Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.12.1972, Blaðsíða 2

2
LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 7. DESEMBER 1972
1L ö sberg- l^etmstmngla
ofcllö it ttt iEmjltiih
The phóne rang, I yawned
and answered it, “How about
a drive to Selkirk to have a
cup of coffee?” asked a friend.
“Couldn’t we have a cup of
coffee in Winnipeg — at my
place say? Good brew, plea-
‘sant surroundings, no charge”.
“Your place doesn’t have
what it takes. Let’s go to
Selkirk, past the old stone
church, the old fort, the hoary
trees and all the prairie.”
“Well, O.K. Sure you want
to spend all that gasoline and
chalk up all that mileage on
your car just to have a cup
of coffee in the only restaur-
ant that might be open in
Selkirk on a Sunday?”
Nobody owes you an apo-
logy for an invitation to drive
to the country on a glittering
midwinter day, but the friend
told me it wasn’t really coffee
that she needed. “I just want
the prairie,” she said. “Those
highrise apartments are clos-
ing in and throttling me. I
want to see the sun shine full-
face in that blue dome, I want
to see it slide on a trail of
light to the rim of the sky
and flood it with crimson. I
want to see a pink blush on
the white snow through the
bare, brown branches of the
trees.”
So we took to the road.
“The steel and the concrete
have no business with heav-
en,” I mused aloud. “They
defy the sun like Lucifer chal-
lenged the power of hght long
ago. They should stay down
to earth and be their size be-
side a tree that dug its roots
into the soil two hundred
years ago.”
“And noble pines should
not be severed from their
roots to adorn the hard grey
pate of a sky scraper,” re-
torted my friend. The Christ-
mas tree on top of this one
looks like a gaudy feather in
a dowagers bonnet.”
I looked up and agreed. A
hundred feet tall in the forest
a few days ago, this tree
caught the sun on its crown
in late afternoon, the stars of
night sparkled all around it,
and twinkled t h r o u g h its
branches. Sometimes on sul-
try summer days, cl^mds grew
suddenly p e n s i v e , hovered
close to its head and wept
their benedictíon on its thirsty
boughs. It neighbored with
the sky, this tree, when it
stood as high as it grew in
the forest.
Now, like a potted plant in
a kitchen window, it stands
dwarfed by the unlovely
height of concrete and steel
that came between it and the
earth.
Then suddenly the inverted
platter over our heads deep-
Winter Country Drive
ens and broadens into a huge
blue bowl with room to show
off the sun and the clouds.
We’re on an old and shabby
street, where the houses are
folk-size and the business
buildings only toe-high to
heaven. Soon we roll onto the
empty highway with an eter-
nity of space on both sides
of it.
And out of the whiteness
at the side of the road rises
old St. Andrews church. No
higher,’ spire and all, than the
noble pine that huddles like
a potted plant on the arrogant
height of a city highrise, it
stands in modest dignity like
queen of the vast landscape.
Money did not build this
church. The faith and strength
of poor and simple men
brought it into being on the
banks of the Red River. They
quarried the fieldstone for its
walls from the riverbed, har-
nessed the rocks to their
shoulders and drew them to
the site. Generations of their
kin sleep within the low stone
fence they built around their
church, for it has weathered
more than a century of sea-
sons. It stands in a calm white
world of its own this Sunday,
the low shrubbery and trees
at its gates draped in hoar
frost and the snow-shrouded
prairie dipping toward the
frozen river.
A n d Lower Fort Garry
spreads itself over half the
prairie between Winnipeg and
Selkirk, it seems. Not a shot
was ever fired through the
holes in its greystone walls.
For all its pretensions, it is a
monument to peace on these
plains, and it must have been
an impressive sight when
there was much ground and
so little architecture to fill it.
We hadn’t yet tumbled to
the profit there is in ration-
ing the prairie when the old
fort was built, and the idea
of stacking hundreds of homes
one on top of the other, aill
held up by a single founda-
tion, was not yet thought of.
Spendthrifts of the ground
were the old builders, but
they left the horizons opetn
and untouched.
“It’s a long way to come
for a cup of coffee,” I ob-
served at the end of the jour-
ney.”
“It was worth it,” said my
friend, and one has to have
a purpose for a drive into the
country.”
— Caroline Gunnarsson.
At the meeting of the Jon
Sigurdson c h a p t e r IODE,
held, Nov. 28, at the Univer-
sity Women’s Club, scholar-
ships were presented to four
outstanding students of Ice-
landic descent. We can be
grateful that so many of our
Icelandic students attain high
marks and reach fine achieve-
ments. We received over
thirty scholarship applications
and almost all were from stu-
dents of remarkable talents
and fine efforts both in the
scholastic field and in extra-
curricular achievements.
Mrs. A. F. Wilson presented
the Johanna Skaptason Mem-
orial scholarship of $150.00 to
Jeffrey Donald Jonasson, who
graduated last spring from
Kelvin Collegiáte with an
average mark of 89.5, and is
presently taking a science
course at the U. of M. Jeff
has won many awards during
his years at Kelvin. He was
awarded the A Kappa Sigma
certificate for high standing,
and numerous book awards.
