði Guttorms Sandy Bar og Góða nótt;
það var athyglisvert, hve þessar kornungu stúlkur lifðu
sig inn í hlutverk sín og túlkuðu þau fagurlega. —
Góðs viti var það, að framkvæmdanefnd Þjóðrækn-
isfélagsins skyldi öll vera endurkosin; við þurfum á
samræmi að halda á hvaða vettvangi sem er; og von-
andi skilur nefndin þessa traustsyfirlýsingu, sem henni
var veitt á þann veg, að eigi aðeins beri henni að halda
í horfi, heldur skuli hún nú hefja sókn til verndar tungu
okkar og öðrum menningarverðmætum í þessari miklu
álfu.
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