Lögberg-Heimskringla - 30.03.1979, Blaðsíða 3

Lögberg-Heimskringla, föstudagur 30. mars, 1979
3
The Editor
Dear Sir:
This Committee would like
to express its concern caused
by recent articles in Logberg
Heimskringia regarding the
restoration and condition of
the Stephansson home at
Markerville, Alberta. The
Committee is of the opinion,
however, that no useful
purpose will be served by
dwelling on the subject. In
the event of further articles
on the restoration project,it
is suggested that the inform-
ation used might be verified
by referring it to a member
of this Committee, in the in-
terests of recognized journ-
alistic practice, if not as a
matter of observing ordinary
amenities.
The Stephansson Home
has been designated as a His-
toric Site, and accordingly
comes under the jurisdiction
of the Historic Sites Service
of the Province of Alberta.
This Service has the respon-
sibility of the identification,
the preservation and the in-
terpretation of the historical
resources of the province.
Service establishes the crit-
eria and provides the back-
ground necessary before a
resource may be designated
as a historical site. The phy-
sical condition of the site is
determined plans are drawn
and estimated cost are pre-
pared for the restoration and
development of the site and
its related facilities. The site
is fully documented by
means of accurate measure-
ments and drawings, and also
a complete photographic re-
cord is prepared. Plans are
also prepared for the site ac-
cording to identified inter-
pretative themes.
In the year 1978, intensive
research was started in resp-
ect of Stephan G. Stephans-
son and his home at Marker
ville, Alberta. The research
included translations of
Stephansson’s Bref of Rit-
gerðir. This work was done
by Ninna Campbell of Ed-
monton’s Norðurljós Chapter
of the Icelandic National
League and Björgvin Sigurð
son of Calgary’s Leif Eiriks-
son Icelandic Society.
During the summer of 1978
two technologists from the
Historic Sites Service con-
ducted an extensive survey
of the Stephansson home,
measuring the interior and
exterior of the building, and
all its component parts. The
entire building was also
photo-documented. This was
done as a basis for a more
detailed structurai analysis
to be carried out in the
spring of this year.
In the fall of 1978, a basic
stabilization of the house
was completed, necessary re-
pairs were made and ventil-
ators were installed on some
windows. Doors were secur-
ed and the roof was repair-
ed.
All the household furnish-
ings were catalogued, then
removed to the Historic Sites
warehouse in Edmonton.
Lists were compiled of all
the furnishings to be held
for Historic Sites by inter-
ested parties, and those still
to be acquired.
This project has not receiv
ed any financing from the
Heritage Trust Fund of Al-
berta. Further information
regarding this aspect of the
situation may be obtained
by writing to Mr. Dean
Clark, Director of Historic
Sites, 10158-103 Street Ed-
monton, Alberta.
Sincerely,
G. A. Arnason,
Chairman
The Stephan G.
Stephansson, Homestead
Restoration Committee
Edmóhtóh
FYRSTI
BÓKASKÁPURINN
VAR
KOMMÓÐUSKÚFFA
Framh. af bls. 1
safninu í Ottawa, sem tillag
til þjóðlegrar menningar. Þar
mun nú vera stærsta safn ís-
lenski'a bóka í Canada, ef
frá er talið safnið í Mani-
toba háskóla.
• 1970-71
Guðrún Gíslason byrjar
að kenna börnum islensku.
Kennslan fór fram á heimili
hennar, og fyrst voru hjá
henni 12-14 börn. Veturinn
eftir, að hún byrjaði á þess-
ari kennslu urðu nemendurn
ir alls 60, og þriðja árið voru
þeir orðnir 150, sem lærðu
islensku.
Styðjið
Þjóðræknisfélagið
Þá hjálpuðust nokkrar
konur að við kennsluna hálfa
klukkustund i viku og nú var
kennt í barnaskólanum i Ár-
borg. Þá var einnig byrjuð
islenskukennsla í barnaskól-
unum í Riverton og á Gimli.
Þá voru haldnar sam-
komur, þar sem nemendurn-
ir skemmtu með söng, fram-
sögn og smáleikjum, allt á
islensku, og nokkrir nemend
ur komu líka fram á hátíð-
um Islendingadagsins á
Gimli. Það var nefnt “New
Iceland Music and Poetry
Appreciation Society Pro-
gramme”.
• 1973-74
Það er ekki lengra sið-
an, að íslenskukennsla var
skipulögð í Nýja Islandi, þ.e.
af opinberri hálfu. Nú hafa
verið samdar kennslubækur
fyrir nemendur barnaskól-
anna, og hefur Menntamála-
ráðuneyti fylkisins yfirum-
sjón með þessu, ásamt ís-
lensku deild Manitoba há-
skóla.
Af bókasafninu er það að
segja, að það var starfrækt
sérstaklega allt þar til fyrir
tveimur árum, er það var
sameinað Evergreen Region
al Library, en þar er það
sérstök deild, ásamt með
bókasöfnum Víðirbyggðar-
innar, “Dagsbnin”, og Geys-
irbyggðarinnar, “Vísir”.
'Frú Sigurbjörg Stefánsson
á Gimli hefur unnið við að
skrásetja úrval bóka úr safn
inu.
