Lögberg-Heimskringla - 28.01.2005, Síða 15

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 28. janúar 2005 • 15
Won her
first medal
in her forties
Steinþór Guðbjartsson
Calgary, AB
Anna Auður Ingólfsdóttir
has lived in Calgary for about
a quarter century. Fifteen years
ago she started playing soccer,
and she won her first medal in
her forties.
Anna Auður is an econo-
mist by profession and came
as such to Calgary through a
students’ exchange program
after having obtained a degree
from the University of Iceland.
“I wanted to go to Britain or
the Netherlands, and the third
option was North America,”
she recalls. “They sent me to
Calgary and I’m still here.”
What kept her in Calgary
in the beginning was her hus-
band Kurk Hancherow. “We
met here and when I went
back to Iceland I had the op-
tion of forgetting all about
him or marry him,” she says.
“We wanted to be together and
that’s what we have done.”
They have two sons, Stefán
Orri (20), a student in Halifax,
and Jóel Reynir (15).
Soon after Jóel Reynir
was born, Anna Auður started
practising soccer. “I was 35
years old at that time. We, the
mothers in the neighbourhood,
were watching our children
play and telling them what to
do. Then one of the women
said that this was not as easy
doing as saying, and as a result
we decided to start playing
soccer. I participated mainly
because of the company and
now I have competed for 15
years.
“The board members of
the Leif Eiriksson Club find it
often strange hearing that I’m
practicing or playing when
asked to take part in some ac-
tivites of the club, and I guess
there are not many 50-year-old
women around playing soccer,
but here we are.”
When Anna Auður and her
friends started playing soccer,
they were the first women’s
team in Canada coinposed of
players about 35 years of age.
“We competed against girls
who were about 18 years old
and in the beginning we lost
quite badly, 10-0 or 15-0 and
so on. But we became better
with age and influenced other
women to take up the sport.
Now there are three divi-
sons in Calgary composed of
Cold Front
at þorrablót
Members of the jazz trio
Cold Front, in addition to work-
ing on their upcoming album,
are scheduled to perform at the
Icelandic Canadian Frón’s þor-
rablót. The event will be held at
the Scandinavian Cultural Cen-
tre in Winnipeg on March 5.
Cold Front is Björn Thoro-
PHOTO: STEINPÓR GUÐ0JARTSSON
Cold Front
ddsen, guitar; Steve Kirby, bass
and Richard Gillis, trumpet.
|A BIRTHDAY INVITATIONj
Vlie. þuHiLf, af
Skþm ctieþmtoH, CfUtdl
UudteA-tfbuta
ceUJrtaU JtU 90tU BuMtdaf
aiMUumaJtail, Qimll
QeUuaty /3,2005
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NO GffTS PLKASK,
/US'r YOUR PRESENCK,
PHOTO: STEINPÓR GUQBJARTSSON
Anna Auður Ingólfsdóttir and Kurk Hancherow with their son Jóel Reynir.
women’s teams with players
older than 35 and I think four
divisions in Edmonton. As a
matter of fact, this is the most
popular sport among women
35 years old and older.”
Acording to Anna Auður,
participation was the most
important thing to start with.
Soon they wanted to achieve
something more, to win, and
within a few years they got
their first gold medal. “When
we play against girls’ teams
they think that they will have
an easy day against the ‘old-
ies,’ but we have often prov-
en them wrong. And when it
comes to results we have won
three provincial golds, silver
two times and once ended in
third place for a bronze. It was
a great achievement winning
the first gold in my forties.”
Góða nótt,
Gimli
— my last memory
During a roaring blizzard
in Gimli, I walked from my
warm home on south 3rd, two
blocks north over to Stefan-
sons’ old store, on the corner.
Do you remember the
store on 3rd avenue, the pot-
belly stove and and the can-
dles in the window? It was 30
below outside, but old man
Stefanson always had room
for us street kids. It was a
second home, Mrs. Stefanson
always had some treats for us,
rúllupylsa, brown bread, vin-
arterta and pönnukökur with
brown sugar.
Every so often a horse-
drawn sled would wind its
way up from the the shore,
past Betel, struggling against
the wind and snow,with its
precious cargo of pickerel
and whitefish. No fancy box-
es, no tops, just open boxes
piled with ice and water open
to the elements. With fish still
trying to escape back to the
frozen lake, sometimes they
fell off the sled and onto the
snow, squirming, flopping.
The blizzard caine from
the north, unleashing its ter-
rible fury, but we were young
and strong and snow and ice
were nothing to us. We lived
and played in it.
Richard Bjarnason burst
in the front door, covered
with a foot of snow; he was
so excited that he could bare-
ly breathe, or talk, frantically
pointing outside. Of course
we couldn’t see a thing, all
the windows were frosted
up.
Eric and I dropped the
penny candy we were buying
and asked Richard, “What’s
going on?” He said the sled
was dropping fish left and
right, goldeye, whitefish,
pickerel, suckers, media, ev-
erything was falling into the
snow.
We charged out of the
door and ran after the sled, I
grabbed for the biggest fish
1 could see in the snow — it
was a whitefish! 1 stuffed it
under my small jacket, still
wet and warm, slimy, squirm-
ing, gasping, fighting. But I
held fast.
By this time old Mr. Ste-
fanson was at the front door,
howling with laughter, “Little
Gunnsi bring it in inside.”
Both little Eric and I ran into
the store. Richard was still
chasing the sled, slipping,
sliding, falling and snow-cov-
Brian Gunnlaugur Martin
ered, head to toe.
Mrs. Stefanson took my
prize and wrapped it in an
old Winnipeg Tribune to take
home. Off I went to give my
Mom a gift of gold, no penny
candy, but a treat that would
delight all rny brothers and
sisters.
I was so excited that I for-
got about the nickel. I leamed
a lesson that day, that a 5-
cent sweet would have lasted
a few fleeting moments, and
only for me. Instead I shared
it with iny family, and the
memory will last a lifetime.
Brian Gunnlaugur Mar-
tin was born in Gimli, MB. He
worked for Canada Customs
for 25 years and has retired
to live in his hometown.
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