Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.12.2004, Blaðsíða 4

4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 3 December 2004
Amazing race in Iceland
Steinþór Guðbjartsson
Managing Editor
A few days ago I was glued
to the TV because the first
episode of the sixth season of
the reality series “The Amaz-
ing Race” was premiered. Nor-
mally I don’t watch so-called
“reality” shows but this two-
hour-long episode was special
to me since it took place in Ice-
land. The second part was
advertised a lot and then scenes
from Iceland were used again.
In the second episode the com-
petitors departed from Iceland
which meant another quarter of
an hour in front of the TV.
I must admit that I liked
the show. I enjoyed seeing a
part of Iceland as it was shown.
And I wanted to see if I knew
some of the Icelandic people
shown and then how they per-
formed.
The episode reminded me
of a recent visit and kept the
memories alive. I also did what
the producers and sponsors
want the viewers to do. I
looked at special offers with
Icelandair on the Internet after
this experience and made some
inquires. To tell you the truth, I
was not surprised to hear a
competitor say that a dream
had come true. Another com-
petitor who was eliminated
showed a similar reaction in
the end: “This is definitely one
of the best experiences of my
lifehe said.
Lately, Iceland has gotten a
lot of coverage on television
and radio, and in newspapers
and magazines. The country is
unique, it is “hot’’ and it seems
to be “in” among many trav-
ellers. It is estimated that 12.1
million people watched the
aforementioned episode in the
U.S. alone. That tells a remark-
able story, not to mention the
effect it has had and will have
in the near future. No wonder
Icelandair offers people a
chance to “trace the race.”
Letters to the Editor
Dear editor:
Regarding descendants of
Katrín Eyjólfsdóttir and
Þorleifur Guðmundsson at
Böðmóðsstaðir.
During the last 10 years
several attempts have been
made to publish the records of
descendants of Kartrín Eyjólfs-
dóttir (1758 - 1815) and Þorlei-
fur Guðmundsson (1763-1833)
living at Böðmóðsstaðir in
Laugardalur in the southern
part of Iceland. Among descen-
dants are their son Eyjólfur at
Snorrastaðir, grandsons
Eyjólfur at Laugavatn and Kol-
beinn at Kollafjörður, grand-
daughters Katrín at Urriðafoss
and Guðrún Eyjólfsdóttir
(1830-1898) who moved to
Canada.
The last attempt was made
by the publishing company
Genalogia Islandorum (GI).
The company had announced
the publication of the records
and started collecting subscrip-
tions when it went into bank-
ruptcy in 2001.
A group of descendants
held a meeting last April in the
Nordic House in Reykjavík.
On that meeting it was revealed
that the GI had collected a
large amount of material;
roughly 1500 pictures and
records of nearly 9000 descen-
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the interest of publishers for
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ing 600 subscriptions to two-
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the prerequisite for waking the
interest of publishers. We are
therefore looking for contact
persons in Canada and the US
who can help us collect sub-
scriptions and can correct
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printing.
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Dear Editor:
Regarding the picture of
the four young people in the
November 19 issue of L-H,
page 10, they are grandchilden
of my father’s sister Ásdís Sig-
urgeirsdóttir (who married a
Henriksson from Efra-Nupi in
Miðfirði.) Ásdís was managing
director of Betel in Gimli for
many years.
Ásdís’s son Hinrik Hinriks-
son married Thobjorg (Bertie)
and they had these four chil-
dren: Eleanor, the eldest mar-
ried Les Gibson; Herbert; Don-
ald; and Audrey (Mrs. Head).
They are all gone now and of
all of my father’s family I have
the least information about this
family.
The only living direct
descendant of Ásdís that I
know of (there are others) is
Violet Einarson, whose mother
was Disa Bergman, daughter of
Ásdís. Violet lives in Rotary
Tower in Gimli. Shirley
McCreedy is also a relative.
I was thrilled to see my
story published this week and I
thank you very much.
Oddly enough, there have
been letters to the editor and an
artice by Val Werier in the Win-
nipeg Free Press about this
same subject I wrote about. So
I do think it was timely.
Thank you.
Agnes Bardal Comack
Winnipeg
* * *
Dear Editor,
First I want to thank
Catherine Lambertsen
McConnell at L-H for her help
in my eager search for a fjall-
kona dress pattern for my china
doll. The doll is 18 inches tall
and of a medium build with a 9-
inch waist (bigger than a Bar-
bie). It would not be difficult to
adjust a pattem to fit her size.
Surely there must be dress-
makers here in Canada, the
U.S.A., or Iceland who would
have such a pattern for sale! I
am also interested in the skaut-
búningur as well as any other
pattern for the Icelancic nation-
al costumes for ladies, men and
children.
A faithful reader,
Kris Servante
RO.Box 1052
Neepawa, MB
ROJ IHO
Home
building centre
✓-v — GIinli Lumber & Supply Ltd.
f l-----1 S colonization Road. Box 1306
* « » 'mm >" / Girnli, Manitoba ROC ÍBO Toli Free
LMThord.rwt&onMHtmx. Telephone (204) 642-7496 1 - 800-224-1449
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