Lögberg-Heimskringla - 27.05.1994, Blaðsíða 4

4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 27. maí 1994
iCELANDiC NATIONAL LEAGUE —
Foilowing are excerpts from a speech
given to the iuncheon of the 75th INL Convention in
Selkirk, Manitoba, April 23,1994.
by Evelyn K. Thorvaldson
il hatningju - Brúin
Selkirk úZhapter - on tl\o
hosiing of ihis 10Oih
annivensany of Sumardagnrinn
T-yrsii and il\is oonveniion. ~Cil l\am-
ingju - ‘ÞjóSnse.knisfálag Jslendinga i
V/esiuri\eimi - on youn celebnaiions
of 75 yetans of esiablishmeni - and iil
hamingju - Jsland - on il\e. 50ih
annivonsany of indopendonce.
Three celebrations in the same
year. Three remarkable celebra-
tions for all the people of Ice-
landic descent here in North America
and those in the homeland Iceland.
The Icelandic National League has
survived and thrived for 75 years. Just
think of it. 75 years! It is 20 years older
than I - and I feel like a mere child with
perhaps limited knowledge of its past.
But I do have some knowledge, and
some memories of some of its past, and
that’s what I want to share with you
today.
My first memories of the INL are
those of the þjóðræknisþing (conven-
tions) that used to be held in Winnipeg,
it seemed always at the end of February
each year. The excitement for the coun-
try people who were delegates to the
convention would start to build around
mid-February. It meant a trip to
Winnipeg, which was a big thing back
40 - 50 years ago. It was looked on as a
kind of holiday, to stay with friends or
relatives for a few days, to see old
friends and comrades at the conven-
tion, and to hear a speaker or two from
Iceland, to listen to a musical concert
and to have good coffee, kleinur, pön-
nukökur and conversation with people
you saw once a year.
I was fortunate enough to go along
with Amma and my mother when they
were INL delegates for the Lundar
chapter. I would tell my friends that I
was going to Winnipeg to the þjóðræk-
nisþing for two days. They would ask
what that was, and I would answer that
“it was a thing, just a ‘thing’ where old
Icelanders would get together, read to
each other, drink coffee and talk a lot
and go to a concert where they would
listen to good musical entertainment
and an Icelandic speaker. All the peo-
ple would greet each other - kissing and
clinking glasses and shaking hands -
they were all so happy to see each
other. The ladies would be dressed in
their best, the men most always in suits
and ties.” It was a big event and they
treated it with the greatest respect. The
location was most always the Unitarian
Church on Banning street or the First
Lutheran Church on Victor. If my
memory serves me right, they used to
take tums and the ladies groups of each
church would make the cofifee and the
lunches for the guests.
When I was old enough to realize
the purpose of these þjóðræknisþing I
had to ask myself what I was doing
there. I paid attention for a change.
There were only a handful of delegates.
As it seemed to be designed for
Manitoba only, I suppose in those days,
travel from the other provinces was not
as convenient - and money was not as
easy. As well, the end of February could
be mean and cold in Manitoba. I would
sit and listen to their meetings. Each
delegate would get up to the podium
and read their report from their chap-
ter. It contained all the events that went
on within their towns for the year - who
played cards with whom, who donated
prizes, some new book that had been
shared - what was new in Iceland - and
so on. It did not appear that there were
any projects - and veiy few plans.
I thought back to some of the musi-
cal concerts that I had gone to with
Amma. The little Westdahl girls singing
Icelandic songs; Elma Gislason (a gifted
soprano who would entertain at many
Icelandic functions) - but this particular
time she had chosen to sing “Ríðum,
Ríðum” - and the pianist was far too
fast for Elma’s voice. After several
attempts at singing it, she broke out
into hysterics - which seemed to be
infectious throughout the crowd. Elma
finally decided to sing something else' -
more of a “lullaby” and much more
appropriate for her voice.
After the musical and light entertain-
ment came the distinguished speaker —
Poetry and Short Story Contest
The Icelandic Festival of Manitoba invites you to submit poetry (three entries
per person limit) and/or a short story (one entiy per person). Prize money
will be awarded and successful entries will be published in the Festival
booklet. Categories are as follows:
Poetry Junior (12 and under)
Intermediate (13 - 18)
Open
lst Prlze $25.
lst Prlze $35.
lst Prlze $50.
2nd Prize $25.
Short Story Open lst Prlze $50.
Submissions which contain material reilecting Icelandic or
Icelandic culture will be given preference. Entries will not be
retumed. Send your material before June 24, 1994 to:
FESTIVAL WRITING CONTEST
c/o Gord Peterson, 1435 Somervllle Ave., Wlnnlpeg, Man. R3T 1C4 /
most often from Iceland (although I
recall Richard Beck and Heimir
Thorgrímson at the podium once). The
Icelandic was extremely thick and
heavy for someone like me. I remember
brothers Halldór and Sigurður
Sigurdson - both extremely hard of
hearing talking out loud during the
concert - much to the horror of the
speakers and the audience. And yet - it
was funny - they would say things like
“Nei - er hann enþá að ræða karlinn” -
yhann aldrei að hætta”.