Til fróðleiks má geta þess,
að á árunum 1952-1953 voru
lánaðar út alls 670 bækur
frá bókasafninu, og tíu árum
síðar 1963-64 voru lánaðar
um 1400 bækur. — Vitað er
með vissu um 57 heimili,
sem notið hafa bókanna, auk
þess, sem þær hafa komið
sér vel fyrir sjúklinga á
sjúkrahúsinu i Árborg.
• Fundir Esju
Á fundum deildarinnar
var oft skemmtilegt. Oftast
var sérstök skemmtiskrá i
lok fundanna, og þá tóku
ýmsir til máls. Oft var lesið
upp, eða bara rif jað upp hitt
og þetta, þá var almennur
söngur vinsæll á skemmti-
skránni, stundum var farið
með frumort kvæði eða vis-
ur, og oft voru spumingar
og svör um Island og íslensk
málefni.
Þá má einnig geta um eft-
irhermur Björns Bjarnason-
ar frá Bjarkalandi, og ekki
má heldur gleyma Timoteusi
lcelandic Content'
Headlining this week’s front page is an interview with
Mrs. A. Sigvaldason of Arborg, who talks about the
history of Icelandic organizations in the Arborg dist-
rict. She mentions the 1908 formation of Lestrarfelag
Fróðleikshvöt, the purpose of which was to preserve
Icelandic literature and make such available to interest
ed members. The first bookshelf was a drawer on loan
from Olof Johannsson. The club started with
a capital amount of $14.00 donated by the
Eining ladies group. The Esjan chapter of the Ice-
landic National League, was later formed in 1939. Mrs.
Sigvaldason talks about the Icelandic lessons provided
by the club and the entertainment provided by young
people of Icelandic descent at club meetings and I.N.L.
conventions. Mrs. Sigvaldason, who has been secretary
of the Esjan chapter for many years, has been deeply
involved in the Icelandic community in and around
Arborg for some time.
i
Page four features comparative articles on the tourism
industries in Canada and Iceland. In Iceland, the tour-
ism industry ranks third on the list of industries or
businesses that bring foreign currency into the country
Frozen fish comes first on the list and aluminum runs
second. But despite the large amount of money brought
into the country each year by tourists, the current
government has cut the funds available to the Icelandic
Tourist Board, making overseas promotion of Iceland
difficult. The situation is just the opposite in Canada,
where more Canadiáns leave the country on trips each
year than foreigners enter. In Canada the government
is putting increasing amounts of money into tourist
promotion. Manitoba, for example, just received a
grant of $20 million to promote the province, the
money to be shared on a 60-40 basis by the federal and
provincial governments respectively. Negotiations are
being carried oUt with the United States in an effort
to make cross-border traffic easier, thus paving the
way for American conferences being held in Canada,
for example. Winnipeg is being increasingly promoted
as a convention centre. It has been estimated that last
year convention delegates to that city brought about
$20 million dollars into the city.
This week’s editorial takes a closer look at the tourism
question. The editor notes the value of the tourist ind-
ustry to every country. Lögberg-Heimskringla has re-
ceived articles written about Iceland in various diverse
publications recently and the editor points out that
such articles are of great value to the Icelandic tourist
industry. Dollars aside, however, it is the personal con-
tact to be made through foreign travel that remain the
most valuable aspect of such travel.
Böðvarssyni sem var “kunn-
ur hér um slóðir fyrir rímna-
kveðskap á samkomum, og
efast ég um að nokkrar aðr-
ar íslenskar byggðir eigi
hans líka í þeirri íþrðtt,” seg
ir Guðmundur Ó. Einarsson
í einni af fundargerðum Esj-
unnar, er hann var ritari
deildarinnar.
Esjan hefur alltaf átt á-
gæta liðsmenn, t.d. Herdísi
Eiriksson, sem hafði á hendi
margþætt og umfangs-
mikið starf í þágu íslenskra
mála í nær 40 ár, og Ingvi
maður hennar hefur stutt
hana með ráðum og dáð. Þá
má nefna bókaverði, sem
höfðu bækur í sínum heima-
húsum og afhentu þær hve-
nær, sem þess var óskað, og
var það starf oft annasamt.
Einnig er að nefna konur,
sem skiptust á um að af-
henda bækurnar vissa daga
eftir að safnið var flutt í
sveitaráðsbygginguna, — og
þó, sem tóku að sér að
annast bókband, og aðrar
viðgerðir á bókunum.
Og sist má gleyma þeim
foreldrum, öfum og ömmum
sem töluðu íslensku við upp-
vaxandi kynslóð, þeim er
það mest að þakka hvað mál
ið hefur haldist við hér i
Nýja Islandi og er enn talað
á allmörgum heimilum.
Svo segir Aðalbjörg Sigvalda
son. Og hún nefnir auðvitað
ekki sjálfa sig, til þess er
Bogga alltof hógvær og lítil-
lát. En varla væri íslensk
menning í Nýja Islandi söm,
ef ekki nyti þess merka
starfs, sem fólk eins og hún
hefur lagt af mörkum um
árabil. já