Lögberg-Heimskringla - 18.06.2004, Page 1

LOGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA
Lögberg stofnað 14. janúar 1888
Heimskríngla stofnað 9. septembcr 1886
Sameinuð 20. dgúst 1959
I ■>!■■■■! HU i I I gga MÉ
Friday 18 June 2004 • Number 11 / Númer 11 * Föstudagur 18. júni 2004
Publication Mail Agreement No. 40012014, PAP # 8000 f 118th year /118. Árgangur ISSN 0047-4967
A voyage by horseback
from Eyrarbakki to Gimli
In This Issue
PAINTING: CAL JOLLEY
Destination:
Utah
Join L-H on a visit to the
Icelandic settlement in Utah.
Find out more about Spanish
Fork and the Icelandic
Sesquicentennial next year.
The journey begins on
page 2.
PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
Three words
do the trick
Bliss K. Anderson
learned three Icelandic
words to get through
genealogical research, and
now she helps people find
out more about their family
trees. See the full story on
page 6.
PHOTO: STEINÞÚR GUÐBJARTSSON
A lot of real
strong blood
Brent Haymond is Hon-
orary Consul of Iceland in
Utah, and president of
Springville Museum, which
has North America’s largest
Russian collection of art
from the Soviet period. See
the full story on page 7.
Declan O’Driscoll in
Montreal, Canada, and Karl
Ágúst Andrésson in Eyrar-
bakki, Iceland, are organizing
“The Path to Gimli,” an event
they hope will take place in
2005 as a part of the celebra-
tion of the 130th anniversary
of the Canadian/Icelandic
connection.
“It is a voyage by horse-
back from Eyrarbakki to
Gimli,” says O’Driscoll, and
adds that he will be making a
documentary about the voy-
age. “The documentary will
tell the stories of the first
explorers who set eyes on
Canada, the settlers of the
mid 1800s along with our
inodern story,” he says.
The plan is to begin the
voyage in Icelhnd June 17 and
end at the Icelandic weekend
in Gimli in the beginning of
August 2005, after about
1,000 km ride. The cost is
estimated to be about
$200,000 (CAD) and the idea
is to auction the horses after
the voyage and donate the
raised funds to the Snorri Pro-
gram. “Our trip, retracing the
footsteps of the Icelandic
migration to Canada, will
raise money for their ances-
tors to go back to the 'home-
land’ and learn more of their
heritage,” O’Driscoll says.
When in Iceland,
O’Driscoll met with the
Canadian Embassy, The Min-
istry of Agriculture, The Min-
istry of Transport and
Tourism, The Ambassador of
the Icelandic Horse, and Ice-
land Air Cargo. “They were
all enthusiastic,” he says, and
adds that after he got back to
Canada he has been in con-
tact with the Minister of For-
eign Affairs in Canada. He
says that he is beginning to
map out the riding route and
looking for sources of fund-
ing.
O’Driscoll is just back in
Canada after having spent
nine months in Iceland. Ini-
tially he went to Iceland as an
foreign exchange student to
study lcelandic culture and
Icelandic mythology. He
graduated this year with a
degree in theatre, specializing
as a playwright.
While in Iceland he was
involved with three theatre
productions. “I designed the
lights for an Icelandic adapta-
tion of George Orwell’s 1984,
and also directed two plays -
one in Litla Hraun, the
national prison, and the other
for the city council of Þorlák-
shöfn,” O’Driscoll says.
Creating Community • Eflum samstöðuna