Lögberg-Heimskringla - 22.06.2001, Síða 2

2 * Lögberg-Heimskringla » Friday 22 June 2001
Editorials
Lillian Vilborg
Managing Editor
WlNNIPEG, MB
This week the Lögberg-
Heimskringla had visitors from
Iceland—Óli T. Jónsson, a news
reporter for Stöð 2, Iceland’s private
television station, and a former blaða-
maður (print newsman) and his wife
Vilborg. After showing them around
our modest digs on 5 Donald, I wanted
to show them “Icelandic” Winnipeg.
Armed with the 1992 lcelandic
Canadian article by Eric Jonasson, we
set out for the West End. After parking
the car on Victor St., we first went to the
Lutheran Church, and were lucky to
find Pastor Michael Kurtz there. He told
them the names of all the pastors who
came before him—four from Iceland,
one from Sweden—showed them a pic-
ture of the church interior before it was
remodelled in the 1960s, and answered
their questions about membership and
history. That was the end of any direct
connection to the history of the
/feoí-M*he srea.
Then we went out onto Sargent
Avenue, the Icelandic “Main Street” of
Winnipeg for over fifty years. By and
large, the buildings are the same build-
ings that were there when I was grow-
ing up, and when my dad was growing
up before me. Now, except for a small
sign which says Skuld, Hekla, and a
date on the old IOGT Hall, there is
nothing to indicate that Icelanders ever
talked, walked, did business, and drank
coffee along this street. Óli asked me
why it was that in other cities that he
has visited there are distinctively
Chinese areas, or Italian areas, which
become permanent districts in the city.
My rather lame response had to do with
distinctive cuisine, or lack of same, and
products to import from the mother
country.
What I wondered, however, as I
pointed out the Wevel Cafe, the Jón
Bjamason Academy on Home Street,
the buildings that housed bookstores
and in which newspapers were pub-
lished, was why no building has any
indication of its history posted on it.
Without my walking along with them,
asking them to listen for the whispering
Icelandic voices of the past, to imagine
the signs on the buildings in Icelandic
rather than the myriad of languages
they are now in, to see the blonde blue
eyed kids playing in the parks and on
the school grounds, to see buildings,
like the old Viking Press building which
is no longer there on Sargent and
Banning, there would be no way for
them to see a bit of the history of the
Icelandic community in Winnipeg.
Letters to the Editor
I didn’t have time to take them fur-
ther east where the pre late 1890s
Icelandic settlers lived. I know from the
article that I carried in my hand that the
house where Laura Goodman Salverson
was bom lies on Bushnell Street. I
imagine that it does not have a mark on
it, either, even though she is as deserv-
ing of recognition as other well known
writers who have houses and monu-
ments and library collections in their
honour. She twice won the Govemor
General’s award for literature, the high-
est honour a Canadian author can
receive!
For some reason, when Icelanders
come to Winnipeg, I think they will want
to see the past. I wonder if there isn’t
some way that we could help them do
that. A historic stroll, based on this
excellent article by Eric, with well-
known sites marked, would be a start.
The stroll could be outlined in a pam-
phlet and accompanied by a tape, like
they do in the old city of Québec. Or a
little booklet could be developed, with a
stroll map, some of the writings on the
area, like the piece John Mathiasson did
on the West End of the 1940s and 50s,
when the Rose Theatre and Jack St. John
Drugstore’s soda fountain and the pool
hall on Sargent and Arlington were gath-
ering places. Or the city could be asked
to name some of the sites as historic sites
with markers on them. Or, or, or ... This
sounds like a project—a big project.
Now I wonder who might take it on?
Dear David:
I read with interest (as I always do)
your column in Skoðunar, in L-H of
June 1, 2001.1 think you hit the prover-
bial nail exactly where it was intended
to be hit with your musings on “What is
Tcelandic’?” I only hope certain indi-
viduals I could but won’t name took
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska
Kirkja
Pastor Michael Kurtz
10:30 a.m. The Service
First Lutheran Church
580 Victor St., Winnipeg
R3G 1R2 Ph. 772-7444
note. I am fortunate to have an
Icelandic family name and I’m certain-
ly not ashamed of my Icelandic roots.
