Lögberg-Heimskringla - 09.09.2005, Page 3

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 9. september 2005 • 3
A big send-off for Steinþór
WINNIPEG, MB — The
Board of Directors and staff
of Lögberg-Heimskringla took
one last opportunity to wish
outgoing Managing Editor
Steinþór Guðbjartsson well on
August 22.
Many of the board mem-
bers and volunteers as well as
the rest of the staff attended a
farewell dinner at Bombolini’s
restaurant on Broadway. Add-
ing to the Icelandic quotient of
the gathering was chef Todd
Bjomson, originally of Ri-
verton, MB, who cooked the
meals.
Board Chairperson Grant
Stefanson gave a short speech
thanking Steinþór for his con-
tributions to the paper over the
last year and a half, and on be-
half of the board wished him
success in his new position
at Morgunblaðið in Iceland.
Grant presented him with an
L-H Golf Toumament fleece
to keep him warm on the flight
home. The staff gave Steinþór
electronic copies on CD of ev-
ery issue he worked on, as well
as all the photos he took, while
editor of L-H.
Steinþór thanked everyone
for their involvement in his
time here, and for the gifts. He
said it had been an amazing ex-
perience, and that it was diffi-
cult to leave — but that unlike
the Icelandic immigrants of
130 years ago, he could retum
by air to visit. We hope that
he will.
Bergsson,
Gunnars
atUofM
Icelandic author Guðber-
gur Bergsson and Canadian
author of Icelandic descent
Kristjana Gunnars will speak
at a special lecture at the Uni-
versity of Manitoba on Sep-
tember 15.
Bergsson has received
many awards, both in Iceland
and abroad. His novels have
been translated into many lan-
guages, and in spring 2004 he
Guðbergur Bergsson
received the Swedish Acade-
my’s Nordic Literature Prize.
Kristjana Gunnars, the
translator of the first book
Kristjana Gunnars
published on Bergsson’s aes-
thetics, is an acclaimed writer,
poet, critic and essayist, living
in Canada and Norway.
Ferry linking North Atlantic countries
Dear L-H readers:
My name is Jóhanna
Róbertsdóttir, and I have
worked in the tourism industry
in Iceland for 20 years. During
that time, the tourism industry
in Iceland has changed greatly
and has now become one of
the fastest growing industries
in the country.
I am currently studying
intemational marketing and
tourism in London. This term
I am working on my final term
project. The goal of the project
is to explore the feasibility of
establishing a new ferry route
connecting five North Atlantic
countries and temtories: USA,
Canada, Greenland, Iceland
and the Faroe Islands. The
idea for the project is based on
a proposal put forward by the
West Nordic Council in Au-
gust 2002.
The original idea of the
project is traced to Mr. Tum-
mas Arabo from the Faroe Is-
lands. When he first presented
his ideas of a new ferry route
between the European conti-
nent and Iceland, with a stop-
over in the Faroe Islands, he
did not receive much enthu-
siasm. However, the skeptical
VQÍces were proven wrong,
and most people now agree
that the ferry Norröna has had
an extensive positive impact
on tourism in the West Nordic
region since it started almost
30 years ago. Now, a feasibil-
ity study for a new ferry route
between USA/Canada and the
West Nordic region is being
executed on similar grounds.
According to research, the
extensive travelling of people
is known, especially those
who retire at an early age.
Thousands of Canadians and
Americans are of Icelandic or
Nordic origin, and often visit
the “old country.” In addition,
the ferry would enable tour-
ists to travel with their vehicle
across the Atlantic, given that
they would make use of the
ferry Norröna from the West
Nordic region to the Euro-
pean continent and vice versa.
Today, there is no transporta-
tion link between the two con-
tinents that offers tourists a
chance tó travel with their car.
The aim of the project is
to find out, among identified
target groups, whether or not
there is a common interest for
a ferry linking the North Atlan-
tic regions. This will be done
by using a survey. If the re-
sults of the survey are positive,
it is likely to lead to a more
extensive market research in
the near future. A survey has
to be done in all countries in-
volved, and. that is why I tum
to you and ask you to take part.
Please see the survey on page
4 of this issue.
Jóhanna Róbertsdóttir
johannafrida @ torg. is
PHOTO: DAVID JÓN FULLER
Hulda Halldórsdóttir, along with the other visiting members
of The Network after a tour of the Icelandic Collection in the
Dafoe Library at the University of Manitoba.
“Network” visits Winnipeg
David Jón Fuller
WINNIPEG, MB — Re-
cently an association of Ice-
landic women professionals,
called “Netið” (The Network)
visited Winnipeg. The visitors
numbered 16 women, along
with 5 men (husbands of the
members). The association
was formed in 1986, before
the term “netið” came to be as-
sociated with the Intemet.
Members of the Network
come from many fields, includ-
ing retail, assisted living, law,
medical research and gourmet
food, among others. One of the
Network’s members, Þrúður
Helgadóttir, is the wife of Ice-
landic Consul Atli Ásmunds-
son and has lived in Winnipeg
for nearly two years.
Hulda Halldórsdóttir, who
works with a wood technol-
ogy company in Iceland, said
many of the members became
interested in visiting Canada
after seeing a play by Böðvar
Guðmundsson at the National
Theatre of Iceland based on his
book Where the Wind Dwells.
“It was amazing how little we
knew about Winnipeg,” said
Halldórsdóttir. “The play re-
ally opened our eyes.”
The visit can be consid-
ered a fact-finding mission,
she said, as well as a chance to
see for themselves what they
have heard about from Hel-
gadóttir.
In addition to touring sites
around Winnipeg, they also
visited Gimli, Arborg, Lundar
and Hecla.
We are a Funeral Company for
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984 Portage Avenue at Aubrey Street
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