Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.07.1990, Síða 6

6 • Lögbeig - Heimskringla • Föstudagur 13. júll 1990
Send your copy to:
Hulda Karen Daníelsdóttir
berg-Heimskringla
1015-806 Alleghany Drive
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
R3T 5L2
Join us! Icelandic Language and Cultural Camp
by Elva Simundsson
Since its inception
in 1974, the Icelandic
Language and Cultural
Camp has offered a
unique summer experience to the chil-
dren and young adults of the Icelandic-
Canadian community.The camp, which is
held near Gimli each year, is the only one
of its kind in Canada that exists for the
Icelandic cultural community’s children
to promote a better understanding of their
Icelandic roots. The children who attend
vary in age from 6 to 16. They spend a
week together attending a variety of
classes, programs and outings that serve
to educate them about their Icelandic and
Icelandic-Canadian heritage. They are
taught a variety of components to the
cultural whole, including language, folk-
lore, histoiy, music and crafts.
Although the physical location of the
camp has varied, the setting is always in
thearea of Manitoba’s Interlake known as
New Iceland. The proximity to the histori-
cal village at Hecla Island, the museum in
Gimli, and the farms and fishing boats
around Gimli have all been exploited in
field trips that take in some or all of the
aspects of the region. The historical sig-
nificance of the New Iceland setting plays
an integral role in setting the ambiance of
the week’s camp. In the past, the camp has
often been located at Sunrise Camp in
Husavik.Thisyear, camp organizers have
been able to rent Camp Vesalka, just north
of the town of Gimli. Camp will start on
Monday evening, at the closing of the
Icelandic Festival on the 6th of August.
The camp was begun by a small group
of volunteers who were interested in offer-
ing their children a summer cultural and
education experience. The group and
format have changed little in the last six-
teen years. A small group of volunteers
continues to do all the planning and prepa-
ration required for the week’s event. Al-
though kitchen staff and councelors are
usually hired and paid an honourarium for
working at the camp, the pay is minimal
and frequently time and materials are
donated by individuals who merely wish
to assist the cause of the cultural experi-
ence for their community’s children.
There has been a continuous show of
support from all the Icelandic Clubs in
Manitoba and even donations from the
Icelandic Club in Edmonton. Indeed, chil-
dren from Regina, Edmonton and Calgary
have attended
the camp on occasion. No
matter where t ley find themselves, there
is a tie for so many Icelandic-Canadian
families to the Manitoba Icelandic com-
munity, and a desire to come “home” each
summer. The camp has offered the visit-
ing ch ildren a week’s entertainment while
the parents touch base with relatives or
old friends. Hello to our out-of-province
friends: the Gellers, the MacPhersons
and others - wherever you are!
Over the years, the camp committee
has received excellent support from the
Province of Manitoba’s Culture and Herit-
age department and its funding bodies. In
that way, the costs of the camp registra-
tion fees have been kept as low as possible
. As well, camp organizers have frequently
bartered for labour from parents in lieu of
registration fees and/or wages. The camp
is always ready for donations. A donation
from the Icelandic National League and
its various clubs means that something
Camp Scrapbook
extra can be added to the week’s curricu-
lum. Usually, such extra money is pooled
and a field trip bus is chartered for a day’s
excin-sion to Hecla Island, for example.
Even a donation of kleinur or pönnukökur
is a special event for both cooks, who do
not have the time in their hectic camp
week schedule to prepare such time-
consuming treats, and the children who
enjoy a taste of something they thought
only their amma knew how to make. Re-
member, a donation has to take into ac-
count at least forty-five hungry mouths!
The camp usually accomodates from
thirty-five to fifty participants each year.
Many children begin as very young
campers and work their way up to junior
leader positions, returning year after year
to meet old friends and make new ones.
After fifteen years of holding Icelandic
Camps, the community is seeing some
payback. Several campers have returned
as adults to work at Icelandic Camp to
enrich our programs. We are seeing the
faces of former campers now working in
the Icelandic-Canadian community at
Winnipeg’s Folklorama Scandinavian
Pavillion, the Icelandic Festival Commit-
tee, the U niversity of Manitoba’s Icelandic
Student Society and the Icelandic clubs.
As children they have played and leamed
together and hopefully they will go on to
work together throughout their lifetimes
in their cultural community’s activities.
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Luterska
Kirkja
Pastor Ingthor I. Isfeld
10:30 a.m. The Service followed by
Sunday School & Coffee hour.
First Lutheran Church
580 Victor St., Winnipeg MB
R3G 1R2
Ph. 772-7444
dajpirin11
íslendin^
restival lssue'
Send us your stories, poetry, controversial
articles and reviews or news items before
July 15th, to be published in our Festival
Issue which comes out on July 27th.
This year’s Festival Issue will examine the
western icelandic community - where we
came from, where we are now and where we
are going. We welcome your thoughts on
these issues, or any other theme or issue