On finishing Grade XII he
won the Kelvin scholarship of
$125. and the Royal Cana-
dian Legion scholarship of
$200.00. He participated in
v a r i o u s inter-room sports-
football, volleyball and bas-
ketball, his team winning the
school championship in his
last year. He and his brother
play hockey with the Carpa-
thia Cougars team in the
River Heights area.
Jeffrey is a son of Mrs.
Eileen (Einarson) Jonasson
and the late Einar S. Jonas-
son, whose father, Einar Jon-
asson was at one time Mani-
toba MLA, and his wife Anne
(Tergesen) of Gimli. Jeffrey
lost his father, a veteran of
World War Two (Air Force)
in 1968 after a prolonged ill-
ness. There are four brothers
two younger than Jeff. The
oldest brother is in second
year at the U. of M,
Scholarship Winner
The Educational Secretary,
Mrs. H. F. Danielson pre-
sented the other three schol-
arships: The Elinborg Han-
son scholarships of $75.00
each, to: Linda Gail Thorlak-
son and Chrisline Donna Ker-
nested.
Linda Gail graduated from
St. James Collegiate this
spring with an average of
88.3. She received the St.
James-Assiniboia S c h o o 1
Board award for highest
standing; an award for high-
est standing in Grade XII
English, and also Grade XII
Science. She was convenor of
the school tea last year and
p 1 a y e d Lady Macbeth in
Grade XI, but worked behind
the scenes in last year’ Drama
producton. As a member of
the Collegiate Glee Club she
travelled to Neepawa, and
various Winnipeg schools to
take part in concerts. She was
a member of the Reach for
the Top Team and did volun-
teer work at MTC. She fills
in her spare time with house-
hold arts, sewing, knitting etc.
She is also learning Icelandic
by herself using tapes and
records. At the fall convoca-
tion of the University of Win-
nip>eg Linda received two
scholarship awards. The
James T. Watson and the T.
Eaton scholarships. She is en-
rolled in the Science course
at the U. of Winnipeg. Linda
is the daughter of Ellert Jonas
and Aldis (Benj aminson)
Thorlakson.
Chrisline Donna Kernested
finished her Grade XII with
an average of 88, and is en-
rolled in Science Faculty at
the U. of M. Her teachers are
esctatic in her praise — “A
brillinat student, and a per-
fectionist. She is good in ev-
erything she tries, and always
willing to do extra work for
others”, they say. Christine
took a very active part in
school activities, both sports
and the student council. She
was treasurer of the student
council, which is a very ardu-
ous job, as much time went
into committee meetings and
sub-committees. She was in
carge of many of the social
activities of the school — was
on the Drama-executive, the
lunchroom committee and the
Freshie Dance committee —
was captain of the Varsity
volleyball a n d basketball
teams. She also took part in
badminton, curling, baseball
and track and field. She be-
Ionged to the Junior Achieve-
ment Club, which was just
started at the Gimli School,
and was treasurer of the com-
pany. She particpated in the
Junior Achievement Trade
Fair held at Polo Park this
spring, where all the J. A.
companies had a chance to sell
their products. Christine is a
daughter of Mr. and Mrs-.
Gordon Kernested of Gimli.
All the other w i n n e r s are
Winnipeg residents.
Sigurdur Albert (Siggi)
Stephensen won the Jon Sig-
urdson Chapter Music Schol-
arship of $75.00. Siggi is only
fourteen years old but is al-
ready in Grade X in school.
He has, through the years,
been placed in the accelerated
and major work classes in
earning almost “A’s” in his
school work. He received cer-
tificates of merit and book
awards for highest marks in
Grade VIII and IX in Grant
Park Collegiate. He received
94% for his Grade II rudi-
ments after only four months
of study. This spring he re-
ceived first class honors (86)
in his practical Grade XI
piano exam which he studied
on his own and honors in his
history (music) exam. He has
played in his recorder music
group at school for many
years.
Siggi is the son of Albert
H. and Kristin (Mélsted) Step-
hensen. His father is a music
teacher.
The four award winners
w e r e accompanied to the
meeting by their parents who
enjoyed a social hour with the
members of the chapter, and
a delightful lunchvin the plea-
sant surroundings of the Uni-
versity Women’s Club. Two of
our honorary officers, Miss
Margaret Petursson and Mrs.
G. L. Johannson attended as
invited guests. Hostesses were
Mrs. A. F. Wilson, Mrs. Paul
Goodman and Mrs. H. F. Dani-
elson.
Holmfriður Danielson,
Educational Sec.
Theatre at Church Women's
Meeting
At the November meeting
of the First Lutheran Church
Women’s society in Winnipeg,
the ladies were surprised with
a thirty minute plaiy. The play
was called, “What Are We
Going To Do With All These
Rotting Fish?” It was based
on a rather free reading of
St. Luke 5:1-11. Under the di-
rection of Mrs. Freda Daniel-
son, the cast of five presented
in dramatic fashion, and also
with humorous overtones, the
worry which Sam, played by
Harold Hallson, and his
partner, Runt, played by Sist-
er Linda Wedman, knew as
they wondered what to do
vrith al'l the fish left from the
miracle of the great catch of
fish. Others in the cast in-
cluded Angelica and her hus-
Framhald á bls. S.