Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.08.1978, Side 16

IiOGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, HATIÐARBLAÐ AGtTST 1978
'IB
Clubs have busy season
A quick look at the back
issues of Lögberg - Heims-
kringla is ready proof that
Icelandic clubs in North
America have had a busy
year.
Since the inception last
fall of the back page format
for club news, some 20 clubs
have used the paper to pro-
mote their activities and fill
readers in on what their
club has been doing.
The club page has never
lacked for news, except, per-
haps, for recent weeks when
club members have taken a
summer holiday. CJubs will
reorganize in either Septem-
ber or October for a new
season.
One of the most recurrent
themes throughout the year
has been the showing of the
film “They Shouldn’t Call
Iceland Iceland”, a 28-minute
colour film produced by the
Icelandic Tourist Board and
the Icelandic Airline.
Most often the film was
shown within the framework
of a club meeting and en-
joyed vast exposure through-
out the United States and
Canada.
During the 1977-78 club
season, the film was shown
in Vancouver, Montreal,
Brandon, Toronto, Calgary,
Bismarck, North Dakota,
Gimli, Edmonton, Marker-
ville, R e g i n a , Saskatoon,
Wynyard, Neepawa, Swan
River, L u n d a r , Stafholt,
Seattle, Langruth, Baldur
and Arborg.
Somewhat fittingly, the
film was last shown at the
Icelandic Centennial cele-
brations at Mountain, North
Dakota June 30 to July 2.
Membership continues to
be a major concern of all
clubs. The Icelandic Cana-
dian Club of B.C., with just
short of 400 members, boasts
the largest membership.
Records show that the
newest club is the House of
íceland in San Diego, estab-
lished in January, 1977.
Formed to enable persons of
Icelandic descent to meet to-
gether on a regular basis, the
club has grown to upwards
of 70 members since it was
begun.
Social events appear to be
one of the mainstays of all
clubs, providing members
with the opportunity to “eat,
drink and be merry” with
their associates, often in con-
junction with an Icelandic
Next paper
will be published
September 15th
1978
holiday or celebrated event.
Many clubs hold Thorra-
blots in February or March
and for some it is the main
event of the year. Tradi-
tional Icelandic foods associ-
ated with the ancient month
of Thorri are eaten, as is the
renewed custom in Iceland
itself.
Those clubs holding such
events this past year were
Icelandic Canadian F r ó n ,
Winnipeg; Icelandic Cana-
dian Club of B.C., Vancou-
ver; Icelandic Society of Ed-
monton; American Icelandic
Society, New York; Icelandic
Society of Northern Califor-
nia; and the Icelandic Asso-
ciation of Washington, D.C.
The first day of summer
in April is another widely-
celebrated holiday. The Ice-
landic Club of Greater Seat-
tle held its 77th _annual
“Sumardagurinn Fyrsti” ce-
lebration on April 21. The
first such celebration by the
club members took place in
1901.
Not too far behind is the
Bruin Chapter of the Ice-
landic National League (Sel-
kirk) which this year mark-
ed its 74th such celebration.
Selkirk first marked the spe-
cial day in 1904.
The Icelandic Canadian
Club of Western Manitoba
held a Sumardagurinn Fyrsti
concert in Brandon on April
16. And the Gimli Chapter
of the Icelandic National
League held their annual
“Welcome to Summer” con-
cert on June 9.
Iceland’s National Day,
June 17, is yet another spe-
cial day marked on club cal-
endars. Among those clubs
with special programs were
the Icelandic Society of Nor-
thern California, Icelandic
Canadian Frón, Stephan G.
Stephanson Icelandic Society
in Markerville, Alberta, and
the Icelandic Club of Great-
er Seattle. Activities ranged
from dinners and dances to
outdoor picnics and formal
programs.
Besides social activities,
many clubs got involved in
actively supporting the Ice-
landic culture. Icelandic lan-
guage classes were set up in
such places as Vancouver,
Winnipeg, Calgary and Gim-
li. An Icelandic choir was
formed in Winnipeg. All the
clubs gave support, whether
financial or otherwise, to
Lögberg-Heimskringla, as a
means of maintaining the
ties between all persons of
Icelandic descent on the con-
tinent.
It is not always necessary,
either, to have a formal or-
ganizational structure, for a
group of western Icelanders
to work towards preserving
their heritage. As one exam-
ple, a group of people met in
Bismarck, North Dakota on
January 6 for an informal
get-together and program.
An annual event since 1959,
it started out as an intimate
party at a private home and
has developed into a much
more formal affair in larger
facilities.
As yet another example,
another group of women
from Philadelphia get to-
gether for picnics and other
social events. Just recently
they took part in an inter-
national display of artifacts
and handicrafts. Members of
the group number about 25.