But I’m not of Icelandic background on
my mother’s side. It often galls me
when some people simply assume,
because of your last name, that you
must owe everything of personal value
to your “Icelandic” connection. I am
also of Dutch and native extraction.
Should I disregard that side of my fam-
ily completely? Of course not, nor will
I disavow my Canadian identity. I’m
proud to be a Canadian although I do
not think I will be asked to make any
beer commercials. I’m not always
happy with Canada’s political “fence-
sitting” but I still consider myself fortu-
nate to have been born in this country.
So, damn it, as Popeye says, “I yam
what I yam!”
Thanks again for putting things in
Mlnnist
BETEL
í ERFÐASKRÁM YÐAÖ
perspective.
Bill Helgason
Winnipeg, MB
To the Editor:
I love reading the Lögberg-
Heimskringla and find it has greatly
improved in every area.
I have to say I “devour” it as soon
as it arrives as it keeps me connected to
all the things I hold dear, including my
heritage. Keep up the good work!
Hulda Clarke
White Rock, BC
To the Editor:
So far, I enjoy it the way it is—it
has considerable variety and includes
all of the Icelandic community. Pretty
tall order!
Josephine Gerardi
New York, NY
Heimskringla
Published every Friday by:
Lögberg-Heímskringla Incorporated
Editorial and Corporate office:
d<650-5 Donald, Winnipeg, MB
Postal address:
PO Box 1859 Winnipeg, MB R3C 3R1
Ph: (204) 284-5686 Fax: (204) 284-3870
E-mail: logberg@mts.net
Administrative office:
105-94 1st Avenue, Gimli, MB. R0C 1B1
Ph: (204) 642-9133 Fax: (204) 642-9138
Toll free: 1-866-LOGBERG (1-866-564-2374)
E-mail: logberg-gimli@mts.net
Hours: 9:00 am-4:00 pm, Mon.-Fri.
_______Webslte: www.logberg.com______
MANAGING EDITOR: Lillian Vilborg
ICELANDIC EDITOR: Árný Hjaltadóttir
LAYOUT: David Jón Fuller, Aquila Samson
COPY EDITING: David Jón Fuiler
CORRESPONDENTS:
• NEW YORK, NEW ENGLAND: Thomas J.
Martin
• SASKATCHEWAN: Joan Eyolfson Cadham
• TORONTO: Betty Jane Wylie
OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR: Rosa Johnston
ADVERTISING SALES AGENT: Jennifer Blahey
WEBSITE ADMINISTRATOR: Corinne Suchy
PRINTING: The Daily Graphic
Please direct all subscríption enqulries to the
Administrative office in Gimli.
SUBSCRIPTION: 44 issues/year:
Canada: $35 Canadian
-Manitoba, add GST & PST: $39.90
-other provinces, add GST: $37.50
U.S.: $44 US or $66 CAD
lceland: $44 US or $66 CAD
-PAYABLE IN ADVANCE-
Must be remitted in Canadian or US Dollars.
All donations to
Lögberg-Heimskringla Inc. are
tax-deductíble under Canadian laws
ADVERTISING
For information on commercial ad space,
contact the Administrative office in Gimli.
SUBMISSIONS
L-H is always open to new writers. News,
fiction, poetry, photography, and humorous
articles are welcome. Send by mail, fax, or
e-mail to the Editorial office in Winnipeg.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT: Julianna Bjornson
VICE-PRESIDENT: Grant Stefanson
SECRETARY: Melissa Kjartanson
TREASURER: Bill Perlmutter
BOARD MEMBERS: Elva Jórtasson, Erníe
Stefanson, Evelyn Thorvaldson, Fred
Oleson, Kris Stefanson, Kristín Jóhanns-
dóttir, Marno Ólafson, Pat McKetchen,
Shirley McCreedy; MEMBER-AT-LARGE:
Jon Sig Gudmundson, Kentucky
REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES:
• CALGARY: Margaret Grisdale
• EDMONTON: Walter Sopher
• GIMLI: Don Martin
Contributors and
Advertisers
Please direct submissions, pho-
tos, camera-ready art, and
notices (evénts, births, obituar-
ies, etc.) to:
Lögberg-Heimskringla
PO Box 1859
Winnipeg, MB
R3C 3R1
<m ih nnw Rin* m' 'nR'hitiw m u r*pw NiiTrwFrM & nm 4 nn wwriMr