Lögberg-Heimskringla - 08.04.1994, Blaðsíða 1

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Inside this week:
neimsKringia
The lcelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnaö 14. janúar 1888 Heimskringla Stofnað 9. september 1886
History of the First Lutheran Church.2
An lcelandic Dynamo...................3
Remembering Guttormur................5
A Search in Reykjavík.................6
lcelandic Lesson.....................7
108. Árgangur Föstudagur 8. apríl 1994
108th Year Publications Mail Registration No. 1667 Friday, 8 April 1994
Númer 12
Number 12
lcelandic
News
Pollution control
takes time:
The fire department in Keflavík
recently began using a new pollu-
tion control van for mopping up
pollutants. Haraldur Stefánsson
manager of the department says
that the fire department has tried
to control all kinds of pollution for
the last 25 years and that his men
are now spending more time on
pollution control than on putting
out fires. The new van has been
changed quite a bit since the fire
department got it, it now has
equipment for smoke rescue, to
stop leaks, protective clothing, and
mats for sucking up chemical solu-
tions.
Order of the Falcon
Father Ágúst George, a priest and
principal of the Landakot School
received the Order of the Falcon
from President Vigdís Finnboga-
dóttir at a ceremony held at
Bessastaðir, for decades of auspi-
cious work at the school. Father
George was ordained in Holland in
I956 and came to lceland in
November the same year.
Over 400 Doctors:
At the beginning of this year there
were 433 lcelandic doctors living
abroad. Two years ago there were
374. There are now about l,250
doctors recorded in the lcelandic
Doctors' Society Registry, 70 years
old and younger, or 993 men and
257 women. Two years ago the
figues were 990 men and 2II
women. Among the doctors living
abroad there are I70 in the age
group from 35-40. In the same
age group in lceland there are now
I45 doctors. Out of 252 doctors
bom between I958-I962 there are
I73 living abroad.
GUNNUH ISFELD
J
Arborg: The Big Apple
It is a small town an
obscure region of one of
Canada’s minor pro-
vinces, yet, it consistently
puts on the best attended
Þorrablót in probably all of
North America.
The town is Arborg, and
in the Western Icelandic
community, it may be small,
but it is not obscure nor is it
minor. It is a hub of activity,
as this year’s Þorrablót
showed once again.
Between 200 and 300
people showed up for an
evening of friendship and
fun, a chance to break the
mid-winter blues. As usual,
the Esjan chapter of the
Icelandic National League
in Arborg put on a first-class
production. The food was
excellent, the spirits, both
ethereal, flowed as freely as
the participants wanted,
and the entertainment was
good.
Master of ceremonies
Wally Johanson introduced
the various acts, which were
highlighted by a presenta-
tion by Svava Simundsson
on Guttormur Guttorms-
son, which is reprinted in
this issue, and a concert of
songs by a male voice choir,
if we can call them that.
They called themselves, in
the spirit of the evening,
dedicated to the Guttormur
memorial sponsored by the
INL, The Winnipeg Ice-
landers, and sang several
songs in Icelandic. They
were well received, but the
best part of this part of the
evening was Svava’s talk,
which captured Guttormur’s
tone and wit so well.
After the formalities, the
evening moved on to drink-
ing and dancing, a fine end
to an excellent evening. The
Esjan chapter of the INL is a
model of what the INL
should be. When a Þorrablót
in a small town can outdraw
events in Winnipeg, Van-
couver and New York, it
proves how strong and vital
the Icelandic heritage v
remains in what used to be
new Iceland.
Congratulations to the
organizers, congratulations
to the Esjan chapter, and
congratulations to all those
who turned out for this
memorable moment.
T.O.
PHOTOS ON PAGE4
Minneota
Church
on
Wheels
By Jon Guttormsson
Since my Grandfather,
the late Rev. G.
Guttormsson, served
as the Pastor for this
Church and its congrega-
tion located south and west
of Minneota for many years,
it is probably expected of
me that I will be able to
provide a few colorful and
interesting “insights” about
the church.
About the only recollec-
tion that I have of “Afi”
(Icelandic for Grandfather)
serving this Congregation is
that Sunday dinners at the
Rev. G. Guttormsson’s were
always a bit late.
Which, to a youth and
teenager, was a very serious
matter. Occasionally our
family would be invited
over to their house for a
Sunday dinner, and invari-
ably we would have to wait
for Afi to return from the
two rural parishes, in
Lincoln County and West-
erheim township.
That is about the bulk of
my recollections of the
Lincoln county church. I do
recall attending a few ice
cream socials at the
Westerheim Church, but
very little of the Lincoln
County Church.
So, I am going to “lift” a
little of the history of the
Church from the history
book “The First One
Hundred Years of St. Paul’s
Lutheran Church”, written
by Cathy Flood and more
specifically from an article
in the book, written by
Lloyd Nielson.
In November of 1879,
the Icelandic settlers or-
ganized a congregation.
Thirty-two charter members
signed the Constitution with
annual dues of 50c to be
paid in two instalments. In
1881, the services of Rev.
Halldor Briem (a pastor
from Iceland) were ob-
tained.
On May 8, 1886, a site
was selected on the Johann
Jonsson farm in Limestone
Township, Section 20, for
the site of the Church.
In the summer of 1899 a
church was built and Rev.
Jonsson served ás pastor
until 1914. During the next
four years, the congregation
had several Pastors, among
them were Rev. Friðrik
Fredrickson of Iceland and
Rev. Runólfur Fjelsted. In
1918 a call was accepted by
Rev. G. Guttormsson, who
served until his death in
1956 at which time he was
president of the Icelandic
Synod.
In the fall of 1922, the
church building was struck
by lightning and bumed to
the ground. Many church
records were also destroyed
in the fire. A new structure
was built on the same site
and dedicated in June, 1925.
Other pastors after Rev.
Guttormsson were Rev.
Wallace Bergman, Rev.
Donald R. Johnson and
Rev. L. Jerome Anderson.
When Rev. Anderson left in
1966, due to few members,
it was voted to disband and
merge with other churches
in the area.