Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.06.2005, Qupperneq 10

Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.06.2005, Qupperneq 10
10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 3 June 2005 Stephansson House the main attraction The Stephansson House Provincial Historic Site brings international recognition to the Markerville area. Steinþór Guðbjartsson paid the Facility Supervisor Olga Fowler and her staff a visit. Stephan G. Stephans- son was bom in Ice- land in 1853. About 20 years later he emigrated with his family and his uncle Jón Jónsson’s family to Shawano County in Wisconsin. There he married his cousin Helga Jóns- dóttir. In 1880, the Stephans- sons and Jónssons left Shawano for a new Icelandic settlement in Pembina County, North Da- kota. In 1889 Stephan G. Stephansson, his family and a number of other Icelanders moved to the new settlement by the Medicine River in Central Alberta. Stephan played an inte- gral role in settling the area and through his writings brought it íntemational recognition. The “poet of the Rocky Mountains” has been recognized as one of the greatest poets in the western world, and in recent years two books about him and his work have been published in Iceland. A translation into English is be- ing worked o'n, and the author Viðar Hreinsson hopes to have his book published in Alberta. The poet laureate of Ice- land and farmer died in 1927, but the Stephansson House Pro- vincial Historic Site, which the Alberta Government operates, keeps his memory alive in the area. Restored to its 1927 appear- ance, the Stephansson home offers a glimpse of Alberta’s Icelandic heritage and the life of this pioneer-poet. Guests can experience the spinning of wool, baking, household chores PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON. Stephan V. Benedikston stands by an informational display outside Stephansson house. He is the poet’s grandson. YEOMAN FARM Stefanía Sveinbjamardóttir Ray Dignum Parham. ON K0H 2K0 Tel: 613.375.6308 E-mail: yeomanfa@frontenac.net www.yeoman-icelandic-sheep.ca Breeders of lcelandic Sheep Rentcash Inc. Gordon J. Reykdal President & CEO 17703 - 103 Avenue Edmonton, AlbertaTSS IN8 Canada Tel: (780) 408-5118 Fax: (780) 408-5122 E-mail: gord@rentcash.ca PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON The staff at the Stephansson House Provincial Historic Site. From left: Lisa Kinnear, Lisa Ma- loney, Lisa Szymanek, Katey Boal and Olga Fowler. and poetry reading while view- ing the Rockies. “The visitation has been growing and this is a very popu- lar site,” says Olga Fowler. In the spring they offer school programs where they teach about Stephan, his family and the live in the Icelandic commu- nity. “Yearly we get about 2,000 students from kindergarten to grade 12 in the local area,” she adds. “We also teach them some Icelandic words, like takk, já, nei, velkomin og bless. We bake ástarbollur and read stories and poetry. Like all our provincial sites, we have a ‘year of inter- pretation’ and we do everything like it was in 1927.” Olga’s husband worked on the restoration of the house and after having visited the site she got interested in the culture. “I feel very comfortable helping people preserve their history,” she says and adds that she is learning Icelandic. The site is open to the pub- lic from middle of May until Labour Day. Every summer Olga hires about four students to assist visitors. “I hire people who have the skills to tell the story and have the interest in history.” * / Ur Islendingadags ræðu From an Icelanders’ Day Address Stephan G. Stephanson, 1904 Þó þú langförull legðir Though your travels encompass Sérhvert land undir fót, every country on earth, Bera hugur og hjarta Deep at heart you’ve been moulded Samt þíns heima-lands mót, by the land of your birth. Frænka eldfjalls og íshafs! Kin to ice and eruption, Sifji árfoss og hvers! Falling water and steam, Dóttir langholts og lyngmós! Bom of meadow and moorland, Sonur landvers og skers! Mystic landform and stream. Yfir heim eða himin Whether heavens or homeland Hvort sem hugar þín önd, in your heart you constme, Skreyta fossar og fjalls-hlíð Ever hillsides and homefields Öll þín framtíðar lönd! grace your landscape anew. Fjarst í eilífðar útsæ At the ends of the ocean, Vakir eylendan þín: In a wide, sunlit ring Nóttlaus vor-aldar veröld Where your island lies wakeful, Þar sem víðsínið skín. It’s etemally spring. Það er óskaland íslenzkt, It’s an Icelandic dreamland Sem að yfir þú býr - over which you preside, Aðeins blómgróin björgin, Where the boulders yield blossoms Sérkver bald-jökull hlýr, — ice has fire inside! Frænka eldfjalls og íshafs! Kin to ice and eruption, Sifji árfoss og hvers! Falling water and steam, Dóttir langholts og lynmós! Bom of meadow and moorland, Sonur landvers og skers! Mystic landform and stream. Translated by David Gislason, 2004 Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca

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