Lögberg-Heimskringla - 22.04.2005, Page 7

Lögberg-Heimskringla - 22.04.2005, Page 7
Lögberg-Hefhnskringla • Föstudagur 22. apríl 2004 • 7 after retiring Gail Einarson-McCleery is from Gimli, Manitoba. She worked for many years in television and radio for CBC before she retired about 11 years ago. She is the honorary lcelandic Consul in Toronto, a co- editor of Fálkinn, the newsletter of the lcelandic Ca- nadian Club of Toronto (ICCT) and the INL’s repre- sentative in Ontario and Quebec, to name a few of her volunteer duties. Steinþór Guðbjartsson spent some time with her in Toronto. Until she retired, Gail was busy working and trav- elling the world. When she retired she started getting involved in the ICCT. “I had always been interested in my heritáge, and when I retired I was looking for something else to do. My husband Eric had be- come program director for the club and he got me involved. “I started working with the newsletter, then I became vice- president and president. During my presidency I started the Ice- landic National League’s Inter- national Visits Program, which organizes Icelandic artists’ vis- its to North American Clubs to perform or exhibit their art and visits by North American artists to Iceland. I was the director of the program from the very be- ginning and stepped down at the INL convention in Edmon- ton two years ago, or after I be- came a Consul. “I think that the program has tied the clubs together be- cause due to the program they have had a common goal to work on,” Gail says. The year 2000 was ex- tremely eventful in the Icelan- dic community in North Amer- ica. Gail says that the ICCT decided to focus on Kinmount and put up a monument there. She and her husband Eric were also instrumental in organiz- ing a variety show, the Vikings in Canada Gala in Toronto. “It was successful, we had many artists participating from across the country, and this was a very good experience,” she says. “It was a chance to put the spot- light on our writers, filmmak- ers, musicians and visual art- ists, and for them to get to know each other.” After she became a Consul, Gail got the idea of screening Icelandic films regularly. She got in touch with the Icelandic Film Centre and the Canadian National Film Board and for al- most two years they have shown an Icelandic film the last Thurs- day of every month. “This has been a lot of work but we have been able to see the main Ice- landic films and people seem to like that,” she says. “We have been a part of the National Film Board’s screening program. They promote the screenings and include our films in their brochures. We did the program the whole year last year but this year there will be no films screened in June, July and Au- gust.” Gail has participated in or- ganizing the first Ice Fest that takes place in Kinmount July 16, and she wants to develop a program about Iceland to pres- ent in schools in Toronto. “We have so many talented people who want to be involved in such a program and hopefully this will become a reality.” On October 21, 1875 the first Icelanders arrived at Wil- low Point, just south of Gimli, Manitoba. Soon Jón Ólafur Jóhannesson was bom, the first Icelander to be bom in New Ice- land. His sister was María Jóhan- nesdóttir, Gail’s patemal grand- mother. Gail’s father is Stanley Einarson from Minerva and her mother was Herdís Helga- son from Ámes. Gail is the youngest of four siblings. “My parents always spoke Icelandic and my brother and sisters spoke it until they went to school. When I came along all my siblings spoke English so I never really leamed Icelan- dic, but I’m studying it now. It is never too late and with that in mind I will be going to Snorri Plus in Iceland this summer. That will be my fifth visit to Iceland.” Oddsson’s Kaldaljós poses troubling questions David Jón Fuller Knowledge of the future can leave you chained to your past. At least, that’s the theme of Hilmar Oddsson’s Kal- daljós (Cold Light), screening in Toronto this month. The movie follows Grímur Her- mundsson (Ingvar E. Sigurðs- son), a 40-something man in search of direction. He enrols in an art class taught by Linda (Ruth Ólafs- dóttir), whom he quickly falls in love with. While his ama- teurish approach rouses the scorn of his classmates — he refuses to draw anyone whose name he doesn’t know — his childhood sketches fascinate the teacher. Grímur is haunted by memories of his childhood, which appear in flashbacks, particularly images of a cata- strophic avalanche. His inability to face his past, spent growing up in an isolated fishing village, slowly unravels Grímur’s present. His relationship with Linda spirals out of control, and it is this which forces him to take a hard look at himself. The movie has an elegant pace and beautiful photogra- phy, all of which captures the brooding nature of the main character (played as a child by Áslákur Ingvarsson). Linda, as a foreigner, is an outsider in many senses — she doesn’t speak Grímur’s language, nor does she understand his rela- tionship to the mountian that appears in so many of his drawings. The cast is superb, par- ticularly Áslákur as the young Grímur, whose premonitions often come true. Oddsson ends the movie on a hopeful note, but the question remains: if you knew the future, would you still do things you’d regret? SUPPORT A VLTAL PART OF YOUR ICELANDIC HERITAGE. BE A SPONSOR AT Five different levels of sponsorship make it easy to promote your business and support Lögberg-Heimskríngla. Prize Donation Hole Sponsorship — $300 • Sponsorship of one of the 18 holes • Company sign at one of the holes • Ability to send representatives from • Company recognition on large sign at your company to the outing to distrib- the golf registration, at supper and in ute promotional material Lögberg-Heimskringla Silver Sponsorship — $1000 • Ability to send representatives frojn ($150 value) your company to the outing to distrib- • Dinner ticket for one ute promotional material • Large sign at golf registration, at sup- • Includes registration fee for one golfer per and in Lögberg-Heimskringla Gold Sponsorship — $2500 • Ability to send representatives from ers ($300 value) your company to the outing to distrib- • Dinner tickets for two ute promotional material • Large sign at golf registration, at sup- • Includes registration fees for two golf- per and in Lögberg-Heimskringla Platinum Sponsorship — $5000 • Ability to send representatives from • Dinner tickets for four your company to the outing to distrib- • Your company logo on Toumament ute promotional material fleece garment • Includes registration fees for four golf- • Signage at supper, at the kiosk at flrst ers ($600 value) hole, and in Lögberg-Heimskringla FORMORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Johnson, Chair, husavik@shaw.ca or Don Lindal, Co-Chair, lindal@gatewest.net Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca

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