I used to think: all this fuss and they
don’t seem to be going anywhere, or
getting anything out of these conven-
tions except for the social part of it.
What was their purpose? Did they have
a mandate? And what were their future
plans, if any?
Several years had gone by and many
changes along with it. And still the Ice-
landic National League continued to
exist. My interest had dwindled to a
minimum until we moved to Montreal
in 1970. One of my first thoughts once
we were settled were: I wonder if there
are any Icelanders here? Wouldn’t it be
fun to meet some and form a club. I felt
the need for friends - and for some rea-
son, I wanted them to be at least a little
Icelandic. Those ideas came to fruition,
after many phone calls and contacts,
and we had a group of Icelanders
together numbering 48 at one time.
There were Westem Icelanders such as
ourselves and there were the “real” Ice-
landers from Iceland.
It was there, in Montreal (during
1970-1977) that the invitation from the
Icelandic National League to become a
member of their organization came. We
had made an awareness in the L-H with
reports on our happenings and of our
success in becoming a club. The idea
was brought forth at one of our meet-
ings - to join the INL - but with little
enthusiasm. I could not convince them
that we should become a chapter mem-
ber and that saddened me. The decision
was negative and the Montreal group
never did become a part of the INL.
Why? Well it was felt at that time there
was little that the INL could offer us,
largely because of our geographical
location.
Now, the ÍNL has many things to
offer and it is a privilege and an
honour to be a chapter or a
member. I want to mention a statement
by the late Reverend Philip M.
Petursson, who was the INL president
at the 47th annual convention in
Winnipeg which you may have already
read in the most recent issue of L-H.
He stated: “The league is supported
by the individual chapters... The chap-
ters together form the league. In fact,
the executive is not the league. Without
the chapters the league would not exist.
This is the reason we rejoice when a
new chapter is established, because
chapters together provide the resource
from where ideas come for the further-
ance of the aims that Icelanders and
! ERFÐASKRÁM YÐAR
their descendants are trying to accom-
plish. Each group that stands outside of
our fellowship, in fact draws strength
away from the whole”.
The INL struggled right up until the
early 1980’s with a rather dim view and
low profile, and a small group of people
who did not seem to be reaching out to
many beyond the perimeters of the
province of Manitoba. There were ties
with Iceland, and good strong ties with
Þjóðræknisfélög í Reykjavík and
Aukureyri, but the rest of our own
homeland, was relatively suffering. It
was fine that Viking Travel would oper-
ate and organize a charter each year,
which would enable the INL to enter-
tain the visitors and dignitaries from
Iceland, and tour the farmers groups
from chapter to chapter in Manitoba,
with the odd side trip to the Dakotas.
And you know what? That was basical-
ly it! It seemed that the INL would rest
on its laurels again until the next char-
ter - the next summer. The annual con-
vention always took place however.
When I was in the INL office, I was
interested in past history, and started
looking through the registration book
from past conventions. I was more than
surprised to see as few as 20 names reg-
istered. Twenty names for a conven-
tion!!! How could they have possibly
functioned, or eyen have honoured
their mandate with so few people
involved or interested.
Things changed around the mid
1980’s. The federal govemment became
aware of multiculturalism problems of
different national organizations and set
aside some funding for assistance. The
applications were available - but not
without commitment. The first request
for such funding that I recall hearing
about was in 1985, when Gunnvör
Ásmundsson and Elva Simundsson
took the initiative to apply for a grant
for the INL. They committed them-
selves to run a couple of workshops
with the grant monies and so they did.
From what I understand, it was some-
what of a “disaster”! Any change or
anything new is always a challenge, and
this was tuming out to be questionable.
There wasn’t much organization to the
workshops - people were terribly con-
fused - and of course, the INL was criti-
cized for this venture. Gunnvör told me
about some of this not that very long
ago, and mentioned Birgir Brynjólfsson
quietly saying to her: “this is a first,
stick with it and it will become better -
don’t give up just because of this one
effort”.
Elva and Gunnvör certainly did not
let this one incident discourage or deter
them. They again applied for a grant
and were successful. Ánd the following
year, a cheque was awarded for $12,000
from the federal government to start up
and maintain a headquarters office in
winnipeg, which meant hiring an exec-
utive secretary on a part time basis. A
budget was set up for rent and for a 15
hour per week secretary. The INL
dreamed of holding things together for
awhile, and to take some of the pres-
sures off the executive who for so many
years kept the office in their homes.
The headquarters was officially opened
on January 5, 1986, and after a tough
interview with Oli I was hired as the