Lögberg-Heimskringla - 20.04.2001, Side 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 20 April 2001
Travel
A Travelogue in Manitoba ... The Arsvle District
Warren and Rosalie Sigurdson.
Glenboro, MB
Continued from the previous issue.
Arriving there:
ack on the highway again we
head for Cypress River, a com-
munity pioneered by a mixture
of Anglo Saxon, Belgian, and Icelandic
people. Bru and Grund to the southwest
of Cypress River became the beginning
of the Icelandic Community that settled
Argyle Municipality. We drive into
Cypress River and down its main street
to the west end where a caim, adomed
by a large school bell, is dedicated to
the mral schools and to the pioneers
who created this community.
This drive has taken us just over an
hour and a half. We think back a hun-
dred and twenty years to March of
1881 when four Icelandic families trav-
eled from Gimli to an area south of
Cypress River looking for land to
homestead. Their joumey by means of
covered ox-drawn sleighs took some-
what more than the hour and half. Their
view would have been of the mostly
unbroken prairie marked only by cart
trails. They would not have been able
to follow the straight paved highway,
but their clear vision provided the lead-
ership and the pioneer spirit that led to
the creation of the communities of Bm
and Grund, with spillovers into
Cypress River, Baldur, and Glenboro.
There are stories here that are wait-
ing to be told, but first we will give the
modem tourist an overview of travel-
The Iceland Tourist Board
www.lcelandTouristBoard.com

Visit our website to find out more about Iceland
é
lir.g to these communities.
Bm and Gmnd were both commu-
nities centered on their churches. Each
had a post office serving the Icelandic
pioneers. Towns, churches, and schools
that could be easily reached on foot or
by horse-drawn vehicles were located
in the areas. In today’s terms it is only
a few minutes’ drive to get from one
site to another.
Bm Cemetery is located on the
north east corner of 16-6-13, five miles
south of Cypress River on Provincial
Road #342 and two miles west on
Provincial Road #245. In the cemetery
Bm is marked by a caim topped by the
original Bru Church bell. Bru
Church—the building—was moved in
1996 and became Cafe Bm which is 2
miles south, 1.5 east and 1.5 south of
Cypress River. Here Albert and
Annette Wytinck operate a café and a

Orðaleikur
Wordplay

Match the Icelandic word
to its English meaning.
(Answer in next week’s paper.)
bíll bus (city)
leið trip
að keyra night’s lodging
strætó car
rúta drive
ferðalag sightseeing trip
skoðunarferð way, route
haustlitaferð fall trip
gisting bus (highway)
bed and breakfast in the remodeled
church. The spectacular stained glass
windows and the beautifully hand
carved altar are still there to be enjoyed
by visitors. This site is only six miles
from the original Bra comer. Visitors
are welcome year-round. Phone (204)
743-2071 for reservations.
Gmnd is now a provincial historic
site as Gmnd is the oldest standing
Icelandic Lutheran Church in
Manitoba. Gmnd Church has been
restored and is marked by a historical
plaque. If you are already at Bru
Cemetery drive on down Provincial
Road # 245 four miles west to a dead
end, tum south and drive 1.5 miles to
reach Gmnd. If you are at Baldur tum
north out of town over the bridge on
Oak Creek and drive 5.5 miles (8.8 km)
straight north. If you are at Glenboro
take Highway #5 south to Provincial
Road #245. From the comer of #5 and
#245 go three miles east and 2.5 south.
Gmnd Cemetery is a quarter mile east
of the church site. This country drive is
one of the more scenic ones that you
will find. The Icelandic pioneers picked
the hills for their settlement. Perhaps it
reminded them of home. Most of those
early immigrants never did go “home”
again. Their move to the prairies was
permanent. Ties to Iceland were sev-
ered as distance and slow communica-
tions guaranteed that they had to adapt
to their new home. Canada became
their beloved country.
Spruce Woods and Skalholt
Cemetery: many of the later arrivals of
Please see Argyle on the page 7
Ýsa var þa& heillin!
It was a haddock, dear!
( Vocabulary '"""\
ýsa
þurfa
tíðindi
sjálfskeiðingur
fágætur
marhnútur
haddock
need
news
pocket knife
rare
sea scorpion
V
Einu sinni mættust tvær kerlin-
gar á ferð. Þær áttu heima
langt hvor frá annari, svo þær
þurftu nú svo sem að setjast niur og
segja hvor annari tíðindin úr sinni
sveit. Þær sáu, að þær gátu slegið
tvær flugur í einu höggi, svo þær tóku
upp hjá sér sjálfseiðinga og mat, og
fóru að fá sér bita. þeim bar nú margt
á góma, og meðal annars segir önnur
kerlingin, að það hafi nýlega rekið
fjarskalega fágætan fisk í sinni sveit.
Hin spyr, hvaða fiskur það hafi verið,
en það man hún ómpgulega. Þá fer
hin að telja upp ýmsa fiska, sem hún
mundi eftir, en aldrei átti hún kollgá-
tuna. “Ekki vænti ég, að það hafi nú
verið stökkull?” “Og sussu nei,” “Það
skyldi þó aldrei hafa verið marhnú-
tur?” “Vertu í eilífri náðinni, ekki hét
hann það.” “Það hefur þó víst ekki
verið skata?” “Issi, sissi, nei.” “Nú,
það mun þó ekki hafa verið ýsa?” “Jú
ýsa var það, heillin!” sagði þá hin, og
hnippti í lagskonu sína; en till allrar
óhamingju mundi hún ekki eftir því,
að hún var með opinn hníf í hendinni,
svo hnífurinn fór á hol í síðuna a hinni
kerlingunni, og sálaðist hún þar að
vörmu spori.
ONCE TWO OLD LADIES MET On a
joumey. As they lived far
apart, they really wanted to
sit down and tell each other the news
from their districts. They realized
they could kill two birds with one
stone, so they took out their pocket
knives and food, and began eating.
They had much to talk about, and
one of them said that a very rare fish
had drifted ashore in her district
recently. The other one asked what
fish this had been, but she could not
possibly remember it. The first one
began counting up names of fish
which came to her mind, but she
never hit upon the right one. “I don't
suppose it was springer?” “Hush,
no." “It wouldn't have been a sea
scorpion?” “Heaven forbid, that is not
what it was called! “I don't suppose it
was a skate?” “Hush, hush, no.”
“Well, could it have been haddock?”
“Yes, haddock it was, dear!” the other
responded, poking her friend; but
unfortunately she did not remember
that she was holding a pocket knife in
her hand, and the knife sank into the
other woman's chest cavity, and she
passed away at once.
<m w um fiin* im mv whki&i m u .Niir'rkihrN n rim * rin whwnnh