Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.08.1981, Síða 5
WINNIPEG, HÁTÍÐARBLAÐ 1981-5
Local history book project is a
dream coming true
Jon and Lillian Thorlacius examine an old school stamp, one of the
antiques associated with the early education system.
Twenty-six years ago the late
Judge W. J. Lindal published his
book The Saskatchewan Ice-
landers, A Strand of the Cana-
dian Fabric. Since then a number
of local histories of Icelandic Cana-
dian settlements have appeared,
and quite a few are now in the mak-
ing as can be seen from the follow-
ing excerpt from the June 17 issue of
the Wynyard Advance in Saskat-
chewan.
"A lifelong dream will come true
for Wynyard teacher Lilian
Thorlacius later this year with the
publication of a book in local history
'Reflections By The Quills.'
The book, tracing the history of
people living in more than a dozen
school districts south of the Quill
Lakes, including the communities of
Dafoe, Kandahar and Wynyard, has
been two years in the making. But
the idea has been with Mrs.
Thorlacius for much longer than
that.
'I've had the idea for a long time
that a history should be written of
this area, but I was always too busy
furthering my education or teaching
school,' says Mrs. Thorlacius, the
The sign of the Crab belongs
astrologically to the element Water,
which is the emotional element of
the universe, changeable since it
seeks to adapt itself to its environ-
ment, to "the shape of its
container". The Crab is tenacious;
its apparently hard shell hides a sen-
sitive soul. Its ruler is the Moon, an
ancient goddess associated with the
very source of life. The Moon
reflects the energy of the Sun. Its
nature is rhythmic change, as
shown in the tides it affects as well
as in its own waxing and waning.
The typical Cancerian approach to
life is emotional rather than intellec-
tual. This is the Nurturing and Col-
lecting sign of the Zodiac.
Cancerians have strong family feel-
ings, and often see their friends as
family, too. They show sympathetic
and protective concern for others'
welfare, and are prudent and
economical managers of their
homes and businesses.
Cancerians characteristically tend
to have "green thumbs" and to en-
joy building collections of all sorts.
Their collecting instinct shows itself
in their exceptionally strong
memories, which often retain fresh
and accurate images of facts and
people, seemingly unaffected by
distance or time. They appreciate
tradition and may become valued
sources of forgotten folklore and in-
herited culture.
Cancerian love is traditionally
book's editor. 'At first I was only in-
terested in writing about my own
school district, but after contacting a
few other people the idea just ex-
panded.
'I think the way it turned out was
described as tender, guarding, and
sensitive. This sign wants a home
and loved ones of its own to cherish.
Typical astrological advice to
Cancer encourages this sign to make
the best possible use of its natural
talents. At every age, the Cancer
needs to be able to freely choose
someone or something to care for
and nurture. Both as children and
adults, Cancerians may sometimes
seem to others, because of the
sureness of their caring, to be less
sensitive than they really are.
Cancerians who know this can,
when the occasion demands, guard
against taking offense too easily.
Others, when wishing to influence
Cancerians, will find appeals to
their imaginations and their ideals
more effective than ridicule or frank
criticism. Cancerians with more car-
ing capacity than is allowed for in
their jobs are often encouraged to
spend their spare time in useful
domestic pursuits they enjoy (cook-
ing, carpentering, gardening," etc.),
in befriending others, or immersing
themselves in a collection of some
sort. These are all activities which
can bring them much satisfaction.
The gift of Cancer to us all lies in
the uniquely nurturing quality of
Cancerian affection, and in its belief
that the welfare of those whose lives
we touch is worth the tender,
homey care and daily effort that this
requires.
fortunate, if we had concentrated on
a smaller area we would have only
included Scottish people or
Icelanders — but this book will
show how people came to live
together from all parts of the globe.'
A network of co-ordinators from
each of the former school districts
has been helping Mrs. Thorlacius
put the book together and a picture
committee has also been formed to
sort out the dozens of photographs
which have been submitted.
'We've had tremendous support
from the rural areas,’ she says. 'Our
committee is an interesting group,
we have people involved from 20 to
80 years old and we're all working
together with one purpose in mind.
The book certainly couldn't have
been written without the help of the
provincial archives either.'
Besides tracing family histories,
the book will detail some interesting
stories from pioneering days in the
Quill Lakes area. Some exarqples:
— a description of the meteorite
which struck Big Quill Lake in July,
1922. One farmer, haying near the
lake that day, described how the
whole area was covered by a fog
that resulted from steam coming off
the water.
Another farmer, living south east
Heimsmeistaraeinvíginu í skák,
milli Anatoli Karpov og Victor Kor-
chnois, sem fram átti að fara 19.
september í Merano á Norðurltalíu,
hefur verið frestað um einn mánuð.
Ákvörðun um frestun tók forseti
FIDE, Friðrik Ólafsson, og sagði
hann í viðtali við Morgunblaðið að
með þessu væri hann að leggja á-
herslu á kröfuna um að kona Kor-
chnois og sonur fengju að fara úr
of Wynyard, lived to read his own
obituary in the paper. When a farm
building collapsed on him during a
storm, he was thought to be dead.
The news was relayed to the local
newspaper. However the man did
recover, although somewhat slowly.
In August, 1916, a violent
hailstorm devastated an area from
the Touchwood Hills to the Quill
Lakes. One lady, recalling the ex-
perience, said her mother had calm-
ed the frightened children by
dashing out into the yard, scooping
up a bucket of hailstones and mak-
ing ice cream, thereby turning a
disaster around.
— In advertising characteristic of
the day, the Wynyard Board of
Trade predicted great things for the
new community including the loca-
tion of a glass factory. The salt
waters of, the Quiil Lakes were also
claimed to be a cure-all and the
climate of the Wynyard area was
portrayed as ideal.
Mrs. Thorlacius wasn't surprised
at the amount of material the group
was able to dig up although she says
she felt they were within years of
losing it all forever.
'If there isn't another history book
written for a number of years we
felt our book would give these peo-
ple a few threads to pick up on,' she
said.
Funds for publishing the book
have been obtained from advance
sales and donations from local
organizations and individuals. The
book could have qualified for a $400
New Horizons grant if it had come
out earlier, but Mrs. Thorlacius says
they didn't want to rush things and
do a shoddy job.
'There should be more govern-
ment support for these community
history books,' she adds, 'because
together these books are going to
weave a total picture of the pro-
vince."
Even though this new local
history will to some extent cover the
same territory as the previously
mentioned book by Judge Lindal,
one must bear in mind that the
quarter century which has elapsed
since that book was written has not
been altogether uneventful.
landi í Sovétríkjunum. Hann sagði:
"Ég tel það skyldu mína að sjá um,
að aðstaða keppenda sé jöfn og gefa
því Rússum aukinn tíma til að leysa
málið." Victor Korchnoi hefur verið
tilkynnt um þessa ákvörðun FIDE.
Haft er eftir lögfræðingi hans að
hann sé þakklátur því að sovésk
yfirvöld séu þannig beitt nýjum
þrýstingi til þess að sleppa
fjölskyldu hans frá Sovétríkjunum.
The Lögberg-Heimskringla Zodiac by Astrid Thorunn Einarson
Cancer
(First publication rights,
June 2-July 23)
Heimsmeistaraeinvígi
í skák frestað