Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.02.2004, Blaðsíða 8

page 8 » Lögberg-Heimskringla »13 February 2004
Heimkoma - Coming Home

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARGARET H. (JONASSON) HOLMES

m
;e
4
'1 I
fe\ÉB

m

'1.
Íltt CÍ !HL C«tuu>-Í!^ K
iiJTtiC».A.N CTttíÆH
THE filtíT ittnEm \S Trtii /'.t.í
K'A«SO A ÍCNGM4MlOrt CK-<
5T«. H+1 ^ND ÍMCTLD • OrtlrtU-
u< yírtT.T.1 -.HCT cw ....
WOKíKítT
»• •»» SSSTí^srS:
COWlMflMWN Jt>.. ^
5STÍU.«»««" rr';“;s
Ht».CTvO *m« £t>Hf.O».y'.A A>i»
OONTlNVlO t« TWt CHUtu H pu r 11 '• HIT
wthcii 1>AY1 r.i- cau'K .'i
wtin m vot.r :r.Kf ».np«
M>A» atO&ONIlW ÍT 1 ,\ * ;’..
,n IM? TK, niuo v. * -« Niír»
JQ C-IWM.JI*'*-****«• *’,U *•' ll,'i N(i
cíoii UVOU.UT. M> —f --•t'
iNt okww. m. <«'<“ “ CMl N’
CC»WI AÍ'D
I
I Margaret H.
1 (Jonasson)
1 Holmes
m .aáMÍI Stittsville,
<JMI ON
There’s no place like
home”, said Dorothy, in
The Wizard ofOz. I’m remind-
ed of these words every time I
arrive in Winnipeg and walk.
outside the airport. I breathe
in the air and look up at a clear
blue sky before making my
way across the road to pick up
a rental car.
When I first started ‘com-
ing home,’ after an absence of
about twenty-one years, I
remember feeling it was like
putting on an old pair of
gloves. They were warm and
comfortable, they fit perfectly
and I felt good wearing them.
Here I was with the same feel-
ing last June after my flight
from Ottawa. My sister,
Connie, was arriving the next
day from San Diego. We have
made this trip for many years
now. She from the west and
me from the east. We meet to
visit family and friends but
most of all we enjoy renewing
old memories while exploring
the city. Even with many
changes over the years it
somehow remains the same.
Last June our main objec-
tive was a joiirney to
Churchbridge, SK where our
Mother was born. She lived
there with her family for the
first twenty-two years of her
life.
I’m sure she must have
always had the same feeling
about her hometown as I do
for Winnipeg.
We used to visit mamma ’s
family in Churchbridge for
two weeks every summer,
going from one farm to anoth-
er. Each one was different
with new adventures but
always with the most wonder-
ful meals prepared using
mainly farm products. Not
many items from the town
grocery store found there way
into these homes.
As children, we had a lot of
fun helping our cousins with
farm chores and just spending
time together. To mamma it
was coming home to be with
her family who always
received us with a warm sense
of belonging. We became part
of the community even though
we were city folk. This
included attending choir prac-
tice and services in Concordia
Lutheran Church as well as
other social functions held in
the Concordia Hall. The
church was located near the
Lögberg district of
Churchbridge, northwest of
town, with the hall directly
across the road.
The first Icelandic settlers
arrived in the Churchbridge
area in 1885. This settlement
was called the Þingvalla dis-
trict and was located to the
east of town. Here many
Icelandic pioneers built their
homesteads and by 1888 a
Lutheran congregation was
established. As the influx of
Icelanders grew in Þingvalla
many families moved further
north to the district which
became known as Lögberg.
This is where mamma’s family
settled in 1904. This same
year the Concordia Lutheran
Church was built in the area
which was now called
Vesturbyggd by the Icelanders
but became known as the
Concordia district. mamma
was baptized in the church
following her birth in 1905.
All her family were lifelong
members of this Icelandic
congregation from the time of
its formation in 1901.
The church site chosen
was five miles north of
Churchbridge and beside what
is now #8 highway. A ceme-
tery was located next to the
church as well as a barn which
was built later.
In 1915 the Concordia
Community Hall was built
across the road allowance
from the church. Residents of
the three Icelandic districts;
Þingvalla, Concordia and
Lögberg-Calder; generously
gave free Iabour and financial
donations totvards this
endeavour. A cairn was erect-
ed in 1935 near the hall in
honour and in memory of the
pioneers of these districts. It
was unveiled at the time of the
Golden Jubilee Celebration to
commemorate the founding of
the Icelandic colony in 1885.
The Concordia Church
and Hall was the centre of the
Icelandic community’s social
life. Dances and concerts were
held in the hall as well as
plays in both Icelandic and
English. The Icelandic
Celebration, íslendinga-
dagurin became an annual
The Cairn plaque
event, held on 17 June, with
toasts given to Iceland,
Canada and the Icelandic pio-
neer settlers. There would be a
full day of speeches, Icelandic
songs rendered by the
Concordia Church Choir and
many sports events. The fes-
tivities would end with a
dance in the hall and a hearty
lunch prepared by the dis-
tricts’ women in the hall’s
attached kitchen.
Another annual event was
the ‘cleaning bee’ held to give
the church and hall a thorough
scrub and polish. This was an
all day affair and was also
regarded as a picnic. The
cemetery was spruced up as
well with grass cutting, weed-
ing, planting saplings and
some repairs if needed.
As the years passed,
progress, with change and
new opportunities took its toll
and the population drifted
away from the Concordia dis-
trict. Living patterns changed
with better roads, paved high-
ways and the closing of small
schools. Many events, which
were part of the social life,
shifted to Churchbridge.
Eventually the barn and the
hall were sold.
Continued on next page
Concordia Church at its present site
Mothers’ headstone with flowers planted
<tit ii nnw Rtiw Tinit mív 'ne'mtikt mri it rtríttr .Niirmt-m a nnt \ nri 'ro'wnnt