Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.03.2005, Blaðsíða 3

Lögberg-Heimskringla * Föstudagur 25. mars 2005 • 3
PHOTO: MORGUNBLAÐIÐ
Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson
among the youngest billionaires
Iceland’s first billionaire,
Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson,
is among the youngest billion-
aires, according to Forbes mag-
azine’s 2005 rankings of the
world’s billionaires. There are
691 billionaires on the list and
15 of them are younger than the
Icelander. He is 38 years old
and 29 billionaires are under
40, the youngest 21 years old.
Forbes says that the tötal
net worth of the billionaires is
$2.2 trillion. Microsoft Corp.
founder Bill Gates is on top
of the list for the llth year
in a row with a net worth of
$46.5 billion. Björgólfur Thor
Björgólfsson is number 488 on
the list with a net worth of $1.4
billion.
The article “Thor’s Saga”
is featured in the newest issue
of Forbes. He “made a fortune
in the wilds of Russia, cofound-
ing Bravo brewery and creat-
ing popular Botchkarov beer
brand. Agreed to sell business
to Heineken in February 2002.
Used proceeds to go on a buy-
ing spree in his native Iceland
and in Europe. Today he has
stakes in four of the ten biggest
Icelandic companies including
Actavis, a maker of generics
pharmaceuticals, and Lands-
banki, the National Bank of
Iceland. Also boasts holdings
in a Czech telecom group and
the recently privatized Bulgar-
ian Telecommunications Com-
pany.”
About 50 new subscribers for
L-H through INL Iceland
The lcelandic National
League of Iceland has sub-
mitted the first list of new
subscribers to Lögberg-Heim-
skringla. About 50 people
have confirmed participation
in tours to North America
organized by the INL of Ice-
land, and a year’s subscrip-
tion is included in the pack-
age.
The INL of Iceland is or-
ganizing three tours to North
America in the summer. The
lirst one will be an 11 -day trip
in the end of June in conjunc-
tion with the celebrations in
Utah June 23 - 26 commemo-
rating the 150th anniversary
of the Icelandic settlement of
Spanish Fork.
The second tour will be
lo North Dakota, Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and Alberta
July 3-15. During the 12
days the Icelanders will visit
Minot, Mouse River, Bran-
don, Vatnabyggð, Edmonton,
Markerville, Calgary, Banff
and Regina, to name a few
places.
The third tour, the annual
historical tour, wiil take place
July 27 - August 5. The par-
ticipants will visitDuIuth and
Minneota in Minnesota, take
part in the celebrations in
Mountain, North Dakota and
Gimli, Manitoba and visit the
surrounding areas.
Lasl year the INL of Ice-
land decided to include a one-
year subscription to L-H in
the travel packages to North
America this year. “Lögberg-
Heimskringla keeps people
in touch with the ‘Icelandic'
settlements and the inhabit-
ants living there, and there-
fore it is important for our
participants to get the paper
regularly,” said Almar Gríms-
son, President of the INL in
Iceland, at that time.
Deadline for
next issue:
March 28
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Moonlight Mania honours Icelandic pioneers
First Ice Fest in Kinmount
The Icelandic Canadian
Club of Toronto (ICCT) is or-
ganizing the festival Ice Fest
as a part of Moonlight Mania
in Kinmount, Ontario on Sat-
urday, July 16, 2005.
About four years ago, the
summer festival Moonlight
Mania started in Kinmount
to bring local communities
together. This year the ICCT
was invited to celebrate and
share the Icelandic-Canadian
heritage on this day. “This is
a great opportunity and we are
really looking foreward to the
festival,” says Guðrún Girgis,
the chair of the planning com-
mittee.
A large number of Iceland-
ers came to Kinmount in 1874
and after about a year most of
them relocated to New Iceland.
“It was here they founded the
community of Gimli, Manito-
ba,” Donald E. Gislason writes
in his book The Icelanders of
Kinmount. “It was from this
failed experience in Ontario
that the direction of settlement
shifted to Westem Canada and
the prairie States.”
Moonlight Mania is a fam-
ily festival. Activities include
childen’s games and contests,
clowns, a live band, horse-
drawn wagon. rides, vendors,
food and crafts, to name a
few.
Brenda Bjamason is di-
recting the play Thor’s Ham-
merand the Giant’s Bride to be
presented by the children’s Bi-
frost Lillefolk Theatre Troupe.
Writer Guy Scott and Don
Gislason will narrate the jour-
ney from the railway station
along the rail trail to the bridge
built by the first Icelandic set-
tlers.
Artist Tom Bjamason will
present his works. Icelandic
travel videos will be shown as
well as the video A Country
Doctor.
The “Path to Gimli,” a voy-
age by horseback from Eyrar-
bakki, Iceland to Gimli, Mani-
toba, will include Kinmount
this day (www.thepathtogimli.
com) and many visitors are ex-
pected to be in the area during
the festival.
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