The 1 a r g e s t organized
group is the Icelandic Na-
tional League, with its affili-
ated chapters. Chapters are
located in Gimli, Arborg,
Selkirk, L u n d a r, Marker-
ville, Edmonton, Morden and
Mountain, as well as other
centres.
The annual convention of
the league was held in Win-
nipeg, March 31 and April 1,
with a good attendance and
detailed reports from all
chapters.
The Baran Chapter in
Mountain, North Dakota was
perhaps the busiest of all
with preparations for the
Icelandic centennial celebra-
tions held there June 30 -
July 2. Approximately 5,000
persons attended the three-
day event.
Club organizers are al-
ready looking to another
busy season starting this fall,
with most clubs having pre-
pared in advahce a schedule
of events for the coming
season.
Those clubs with activities
publicized in Lögberg-
Heimskringla, listed in ran-
dom order are: the Gimli
Chapter of the Icelandic Na-
tional League, the Icelandic
Canadian Club of Baldur,
Icelandic Canadian Frón, the
Icelandic Canadian Club of
Western Manitoba (Bran-
don), the Leif Eiriksson Ice-
landic Club (Calgary), the
Icelandic Canadian Club of
Toronto, the Icelandic Cana-
dian Club of B.C., the Ice-
landic Society of Northern
California, the Icelandic As-
sociation of Washington,
D.C., the Icelandic Club of
Greatér Seattle, the Esjan
chapter of the I.N.L. (Ar-
borg), Bruin chapter (Sel-
kirk), Lundar chapter, Ste-
phan G. Stephanson Ice-
landic Society (Markerville),
Baran chapter (Mountain),
Island chapter (Morden), the
Icelandic Society of Edmon-
ton, the American Icelandic
Society (New York), House
of Iceland (San Diego) and
the Icelandic Association of
Chicago. S.W.
CLUB CONTACTS
1. Gimli Chapter, Icelandic National League
Mr. Oli Narfason, President
Box 208
Gimli, Manitoba R0C 1B0
2. Icelandic Canadian Club of Baldur, Baldursbrá
Miss Hansina Gunnlaugsson, President
Box 32
Baldur, Manitoba R0K 0B0
3. Icelandic Canadian Frón
Mrs. Iris Torfason, President
30 St. Dunstan’s Bay
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 3H5
4. Icelandic Canadian Club of Western Manitoba
Mrs. Guðrun Mclnnis, President
444 McDiarmid Drive
Brandon, Manitoba R7B 2H4
5. Leif Eiriksson Icelandic Club
Mr. Ed Jonasson, President
739 - 20th Avenue N.W.
Calgary, Alberta T2M 1E2
6. Icelandic Club of Toronto
Mrs. Rosa Vernon, President
73 Alpaca Drive
Scarborough, Ontario MIJ 2Z9
7. Icelandic Canadian Club of British Columbia
Mr. Robert Asgeirsson, President
1128 Cornell Avenue
Coquitlam, British Columbia V3J 2Z7
8. Icelandic Society of Northern California
Sigrun Zapulla, Treasurer
1906 Somersworth Drive
San Jose, California 95124
9. Icelandic Association of Wa^hington, D.C.
Mrs. Laufey Downey, President
5611 Grunea Road
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
10. Icelandic Club of Greater Seattle
Ruth Sigurdson, Secretary
7700 - 23rd N.W.
Seattle, Washington 98107
11. Esjan Chapter, Icelandic National League
Gunnar Sæmundsson
Box 26
Arborg, Manitoba R0C 0A0
12. Bruin Chapter, Icelandic National League
Jack Bjornson
311 Netley Avenue
Selkirk, Manitoba RIA 1H2
13. Lundar Chapter, Icelandic National League
Johann Sigurdson
Lundar, Manitoba R0C 1Y0
14. Stephan G. Stephansson Icelandic Society
Kris Johnson, President
Box 1138, R.R. 1
Red Deer, Alberta T4N 5E1
15. Baran Chapter, Icelandic National League
Frimann Melsted, President
St. Thomas, North Dakota 58276
16. Icelandic National League
Stefan J. Stefanson
37 Macklin Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R2V 2M4
17. Island Chapter, Icelandic National League
Thomas Thomasson
Morden, Manitoba R0G 1J0
18. Icelandic Society of Edmonton
B. A. Thorlakson
795 - 92nd Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T6C 1R6
19. Icelandic American Society of New York
Svava R. Eatough
200 Winston Drive
Cliffside Park, New Jersey 07010
20. House of Iceland
Paul Asgeirsson, President
7533 Jennite Drive
San Diego, California 92119
21. Icelandic Association of Chicago —
William L. Johnson, Treasurer
17 Concord Drive
, Oak Brook, Illinois 60521