Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.12.2004, Qupperneq 11

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 3. desember 2004 • 11
PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
Lisa (Hjalmarson) Gregovs-
ki with her children Alex and
Dana in the costumes.
Donated
costumes
Steinþór Guðbjartsson
WlNNIPEG, MB
Members of two choirs in
Reykjavík, Iceland, the Past-
time Choir (Dægurkórinn) and
The Rainbow Choir (Regnbo-
gakórinn) have donated two Ice-
landic national children’s cos-
tumes to the Scandinavian Cul-
tural Centre in Winnipeg, “as a
token to honour the warm wel-
come, and excellent receptions
we received during our stay in
Winnipeg,” as stated by the
choirs’ members.
Conductor Esther Helga
Guðmundsdóttir brought her
choirs to Manitoba last spring.
They pérformed at various
places in Winnipeg, in Gimli
and at the INL/NA Convention
in Hecla. At a reception at the
Scandinavian Centre they
noticed that none of the children
in the dance group there were
wearing traditional old Icelandic
national children’s costumes
and when they found out that the
Centre did not hí)ve any such
costumes they decided to donate
a couple.
The costumes, including the
caps, stockings and the skin
shoes, were made by Ingibjörg
Jónsdóttir of Ester Helga’s song
seminar in 2004. At the TGIF
Smorg Dinner November 19
Sonja Lundström on behalf of
the choirs presented the cos-
tumes to Carl Sorensen, instruc-
tor of the children’s dance
group, and Susan Hjalmarson,
President of the Scandinavian
Cultural Centre. Nine-year-old
Dana (Hjalmarson) Gregovski
and her seven-year-old brother
Alex wore the costumes for the
occasion.
Popular seminars on the
Icelandic settlements
PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
Þórunn Ingolfsdóttir and Unnur Björk Guðmundsdóttir
from Islandsferðir ehf. assist Jónas Þór in introducing the
trips planned for next summer.
Steinþór Guðbjartsson
Reykjavi'k, Iceland
Since the fall of 2000,
historian Jónas Þór has
organized, on behalf of the
INL of Iceland, a course in
Reykjavík, Iceland on the
Icelandic settlement in North
America. Each summer fol-
lowing two seminars during
the winter, he has guided the
participants through the set-
tlements in Minnesota, Wis-
consin, North Dakota and
Manitoba.
“The first seminar was in
the fall of 2000,” Jónas Þór
recalls. “I had written an arti-
cle for Morgunblaðið on the
Icelandic settlement on Point
Roberts in Washington State.
I got an amazing reaction.
One of the most frequently
asked questions was if Ice-
landers had settled elsewhere
in the U.S. A little later I was
asked to participate in a series
of seminars at the University
of Iceland, which I did. As I
met with people and dis-
cussed Icelandic settlements
in North America, I realized
that the history was unknown
to many. Consequently I
approached INL-Iceland and
suggested one or two semi-
nars annually in its name. I
just completed the ninth sem-
inar and the tenth begins Feb-
ruary 1.”
Each seminar is eight
weeks, once a week. “We
meet for two hours, Tuesday
nights,” Jónas says. “I discuss
Icelandic settlements in
North America during the
Emigration period 1870 -
1914. Where did they settle
and why? How successful
were they in each colony?
“I suppose about 200
people have attended these
seminars, many of whom
have come on our tours to
America. Some participants
have been on three of our
tours and are contemplating
more tours. This interest,
more than anything, shows
the popularity of the subject.”
The approximately 12-
day field trips were not
thought of when the first
seminar was organized, but
they have nevertheless been
part of the program ever
since. “During my first semi-
nar, many expressed interest
in a field trip to certain
places, for instance, Shawano
and Washington Island in
Wisconsin, Duluth and Min-
neota in Minnesota, North
Dakota’s communities and of
course Manitoba,” Jónas
says, adding that the trips
have been an important addi-
tion to the seminars. They
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have also led to other tours.
“In addition to the annual his-
torical tour we have organ-
ized tours to the west coast,
Saskatchewan and Alberta
next summer as well as to
Utah,” Jónas says.
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