Lögberg-Heimskringla - 23.09.2005, Page 2

2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 23 September 2005
Declan O’Driscoll
The riders from Iceland ar-
rived at Pearson airport
on the evening of July 11
in high spirits. As we exited the
air-conditioned airport, the hu-
mid Toronto summer night hit
us like a freight train. “What’s
this?” Kalli asked me. “Is this
how hot it is?” That was just the
beginning of the heat that was to
come.
We spent three days in hu-
mid Toronto. Historical geog-
rapher Don Gislason gave us a
tour and brought us to the site
where the immigration shanties
had been. He spoke to us about
the tribulations the Icelanders
went through while waiting to
be located.
On July 13 we headed to
Clear Lake Farm in Magnetawan
where our horses were. We spent
a peaceful night amongst the
chirping crickets and the twin-
kling stars, but were up bright
and early at 5 a.m. to load the
horses and drive to Kinmount.
In Kinmount, Ian Tate,
Guðrún S. Girgis, Diane Austin
and her daugther Janet met us
at the agricultural fair grounds.
Diane generously invited our
group to dinner at any restaurant
in town, Ian invited us up to his
“shack in the swamp” for a drink
— it tumed out to be a beautiful
cabin in the woods on the edge
of a pond. He graciously offered
his home as our base of opera-
tions during our stay in Kin-
mount.
We had a day to relax and
settle in. It was spent on the
bank of the Burnt River, where
most of us jumped off a thirty-
foot bridge into the river. I must
say it was pressure from Herdis
and Lauren that got us onto up-
per rail of the bridge to jump
into the dark, murky waters. It
doesn’t look so bad looking from
the bottom, but once you’re up
there... At that point it’s too late.
The only way down is to jump.
Herdis, Lauren and Elin had
no trouble and off they went.
Valur, on the other hand, stood
up then sat back down, psyched
himself up; he stood up again,
he sat back down, he psych'ed
himself up again. Then he stood
up and proclaimed, “I’m turning
forty, I’m too old for this!” Like
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid, off he leapt. After swim-
ming ashore, he went right back
up and leapt off again.
The next day, local historian
Guy Scott escorted us down the
old railway track along the Burnt
River to where the Iceland-
ers had their shanties in 1874.
Twenty-three Icelanders, mostly
children, were buried there in
unmarked graves. No one knows
exactly where the children are
buried.
I reached into the cooler,
took out a bottle of water and
then asked everyone to gather in
a circle.
I said a few words ebout
the children who died there, and
asked all present to recognize
that they had left their home-
land with hopes of reaching “the
promised land.” Instead they
settled very unforgiving territory
and never reached Gimli. I said
a prayer, poured the bottle of
water onto the ground and asked
everyone to take a moment of
silence.
After a moment, the silence
was broken by Sveinn’s cell
phone. The message he received
from the ethers at that moment
was a poem:
Vatnsbað
ídag
vökvaði ég krónu
fegursta trésins
í garðinum mínum.
Blóm hennar eru
JLcefa^
www.icelandnaturally.com

m
TheWa
oulci Be

HHUI Ub UUUHI tbY Uh UtULAN U UHISUULL
Otmar Reinhartz holds the finish line ribbon at Clear Lake Farm as it is cut by Canadian Min-
ister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Andy Mitchell and Magnetawan Mayor Sam Dunnet.
fallegustu blóm
sem ég hef augum litið
og í dag
sýndu þau mér
hreinan kjarna sinn.
The rough translation:
Water-bath
Today
I watered the crown
of the most beautiful tree
in my garden.
. Its flowers are
the most beautiful flowers
I have ever seen
and today
they showed me
their pure core.
Valur Gíslason takes the plunge from the bridge in Kinmount,
ON into the murky Burnt River, 30 feet below.
I had just poured pure spring
water onto the ground when this
poem came through. To add to
this uncanny event, Sveinn had
attempted to use his phone many
times that day but could not get
reception. That moment was the
only time it worked while we
were in Kinmount.
After attending IceFest in
Kinmount and stopping at sev-
eral points in Muskoka, as has
been reported in L-H, the Path to
Gimli proceeded to Clear Lake
Farm.
Located in northern Mus-
koka, this Icelandic horse farm
is owned and run by Kordula and
Otmar Reinhartz. Kordula was
the Ontario Manager for The
path to Gimli. Our five horses
were boarded and trained by her.
There are over forty Icelandic
horses at the farm, and trail rides
are offered to the public.
On our ride from Hekkla to
Magnetawan we were joined by
close to twenty other horses and
riders. All the horses were Ice-
landic. It took two days to ride
to Magnetawan.
When we rode up to the
farm, Canadian Minister of Ag-
riculture and Agri-Food Andy
Mitchell and Magnetawan May-
or Sam Dunnet cut the finish line
ribbon. It sported Icelandic co-
lours and was strung across the
driveway at Clear Lake Farm.
Thus ended the Ontario portion
ofThe path to Gimli.
To be concluded. Fora more
in-depth account of the Ontario
leg, see “Online Stories” at
www.lh-inc.ca.
4^
PHARMACISTS
Ernest Stefanson
Garry Fedorchuk
Claire Gillis
Pat Sedun
PHARMASAVE
Lighthouse Mall Gimli
642-55°4
Live well with
PHARMASAVE
Visit us on the web at http:llwww.lh-inc.ca