Lögberg-Heimskringla - 06.12.1985, Page 4

4-WINNIPEG, FOSTUDAGUR 6. DESEMBER 1985
Ritstj órnargrein
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Aldarafmæli Islendingadagsins
Þótt enn séu nokkur ár í hundrað
ára afmæli íslendingadagsins, en eins
og menn muna var hann fyrst hal-
dinn hátíðlegur í Winnipeg 1890, þá
hefur núverandi islendingadagsnefnd
þegar hafist handa við undirbúning
væntanlegrar hátíðar. A aðalfundi
nefndarinnar á Gimli á dögunum
minntist forseti hennar, Glenn Sig-
urdson, á afmælið og gat þess að
íslendingadagsnefnd teldi eðlilegt að
hefjast handa hið fyrsta.
Urðu góðar umræður um málið og
þótti öllum þeim er til máls tóku
sjálfsagt að hefja undirbúning
snemma. Kom þá í ljós að mikill vilji
er fyrir hendi að saga Islendingadag-
sins verði skráð. Gefur auga leið að
það verður mikið verk en forseti
nefndarinnar hefur augastað á völdu
fólki í ritnefnd sem væntanlega hefst
handa innan skamms.
íslendingadagurinn er ein elsía
hátíð sinnar tegundar í Kanada og á
sér langa sögu eins og þegar hefur
verið bent á að ofan. Hefur tilgangur
hans verið að minnast sögu Islen-
dinga í Vesturheimi og á Islandi á
margvíslegan hátt. Þessi árlega hátíð
íslendinga í þessari álfu hefur margt
gott látið af sér leiða í gengum árin
og svo mun áreiðanlega verða um
ókomin ár. íslendingar flykkjast á
hátíðina úr nærliggjandi byggð
arlögum og svo koma sömuleiðis
margir langt að. Hátíðin er því
nokkurs konar tengiliður Islendinga
í Vesturheimi.
Þegar litið er yfir farinn veg kemur
í ljós að ógrynnin öll af ljóðum og
vísum hafa verið tileinkuð hátíðinni
og því kannski athugandi að kanna
möguleika á sérútgáfu í tilefni ald-
arafmælisins. Öll helstu skáld
Vestur-íslendinga svo sem Stephan
G. Stephansson og Guttormur Gut-
tormsson lögðu sitt af mörkum og
þegar gluggað er í gömul eintök af
Lögbergi eða Heimskringlu þa má þar
einmitt oft finna ljóð eða vísu tilein-
kað íslendingadeginum. Ræðumenn
skipta örugglega fleiri hundruðum og
nöfn fjallkvenna fylla fleiri síður.
Síðast en ekki síst skal minnst á
þátttöku einstaklinga og hópa af
Islandi. Hún hefur ekki hvað síst
skapað rammíslenska stemmningu
og fært ísland nær okkur hér í Vest-
urheimi. Ef eitthvað væri, þá mætti
Islandinganefnd leggja meir upp úr
þvó að fá hingað vestur góða gesti af
íslandi því af þeim er aldrei of mikið.
Nánar verður greint frá aðalfundi
Islensingadagsnefndarinnar síðar en
nú mál að linni.
J.Þ.
Letter to the Editor
Dear Jónas,
An editorial in L-H some weeks ago
expressed concern over the apparent
apathy of readers toward the paper's
operation and content, as shown by
the poor turnout to a board meeting
in Winnipeg. It was, therefore, good
news to hear of the interest shown by
the Gimli Chapter of the Icelandic
National League more recently. With
regard to people expressing genuine
concerns and ideas about the paper's
content and operation, however, it
has been my experience that such
meetings do not really lend them-
selves to serious discussion. Gen-
erally, those present are exception-
ally supportive of all endeavours
such as L-H, which represent the Ice-
landic heritage, and most would
never venture to criticize or even of-
fer suggestions for fear of offending.
