Lögberg-Heimskringla - 08.04.2005, Qupperneq 13

‘Not just a bunch of grey-
haired old ladies’ in Selkirk
David Jón Fuller
Selkirk, MB
Not too many years ago,
the Selkirk Brúin Club’s annual
Sumardagurinn fyrsti concert
attracted around fifty people.
Nowadays, it’s not unusual for
hundreds to turn up.
What has changed, says
Debbie Hogaard, is that young
people are taking the stage.
‘“We’re not just a bunch of
grey-haired old ladies’,” she
says, quoting club past-presi-
dent Maxine Ingalls.
Children still attending
elementary school right up to
young adults in high school
have performed at the event,
and that brings in parents and
grandparents. ‘
“It seemed to be for awhile
that just the older generation of
Icelanders were in it,” she says.
“But I think the last couple of
years of the Sumardagurinn
fyrsti, with the younger kids
coming out, and performing, I
think that’s helped change it.”
It also reflects the chang-
ing face of the club, as older
meinbers are replaced by the
younger ones. The question of
what it means to be Icelandic
has different answers for differ-
ent generations.
Debbie’s four children per-
formed for the first time last
year, doing the “Hókí pókí” in
Icelandic. This year they return
with another musical number.
Amanda, 13, says her Ice-
landic background “doesn’t re-
ally change my life,” but adds
she would like to learn the lan-
guage. “There’s a lot of other
things I wouldn’t have learned
if I wasn’t Icelandic, like the
different foods,” she says, men-
tioning vínarterta and kleinur.
Desmond, 12, says he feels
Icelandic depending on what he
is doing. “It tells me how cool I
am,” he says. “It reminds me of
my family.”
That sentiment is echoed
Greetingsfrom
GordonJ. Reykdal
Honorary Consul of the
Republic of Iceland
17703 - 103 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
TSS 1N8
Tel: (780) 408-5118
Fax: (708) 408-5122
E-mial: gord@rentcash.ca
PHOTO: DAVID JÓN FULLER
Clockwise from top left: Desmond, Amanda, Robin and Ash-
ley will perform at Brúin’s annual Sumardagurinn fyrsti.
by Ashley, 10, who says she
feels a bond between her Ice-
landic relatives whom she has
never met, but will at a family
reunion this year.
Robin is the youngest at
9. She likes to read Icelandic
children’s books aloud and
says she wants to go to Iceland,
which the other siblings agree
they’d like to do also.
Other regular young per-
formers at the annual concert
include Carly Swain, Brenten
Thorvaldson, and Stephanie
and Kimberly Bull.
See the Calendar of Events
for tnore information.
Icelander to star in Da Vinci Codel
Icelandic actor Ingvar E.
Sigurðsson is reportedly au-
ditioning for a starring role
in the forthcoming film The
Da Vinci Code, based on Dan
Brown’s best-selling novel.
Sigurðsson is, according
to sources, auditioning for the
role of the Evil Monk. Tom
Hanks has aiready signed on
to play the lead role of Profes-
sor Langdon.
• Sigurðsson has starred
in numerous lcelandic films.
He also had a supporting role
alongside Harrison Ford in
K19: the Widowmaker.
Source: IceiandReview. com
Lögberg-Heimskringla » Föstudagur 8. apríl 2005 • 13
PHOTO: STEINPÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
Icelandic folklore introduced in Gimli
Recently Björk Bjarnadóttir from Iceland gave a lecture on
Icelandic folklore and legends at the New Iceiand Heritage
Museum in Gimli, Manitoba. She talked about trolls, elves,
ghosts and hidden people and brought a tilberi with her. Ac-
cording to Icelandic folklore, a tilberi is a creature made of
a rib covered with wool. It milked other people’s cows and
sheep and stole the milk. Here Björk Bjarnadóttir shows
seven-year-old Anika Dowsett a tilberi.
Peter Bjornson mla for Gimii
representing Gimli,
Winnipeg Beach,
Dunnottar, St. Andrews
and West St. Paul
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Rm. 105, 94 - lst Avenue
Gimli, MB ROC 1B1
Phone: 204-642-4977 or Toll Free: 1-866-253-0255
Fax: 204-642-8991 E-mail: gimlimla@mts.net
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