Lögberg-Heimskringla - 27.11.1992, Qupperneq 4

4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 27. nóvember 1992
Rough waters for Florida group
By Anna Bjamason
Sometimes there are things which
appear obvious, but they should
be said anyway. This time I
want to share with you my concerns
about Leif Eiríksson Association
(LEA), which we all seem to enjoy so
much, yet may very well fade away or
die, if we take its being around for
granted.
While we have all enjoyed the spir-
it behind LEA, and the functions it
has organized, some of us act as if
LEA will always be there and it was
somehow born on its own, with no
need from some of us to take a few
moments to make sure it will be,
indeed, around for our families and
non-Icelandic friends to enjoy.
This winter there will be no cele-
bration until the Þorrablót in
February.
It takes a lot of work planning a
gathering like that. You have to
decide on a location, go there and see
if it is suitable, and if we can afford
the charge. Then to plan how every-
thing is going to be.
Even if each and every gathering
has been very enjoyable we still have
a problem when planning for them:
we never know how many, or if any
for that matter, are going to attend
when we are having a bash.
Sometimes some people call and say
Króna devalued
Sunday, November 22nd, the Icelandic króna was devalued by
approximately 6%. Following is the current rate as it was set for
November 23rd:
SEÐLABANKI ÍSLANDS
KAUP SÁLA
001 - BANDARÍKJADOLLAR USD 63,440 63,600
002 - STERLINGSPUND GBP 95,826 96,068
003 - KANAÐADOLLAR CAD 49,303 49,427
004 - DÖNSK KRÓNA DKK 10,1504 10,1760
005 - NORSK KRÓNA NOK 9,6641 9,6885
006 - SÆNSK KRÓNA SEK 9,3021 9,3255
007 - FINNSKT MARK FIN 12,1766 12,2073
008 - FRANSKUR FRANKI FRF 11,6596 11,6890
021 - ECU - EVRÓPUMVNT XEU 77,4920 77,6874
Leifur Eiríksson on crafted
24 karat goid ornament
An adaptation of the Icelandic
explorer Leifur Eiríksson and
his knarr in a 24-karat gold fín-
ish and in three dimensions is the third
in a series of annual Christmas oma-
ments based on items in the collec-
tions of The Mariners Museum in
Newport News, Virginia. Thus Leifur
and his knarr will provide the Museum
some money and keep his glory well
alive 991 years after he was the first
known European to set foot on the
North American continent.
The selection of this idea to be the
third ornament of The Mariners
Museum is an honour for Leif
Eiríksson and all Icelanders specially
in a year dedicated to Columbus and
his arrival to the New World 500 years
ago.
The omament, 3.5 x 2.5 inches in
size and beautifully crafted by Design
Master Associates in Williamsburg, is
available in the museum for $15 and
will also be sold by the Icelandic-
American Associations in the USA.
In a written statement with the
omament you read that “Norse sagas
tell of Leif s voyage in a beamy cargo
ship called a knarr from Greenland to
North America, lands he called
Helluland, Markland and Vínland.
A medieval Norse settlement was
found at L’Anse aux Meadows in
Newfoundland, indicating that Vikings
had reached the New World. Their
sagas tell of Eiríksson’s voyaging to
Vínland (modem Newfoundland) and
settling there. However, persistent war-
fare with “skrælings” (Native
Americans) eventually drove the set-
tlers away.
The pattern for the ornament is a
10’4” bronze statue of Leifur Eiríksson,
created in 1930 by Alexander Stirling
Calder, which stands at the entrance to
the Age of Exploration Gallery at the
Museum in Newport News, Virginia.
Courtesy Landinn
they are coming, but do not show up.
Later we hear comments ranging
from “it was raining”, “too far away”,
or “the day was too hot”.
There is a very small core group
which always somehow finds or
makes the time to attend our gather-
ings. We sure like to encourage all of
you to attend and show interest in
our work.
In that way it would be very help-
ful to hear from you, to hear about
your ideas and expectations of the
LEA and its work.
We have to get more people inv-
oled, we must not let this become a
‘routine’, to let the same people do all
the work, every time.
And some of us have other plans.
For example, Atli and I plan to return
to Iceland in the spring. Others have
family or business obligations which
will also take them away.
Any association which aims to be
worthwhile, should first become
comfortable and enjoyable to its
members.
It is like having a summer-house in
the mountains. It has to be enjoyable
to go there and stay there, so people
really will make the most of having a
summer-house!
It must be enjoyable to work and
get together with LEA’s friends and
family.
As I write this I can think of many
many many moments of joy we have
enjoyed throught LEA.
Our pride in being Icelanders and
our joy in having our children also
get to feel this pride and become
interested in knowing more about
their heritage, must always be in our
minds. We must never forget who we
are and where our roots lie.
My idea of a near perfect organi-
zation would be to have a bigger gov-
erning body, maybe 9 people. These
would include the four officers
(President, VP, Treasurer and
Secretary); and representatives from
the different geographical sections of
Central Florida; Sarasota, Tampa, St.
Petersburg, Clearwater, Meritt Island,
Melbourne, Cocoa Beach, Deltona,
Leesburg, Ocala and the Orlando
area. Even a few more persons, if
suitable.
Well, I know you are out there.
Thank you for listening to a friend. I
am sure you would rather see LEA
prosper in the future than to wither
away and die!
In the meantime we will go ahead
with the preparations for the
Þorrablót and hope sincerely to see
you and yours there.
Courtesy ol the Landinn, SL Cloud, Florida
A bell to call us together.
On this page and the
page opposite you
will find news from
various Icelandic organiza-
tions across North America,
both from Canada and the
United States.
There is a mixture of good
news, bad news and just
news of general interest. Some clubs
are clearly strong and thriving, oth-
ers are in trouble due to a declining
membership, apathy or financial
problems. From the Toronto
newsletter we run a Guest Editorial,
in which the author laments the fact
that since no letters have been
received to fill the space allotted for
a readers’ forum, that space has now
turned into an editorial column.
Hopefully, that’s just an aberration,
because in itself it is not a very
hopeful sign.
From Landinn, a Florida newslet-
ter and one of the best, most inter-
esting and most literate, comes a
warning of dark times ahead unless
there is more active involvement in
the organization.
British Columbia, as usual, looks
healthy, vigorous and prosperous
and continues to put out a newslet-
ter of fine quality. Other clubs,
smaller and perhaps with fewer re-
sources, send out less ambi-
tious letters but which still
keep us — and of course —
their members — informed
of their activities.
This is all useful informa-
tion, particularly when it can
be presented at least in a
partial package. It gives all of
us, wherever we are, a view of the
broad picture of the condition of
the Icelandic culture and heritage in
North America. At a time when
many of us — Western Icelanders,
North Americans of Icelandic
descent, Icelandic Canadians or
Americans — are concerned about
the future to the point that we
sometimes recall the words of
Chesterton: "I tell you not for your
comfort, / Yea not for your desire, /
Save that the sky grows darker yet /
And the sea rises higher.” — they
offer both comfort and caution.
Comfort that there are still so many
who care about the survival of the
culture and are willing to work to
preserve it; caution, that without
work and perseverance it will not be
preserved. Read, think, ponder —
act — and remember, if you some-
times get a little discouraged, that
Chesterton’s poem eventually had a
happy ending.