This loyalty and tact is an outstand-
ing trait among the descendants of
the Icelandic immigrants in Canada
and the United States, who were
raised not only with Icelandic cus-
toms, but with the courtesies and
manners of the Victorian era.
For several years now, however,
the editors of L-H have solicited the
opinions and suggestions of its read-
ership, and as a long-time subscriber,
supporter, and one-time assistant
editor, I would like to respond to this
repeated request with a few observa-
tions and ideas of my own — some
positive, and some a little critical. I
hope none will offend, and that some
might stir a little interest or healthy
controversy.
With regard to the content of L-H,
it is essential that there be variety —
rnore short items on local events,
'iews from Iceland, letters, reports,
olumns, and other brief articles —
rather than long, low-interest "filler"
tems reprinted from other publica-
tions. Some issues of L-H have been
excellent in this respect, with both
good variety and good quality ar-
ticles. Others, however, have been
ittle else but reprinted articles lifted
fronr Iceland Review and The Icelan-
dic Canadian, which most readers
have already seen in those respective
lublications. This leaves the reader
Aíith the impression that the paper
has merely been "filled up”.
It is recognized that there may
somelimes be a shortage of "news”
items for the paper, in which case
items from the Icelandic papers
might be summarized or translated in
brief, or a particularly worthwhile ar-
ticle might be reprinted. One sugges-
tion in this regard, which would be
appropriate on the eve of L-H's cen-
tennial in 1986, is the introduction of
a regular column in L-H entitled
Lögberg - Heimskringla
Published every Friday by
LÖGBERG - HEIMSKRINGLA INCORPORATED
525 Kylemore Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba R3L 1B5
Telephone 284-7688
New Office Hours: Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. • 3 pv.m.
EDITOR: Jónas Þór
BUSINESS MANAGER: Caroline Darragh MAILING: Florence Wagar
REPRESENTATIVE IN ICELAND: Magnús Sigurjónsson
Umboðsmaður blaðsins á íslandi Skólagerði 69 Kópavogi, Sími 40455
Pósthólf 135 Reykjavík
Typesetting, Proofreading and Printing — Typart Ltd.
Subscription $25.00 per year — PAYABLE IN ADVANCE
$30.00 in Iceland
— Second class mailing registration number 1667 —
All donations to Lögberg-Heimskringla Inc. are tax deductible under Canadian Laws.
"Fyrir 100 Arum” or "L-H 100",
which would feature one or two brief
items, possibly in translation or in
summary form, of events reported in
Heimskringla or Lögberg exactly 100
years ago. This would be an added
feature each week-which would in-
crease the paper's variety, while at
the same time drawing on an endless
and easily accessible source of
material. This suggestion has been
made more than once already. Is
there any reason why it cannot be
implemented?
A second concern is with regard to
the masthead and front page of L-H.
A few years ago, the masthead was
changed to its present design, which
supposedly presented a more con-
temporary and modern image for the
paper. Unfortunately, this new mast-
head is not only without character
(certainly none that reflects the iden-
tity of the paper), it is also poorly
designed from an artistic point of
view and occupies too much of the
paper’s prime space — its front þage.
L-H is not a newspaper which sells
from a street news stand, and it does
not require such a large masthead as
papers sold by attention-grabbing
headlines. It is a cultural publication
with a unique history and identity,
and its masthead and front page
should reflect this more effectively.
The occasion of the paper's cen-
tennial is an ideal opportunity to rec-
tify this. How about a competition for
a new masthead which meets the
following criteria:
— reflects the Icelandic heritage
— is space efficient
Finally, I would like to comment
on the outstanding contribution
made to L-H over the past few years
by Einar Arnason of Winnipeg. His
original articles have been among the
best material published in the paper,
and it is to be hoped that he and
others will continue to contribute ori-
ginal material of this calibre.
Hoping this will be of some
interest.
N. GERRARD
“Careful now, I don't like the looks of this."