Lögberg-Heimskringla - 19.11.2004, Side 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 19 November 2004
Ambassador Guðmundur Eirfksson visits Vatnabyggd, Saskatchewan
Joan Eyolfson Cadham
Vatnabyggd, SK
“This is a relatively self-
contained community with
firm roots. It’s not entirely a
geographical entity, but it is
not an accident that it should
have this continuity and cohe-
sion. People had a choice. This
is what they chose. Obviously,
it was a wise choice. They
have kept it going for 100
years,” said Ambassador Gud-
mundur Eiriksson, who visited
Vatnabyggd during a break in a
five-day diplomatic forum in
Regina. He was escorted by
Minnist
Remember
BETEL
í ERFÐASKRÁM YÐAR
Please send Donations to:
BETEL HOME FOUNDATION
Box ÍO
96 íst Avenue
Girnli, MB ROC ÍBO
Jón Öm Jónsson, the Consul of
Iceland in Saskatchewan.
The Vatnabyggd visit
included the Icelandic memo-
rial in Elfros, the Foam Lake
Marsh and the site of the first
Vatnabyggd Icelandic home,
now part of the Paulson farm,
and the local biodiesel plant.
Following Vatnabyggd tradi-
tion, Ambassador Eiriksson
had the opportunity to help
combine some canola.
The tour began at the Brick
Church in Wynyard, oneofthe
main centres of Icelandic
activity in Wynyard in Ihe
early days of settiement. Gunni
Goodman provided the history
and Lillian Thorlacius intro-
duced the ambassador to the
paintings of the late Loa John-
son. The ambassador, son of a
Lutheran pastor, said it was his
first visit to a church that fea-
tured non-religious art.
The ambassador enjoyed
the multicultural nature of the
Vatnabyggd Club memorial to
Icelandic pioneers, designed
by Club members, and created
‘More than just a few
moments of harvest’
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARGARET AMIRAULT
BC Scholarship winners announced
The Icelandic Canadian Club of British Columbia (ICCBC) recently awarded six schoi-
arships. Above are Alexandra Ruth Taub, recipient of the Thordarson Memorial Schol-
arship; Jessica (Jekka) Mack, recipient of the Warren Oddsson Memorial Scholarship;
Brian Cairns (Chair, Scholarship Committee), Kristofer Jon Lindal, recipient of the Dr.
B.T.H. Marteinsson Memorial Scholarship; and Kristín M. Jóhannsdóttir, recipient of the
ICCBC Open Scholarship. Not pictured: Colleen Howard, recipient of the Anna B. Nash
Memorial Scholarship and James Andrew Macauley, recipient of a ICCBC Scholarship.
ARE YOU PROUD OF YOUR ICELANDIC HERITAGE?
Do you want to see it preserved for your
chitdren and grandchiidren?
Are you a member of your local lcelandic club?
Don’t know where they are or who to contact?
Check out our website at www.inlofna.org
or for more information, contact Rosa in our INL office.
Telephone: (204) 642-5897 email: inl@mts.net
Ifyou don't have a club in your area
but are interested in forming one, please call the INL office.
WOULDN’T YOUR AMMA AND AFI BE PROUD?
Following Vatnabyggd tradition, Ambassador Eiriksson had the opportunity to help combine
some canola.
by Dutch, Icelandic, Ukrain-
ian, Irish and First Nations
craftspeople from Saskatoon,
Wynyard, Foam Lake, Wishart
and Elfros.
“One quarter of our popu-
lation left 130 years ago,” he
said. “They established a com-
munity which is still vibrant. It
is easy to be an Icelander in
Canada, because of people like
you who have set the standard
for being Icelandic in Canada.”
Iceland has opened the
first hydrogen fuel station to
The ambassador’s Vatnabyggd visit included the Icelandic
memorial in Elfros.
service private vehicles. Rob
McGregor and Helgi Helgason
gave the ambassador a tour of
Milligan BioTech in Foam
Lake, the first North American
plant to make bio-diesel using
canola as base stock.
Ambassador Eiriksson
said his trip around the field
was much more than just a few
moments of harvest. “It was
more the idea and the compar-
ison with the old days. It was
not just that activity. It was
understanding the pressures of
modern farming, the market-
ing, the choice of crops, the
decisions to sell or to store.
This, the harvest, is a luxury,
just chopping it down and
bringing it to the farm.”
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca