Lögberg-Heimskringla - 08.06.1984, Qupperneq 1

98. ÁRGANGUR
Lögberg
Heimskringb
i rvr'DCDr i a 1000
LÖGBERG Stofnað 14. janúar 1888
HEIMSKRINGLA Stofnað 9. september 1886
WINNIPEG, FOSTUDAGUR 8. JUNI 1984
NUMER 21
Icelandic Heritage Days, Gimli
The Icelandic National League
chapter at Gimli organized Icelandic
heritage days, a cultural event June
2. The twin of Gimli is the ideal place
for such an undertaking as here was
the first Icelandic village in Canada,
here was the heart of the only ex-
clusively Icelandic settlement in
North America in the 1870s and ear-
ly 1880s. But although Gimli thus
may have started an annual event it
should be hoped that Icelanders else-
where follow this excellent example.
The Icelandic heritage days events
took place by the Gimli harbor. Agairi
that was a well-chosen area as Gimli
Museum, which mainly consists of
Icelandic articles, gave shelter on one
side and the new Icelandic Festival
Committee’s headquarters building
on the other. The weather could have
been nicer, yet well over one hun-
dred people attended, some wearing
Icelandic woolen sweaters as the
northern winds occasionally found a
way around or between the above
mentioned buildings. In many
respécts, the gathering there on the
harbor bank reminded one of a
similar event in Iceland, that of June
17th. There are days in Iceland,
when the inhabitants are blessed
with sunshine but those cold north
Mrs. Steina Martin and Mrs.
Snjolaug Peterson.
winds force many to put on thick
sweaters, as they prepare for the
celebration of Icelandic indepen-
dence day.
But this only added to the Icelandic
content of the day and not forgetting
those ladies who put on Icelandic
costumes. The only thing that was
missing was the Icelandic flag, tower-
ing over the assembly and one might
have thought of June 17 in Höfn in
Hornarfjörður or Búðardal. After all
The Gimli dock. The new Icelandic Festival Headquarters to the left.
the programme was quite similar to
that of June 17th in such places in
Iceland. There were singing, poetry
reading, displays of various natures,
coffee, pönnukökur and other dain-
ties. But let us turn to the
programme.
Mrs. Betty Wylie read from her
works but she is travelling through
Canada promoting her works and
stopped at Gimli, not only for this oc-
casion but also to visit her relatives,
the Tergesens. The excerpts she read
were witty, well' written and read
with the skills of a great performer.
It should be pointed out that she has
recently written a cookbook jsee page
2).
Next the Valgardson sisters, Valerie
and Debbie sang a few songs. They
have been singing together since they
were little girls and their harmony
was quite good. They admitted that
they did not have any Icelandic songs
to sing but who knows, maybe one
day they will make the effort to learn
some and perhaps they will entertain
Icelanders in Gimli or wherever next
year and have one or two Icelandic
songs in their programme.
But if the audience were disap-
pointed in not hearing thern sing
Icelandic sorig, they didn’t have to re-
main for so long as Mrs. Steina Mar-
tin and Snjolaug Peterson took the
stage next, and soon Icelandic words
reached those present much to
everyone’s delight.
But what is an Icelandic heritage
day without some poetry? Rarely has
there been an Icelandic celebration in
the "old country" or the New World
without the reading of poetry. This
tradition surely must be unique
among Icelanders. Kristjana Gun-
nars, our excellent poet, provided
some of her poems, read with so
much feeling.
Debbie and Valerie Valgardson
with their mother June.
The event was well organized and
the Gimli chapter certainly has
something to be proud of. Other
chapters and organizations can learn
much from this and should consider
a similar summer event. This effort
to promote Icelandic heritage is
worth much praise and hopefully we
will visit Gimli again next summer
for a similar event.
A portion of the audience.