Lögberg-Heimskringla - 17.09.1999, Page 4

4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla « Friday 17 September 1999
President Grímsson visits Markervilie
President Grímsson and his daughter Dalla made stops across the Canadian prairies and the American midwest. Ahove
they are seen in Winnipeg, MB. Photo: Jón Eituirs. Gustafsson
Shirley Dye
Calgary, AB
His Excellency, Ólafur Ragnar
Grímsson, President of the
Republic of Iceland, visited
Alberta. Arriving in Calgary on July
26, he and his daughter Dalla Ólafsdót-
tir, went on a sightseeing tour to Banff
and Lake Louise. At Lake Louise they
hiked up to the Lake Agnes Tea House,
a 3.5 km hike with a 390 m elevation
gain. Icelanders are very fond of their
mountains and the President spoke of
the majestic Rockies with awe. He
remarked that nothing is better for the
soul than a walk in the mountains.
His Excellency was accompanied
by Ambassador Róbert Trausti Árna-
son, Presidential Secretary; Special
Advisor to the President, Örnólfur
Thorsson; Consul General of Iceland in
Winnipeg, Svavar Gestsson and his
wife Guðrún Ágústsdóttir; and
Honourary '‘Consul of Iceland in
Calgary, Stephan V. Benediktsson and
his wife Adriana.
On Monday evening a reception
and dinner was held at McDougall
Centre in Calgary hosted by
Lieutenant-Governor, the Honourable
H.A. “Bud” Olson, P.C. and Mrs.
Lucille M. Olson, with many distin-
guished guests invited.
The Honourable Bud Olson wel-
comed President Grímsson to Calgary
and Alberta and proposed a toast to the
President and the people of Iceland.
President Grímsson responded with
greetings from the people of Iceland and
proposed a toast to the continued good
relationship between Iceland and Canada.
On Tuesday the President and his
party arrived in Markerville and toured
Historic Markerville Creamery
Museum. The President was impressed
to see the document that created the
Tindastóll Butter and Cheese
Manufacturing Company in 1899,
signed by twelve Icelandic farmers,
including Stephan G. Stephansson. The
President took time to visit and shake
hands with a crowd of local people
who had come to meet him.
The President and his entourage
visited the cemetery to place a wreath
on the grave of poet Stephan G.
Stephansson.
The Stephan G. Stephansson
Icelandic Society hosted a luncheon for
over fifty people at Tivoli Garden Café.
Guests were from Iceland, Calgary,
Edmonton, and Markerville; Ellen
Ingólfsson offered the blessing in
Icelandic. President Grímsson related
how important it was for him to be able
to pay his respects at the grave of such
an important man as Stephan G.
Stephansson. He noted that he had cho-
sen Stephansson’s poctry to be recited
at his inauguration, and at his late
wife’s funeral. A Stephansson poem
had been on the agenda at a govem-
ment function days before he left
Iceland, showing how the work of
Stephansson is still very important to
the people of Iceland today.
The President and his entourage
proceeded to the Stephansson House
Historic Site where a crowd of 150 had
gathered to meet him. After a tour of
the late poet’s höme, where most of the
furnishings and decorations are origi-
nal artifacts that belonged to the
Stephansson famly. George Flake, past
president of the Icelandic Society of
Markerville, emceed a program start-
ing with songs in Icelandic and English
by the Sagá Singers of Edmonton.
They opened with the National
Anthems of Canada and Iceland. Leah
Adams and Marselle Thompson,
known professionally as “Sister
Secret,” sang for us. Folk singer and
great-grandson of Stephansson noted
that many of the themes of his original
lyrics are very similar to the poetry of
his famous great grandfather. A
Stephansson poem called “The Exile”
was recited by Fjallkona Shirley Dye.
Greetings were brought from the
County of Red Deer by councillor Jim
Lougheed, from the province by MLA
Gary Severtson, and from Canada by
MP Bob Mills.
In his speech, President Grímsson
also encouraged the people of Canada
to maintain the ties with Iceland that
have existed for a century, and to build
on them for our mutual benefit. He
talked about the Icelánders, the first
Europeans to set foot on the North
American continent one thousand
years ago. Snorri, son of Guðríður
Þorbjamardóttir, grandson of Eiríkur
the Red, and nephew of Leif the Lucky
was the first European child bom on
this continent. His mother, Guðríður,
was without a doubt the most daring
female explorer and adventurer in his-
tory. Grímsson encouraged lcelandic
Canadians to remember this.
Bernice Andersen, president of the
Stephan G. Stephansson Icelandic
Society, thanked President Grímsson
for coming and expressed the feelings
of the Markerville community when
she said, “we are honoured that you are
here today.” She presented the
President with a throw which had pic-
tures of the Stephanson House, the
Creamery, and the Church woven into
it. She concluded her speech by saying,
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a
mystery, but today was a gift.”
On Tuesday night a reception and
dinner for President Grímsson was
held at Canyon Meadows Golf and
County Club, with over 200 guests
from Iceland, Edmonton, Markerville,
and Calgary. After a wonderful dinner,
Stephan G. Stephansson’s grandson,
Stephan Benedictson, emceed a short
program. President Grímsson reiterated
his wish for closer ties with Canadian
govemments and also with the peopje
as individuals and encouraged us to
visit Iceland more often, noting that
most of us had visited at least once
before. Smiles of delight rippled
through the audience when he spoke of
the first Icelandic Canadian in space.
He noted that not Norway, not Sweden,
not Finland, nor Denmark could claim
the first Scandinavian-bom astronaut,
as Canadian payload expert Bjarni
Tryggvason was bom in Iceland.
It was agreed by all Albertans that
they had enjoyed the visit of Ólafur
Ragnar Grímsson and his daughter
Dalla. They were all captivated by the
president’s easy way of meeting all the
people, by his gift for oration and
enthusiasm for Iceland and Icelandic
Canadians. His daughter Dalla
charmed everyone.
The President and his entourage
flew to Regina on Wednesday and then
to North Dakota.
CORRECTIONS
ln the September 3 Issue, page
5, we printed that Emily
Bjarnason celebrated her nineti-
eth birthday, when it should have
read Emily Benjaminson. Also,
the August 20 issue was incor-
rectly numbered as Number 29,
when in fact it was issue 28. We
will continue the numbering as is
to avoid having two issues with
the same number; please note
that there will still only be 44
issues this year, as usual, but the
last one will be Number 45. We
apologize for any confusion this
may have caused.
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