Lögberg-Heimskringla - 10.09.1970, Blaðsíða 5

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 10. SEPTEMBER 1970
5
Minni íslands
Framhald af bls. 4.
Legg þú, auðna, ár og frið
íslands ver og grundum.
Hitt veit enginn eins og við,
að oss langar stundum
hörpu að lokka Orfeif af,
inn á frónska móa
syngja austur yfir haf
akra vora og skóga.
Æskusystkin, ástarþökk
— af þó legðust fundir —
fyrir orð og atlot rökk,
ótal glaðar stundir’.
feðrum, sem að framtak oss
festu í skapi ungu —
mæðrum, sem við kvæði og koss
kenndu oss þessa tungu.
In conclusion, I would like to convey to you all heartfelt,
greetings from the island of Fjallkonan in the North Atlantic.
She is grateful for the many tokens of friendship received
across the Atlantic from her sons and daughters and their
descendants in the great and beautiful country of Canada,
where you have sought and found happiness which you all
deserve so well. She hopes that your cordial ties with her
will also continue in the^ ýears to come and wishes you all
success, prosperity and happiness.
Some Summer Place
By LINDA LEE
• Hecla Island Woes
• Park Is Planned
• But Uncertainty Hurts
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, warns an ancient prov-
erb, and perhaps residents of Hecla Island now have reason
to remember this.
A year ago, after a long series of presentations by
various Hecla Island groups, and most recently by Hecla’s
local Agricultural Rural Developments Act committee, the
Manitoba government proposed turning the Lake Winnipeg
island into a provincial park.
Some residents, saw the
proposal as a chance to make
a living on the island; per-
haps to reverse the process
which was turning a once-
thriving fishing community
into a ghost town.
The population is down to
about 66. At one time there
were more than 500.
In May, 1969, a letter was
sent to all land owners on the
island signed by J. B. Carroll,
then minister of tourism and
recreation. It stated in part,
“Hecla has the resources and
the diversity which makes it
suitable for development as a
Provincial Park. Because the
park development program
will contribute greatly toward
creating income and job op-
portunities for the people of
Hecla and the Interlake, the
park development will be car-
ried out as a Fund for Rural
Economic Development,
(FRED) project.”
* * *
The letter divided holdings
on the island into three types:
resident land owner, non-resi-
dent land owner, and cottage
and summer home owner —
“In most cases it will be pos-
sible to aócommodate resident
land owners who desire to
remain on the Island. How-
ever, some relocation may be
necessary. The relocation ex-
penditures would be carried
out as part of the Parks
B r a n c h Development pro-
gram.”
i
“Lease-back, but these will
depend upon the phasing of
the development. The length
of tenure on lease-back ar-
rangments will vary from one
year for the cottage and sum-
mer home owner on up to life
estates for some of the per-
manent residents.”
A number of Ihe is-
landers said in inlerviews
recenfly Ihe park sound-
ed like a good idea at
firsí. They didn'i like the
idea of having lo sell
their property, buí they
received t h e impression
they would be able to
live in their own homes
as long as they wanted.
They did like the idea of
jobs available right on
the island so they could
afford to siay.
One resident said there was
talk of a working fishing vil-
lage and a museum, another
said there was talk of a his-
torical village. But, they said,
more and more of these ori-
ginal proposals seem to be dis-
appearing.
Lou'is Benson is one of the
ferry masters on the small
ferry which connects the
mainland and the islaind and
eams his living year round on
the island. He works on the
ferry in the summer, raises
cattle and cuts pulp wood in
the winter.
He is asking $25,000 for his
home and property (154 acres
of land). He said the latest
government offer is less than
$14,000.
“I don’t have to leave. If
they don’t pay me more than
this they’ll have to throw me
out.”
Possibilities of leasing back
his property and home don’t
interest him. “Either I sell or
I don’t ... I wouldn’t think
of staying on a lease basis, not
if they can tell me what to do.
According to them, if I paint
my house it has to be their
color.
“The idea of the park was
to help people. How are they
going to help people by push-
ing them out and taking away
their living.”
The main complaint is the
prices offered by the govern-
ment buyers are too low to
allow residents to relocate in
similar quarters off the is-
land.
A former resident of the
island, who has already sold
his property, said it was im-
possible to buy a home like
the one he had sold with the
money he was given.
“At one point I went back
to the office, gave them the
cheque and said ‘There’s the
c h e q u e , you buy me a
house.’”
Grimsi Grimolfson, another
ferry master, said some peo-
ple were forced into selling
their homes because they
have school-age children. The
government has already
bought the Hecla Island
school, which Mr. Grimolfson
said the Evergreen school di-
vision was willing to keep
open. “I told them (the gov-
ernment b u y e r s ) it was
sneaky.”
Mr. Grimolfson said he’s
not selling. “I want $12,000 if
I’m going to sell, but I told
them it’s not for sale. They’re
not offering enough, not even
to relocate.”
Helgi Jones, a member of
the local ARDA committee,
has been promoting tourism
on Hecla since 1953. He has
sold his home property but
still owns 108 acres at Gull
Harbour, a sheltered harbor
at the end of the island. As
yet he isn’t satisfied with the
government’s offer.
He objecied to ihe
prices ihe governmeni is
offering for ihe privaie
Framhald á bls. 7.
VINSAMLEG
VAKANDI. —
Þegar hillingar vonanna *vega salt,
viðjarnar allar þú hindra skalt, -—
og tendraðu ljósin og lýstu upp allt, ,
lífið þá aldrei mun innleiða kalt.
Og hafir þú vanda og venda á bug,
vertu þér sannur og tendraðu dug,
í fullhugans nafni með heilsteyptum hug,
heillandi al-mættið léttir þér flug. —
Þú æðrast skalt aldrei þá haf-aldan há
hjáróma kumrar í reiðinnar sjá,
þó hríni og braki í reiða og rá,
ræður þú sjálfur hvort landi vilt ná.
Ef grundar þú vinur og horfir æ hátt
og hlustar á jarðlífsins andardrátt,
vitandi að ávalt ert sjálfur í sátt
og sameining lífið við, — æðrast ei mátt.
Því allt er þér lánað til giftu er grær,
ef græðir þú meinin sem leynast þér nær
og friðinn þú hreppir svo blessar þig blær,
hvar blundar við hlið þína elskandi mær. —
Og heimilið þitt er öll veröldin víð
og viðleitnis þráin að afnema stríð. —
í huganum blasa við heimalönd fríð
og hjartnæmar minningar fyrri og síð. —
2.-3.- 1970.
Davíð Björnsson.
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