Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.08.1980, Blaðsíða 7

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKKINGLA, HÁTÍÐARBLAÐ 1980
The Move to Gimli
Cont. from page 6
all festivals in one, either at
Gimli or in Winnipeg.
G. Thorvaldsson pointed
out that this meeting did not
have the authority to decide
on the move to Gimli and
suggested a public meeting.
The present festival com-
mittee had been elected to
organize a celebration in
Winnipeg. He added that
the committee had no in-
tention of starting a debate
among the Icelanders in
Winnipeg; the question was
should this year’s festival
take place at Gimli or in
Winnipeg.
Finally Th. Hansson
moved that the committee
would call a public meeting
in Winnipeg in order to
reach a decision in this
matter. This was carried
and a meeting scheduled for
May lOth.
The Public Meeting
This meeting was at-
tended by almost one
hundred Icelanders and it
was apparent from the
beginning that most of them
had their minds made up.
Before the meeting even
started, speeches were
made, but little could be
heard. Those opposing the
speaker’s views made sure
of that and it seemed that
the disorder was complete.
It took Dr. A. Blondal, the
A scene from one of the early festivals held in Gimh.
president of the festival
committee almost half an
hour to open the meeting.
He began by reading out a
telegram he had received
from Mr. Sveinn Thor-
valdsson, in Riverton. He
was the president of the
Hnausa festival committee
and offered the co-operation
of his committee to the
Winnipeg festival. As this
meeting had been called to
decide on a possible move to
Gimli the content of the
telegram from Riverton was
not discussed further.
Dr. Blondal then asked if
anyone present opposed the
useage of both languages,
Icelandic and English. He
felt that many of the younger
generation might want to
express their views in
English.
No one objected so the
first speaker, Mr. Sigurdur
Vilhjalmsson was permitted to
go ahead.
I must point out, before
describing this meeting, that
the minutes, which are my
main sources, are extremely
partial. According to them,
anyone opposing the move to
Gimli, made very little
sense. However, their
arguments, in most cases,
are clear. Mr. Vilhjalmsson
discussed the advantages of
having the festival in
Winnipeg; River Park, he
mentioned, provided
everything needed for such
an event. The festival was
for Icelanders in Winnipeg
and they should not have to
pay a large amount of money
to be able to attend their
festival. The cost of
travelling to Gimli was too
high for the average family.
The minutes of this meeting
tell of how he finally asked
Cont. on page 11
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