Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.05.1994, Blaðsíða 4

4 * Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 13. maí 1994
Hítting the Right Note! Cont’d from page 1
Portage Trade Fair. They have been
the opening band for the Prairie
Oyster, as well as, the Johner Brothers
Group.
In the area of competition, the band
placed in the top five finalists in 1993
when they entered the Jack Daniels
Competition at the Big Valley
Jamboree in Craven, Saskatchewan.
They have also tried out in the Wee-
Fest Competition in Winnipeg and
placed second. The winner of this
competition is chosen to open Main
Stage acts, such as Garth Brooks or
Lorrie Morgan in the United States.
This young band was also show-
cased on the CBC program “Coleman
& Co.” in November 1993. Besides the
focus on the band, the episode includ-
ed interviews with Chris’ parents, Betty
and Cliff Thorsteinson and Kristinn’s
parents, Burma and Doug Hambly.
Betty has nurtured the group since its
infancy and now takes a special inter-
est in managing the band which has
given them more time to devote to
theirmusic.
Each of the band members also put
their talents into writing songs but
Chris has written most of the group’s
material. Two of his songs “Old Wheel
Inn” and “Blue Bar” are being played
on radio now. The band is working
toward the release of their first album
later this year.
Chris and Kristinn both come from
an Icelandic background. Chris, on his
father’s side has roots from Marshland,
Manitoba, and on his mother’s side
from the Bjarnason family of
Gladstone, Manitoba. Kristinn traces
roots on his mother’s side to the Isfeld
family in Sandy Hook, Manitoba, and
Bjamason fámily of Gimli, Manitoba.
It is evident that this band has
worked hard to achieve an established
reputation as great performers and
that, before the age of 20. It will be
interesting to follow their progress into
the future. We hope all their dreams
come true. •
D.N.
lcelandic
Women
Cont’d from page 1
she had recently finished crocheting for
a raffling prize. She received 192.67
krónur from this venture.
A few men in westem and southem
Iceland, as well as some students from
the Latin School gave 78.83 krónur.
The following year money was collected
in Denmark, Edinburgh, and England.
Thora’s sister, Ágústa was then a
teacher in Edinburgh.
In 1874 the school had 8000.00
krónur in its fund. In that year the
school formally opened in the Melsteð
home. To start with there were 10-11
young women attending and their edu-
cation was free. It was soon apparent
that the school would not grow without
a larger building.
Páll Melsteð finally consented to his
wife’s wishes and tore down his house
which was still in good condition to
build a larger house for the school. The
Melsteð house was worth 4,000 krónur,
but the cost of the new building was
20,000 krónur for which Páll Melsteð
had to borrow 14,000 krónur. He was
65 years old at the time. Thora and her
husband Páll had to work hard to meet
payments of the loan. Thora operated
the school for 28 years and was its prin-
cipal. During her tenure it grew to four
year terms.
Weaving and cooking was also
taught. The school frequently had to
fight prejudice at the time regarding
education of women. Several members
of the Board wrote many articles for the
local papers defending its existence. In
1906 the Danish king honoured Thora
for her work for Icelandic women with
N O T i C E
Sólskin
Annual lune Tea
& Bazaar
will be held on
Saturday, íune 4,1994
from 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
at
Icelandic Care Home Höfn
2020 Harrison Drive
Vancouver, B.C.
Icelandic delicacies, crafts,
raffle & refreshments
The class of 1944
gathers at the 25th
anniversary of their
graduation,
but this year (1994)
is the 50th anniver-
sary of their gradua-
tion.
a special gold medal which
she is the only recipient of.
After Thora Melsteð
retired from her duties at the
Women’s Gollege she con-
tinued to work on behalf of
the school. It had now
grown and again needed a
larger building. She tried to
have the house enlarged, but
when that failed she found a
builder in Reykjavík to build
a new school house which
was then rented. Páll and
Thora had a long and fruitful
life and managed to pay off
their loan. In their will they
donated their house to the
school fund with the pur-
pose of supporting young
women who could not
afford education.
Above right:
From Peysufatadagur (costume day) 1947
(Right) The Women's College in Reykjavík
Donations to
Lögberg-Heimskringla Inc.
Mrs. M.E. Box, Wawatosa, Wl, USA.$80.
In memory of Caroline Guanarson, from
Margaret Hocking, Osoyoos, BC...$25.
/n memoty of Mr. Emie Newham, Elfros,
Saskatchewan, from
Vatnabyggð Icelandic Club of Sask. ...$10.
/n memory ofHelgiJohaaaeson, Bismarck,
ND from Harold and DeeDee Westdal,
Winnípeg, MB....................$50.
■ —■— ' ■ M I — I .. . I I M IP. M
Minnist
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