Lögberg-Heimskringla - 21.10.2005, Qupperneq 2

2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 21 October 2005
PHOTO: STEINPÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
Iceland and Icelandic culture have always been a big part of Laura Sigmundson’s life, although she has only visited the country of her forefathers once.
N ever too late to v isit
About 130 years ago lcelanders flocked to the
New World. In return more and more North
Americans take every opportunity to visit
lceland. Laura Sigmundson of Gimli,
Manitoba, is one of those who have made the
dream come true. Steinþór Guðbjartsson
went to see her at her house on 4th Avenue
south of Centre Street.
Gimli is a beautiful vil-
lage with great people.
It is the capital of New
Iceland and everywhere in town
one can see people of Icelandic
descent.
Laura Sigmundson prob-
ably knows them all and visits
them regularly, either to collect
the membership fees for the
Gimli Chapter of the Icelan-
dic National League of North
America (INL), or to try to
get new members. If she is not
working for the club she might
drop by to give her neighbours
a special cak’e, víncirterta, or
simply just to talk. “I like be-
ing with people,” she says, and
that is how she has spent her
time for years. Working for the
Gimli Chapter, working for the
INL. Going to places, to con-
ventions, but never to Iceland
until this year.
“I have always been very
interested in Iceland, the home
of my grandparents, and I have
had a strong connection with
my family in Iceland all my
life,” says Sigmundson after
having visited the land of her
forefathers for the first time.
She has one child, Margret Ste-
venson, who lives in Kenora,
ON, and the two of them went
together.
Always wanted to go
“During the last few years
I have met more and more Ice-
landers from Iceland and they
have urged me to come over to
see what it is all about. I finally
gave in and both of us really
liked it. If I ever had the oppor-
tunity I would go back.”
Asa and Fred Johnson were
Laura’s parents. Her maternal
grandparents, Steinunn Jónas-
dóttir and Jóel Jósepsson, emi-
grated from Iceland to Baldur,
Manitoba, in 1887. Her patemal
grandmother, Guðný Friðfinns-
dóttir, moved with her parents
from Iceland to New Iceland in
1876. Jón Jónsson, her paternal
grandfather, was bom in Ice-
land and came to Baldur with
his parents.
“I have many relatives in
Iceland and have always want-
ed to go and visit some of them
but I never went until this year,”
Laura says.
Her first husband was Niels
Lambertsen, whose parents
were born in Iceland and her
second husband was Fred Sig-
mundson. “He was a good Ice-
lander, but he never wanted to
go to Iceland for some strange
reason.”
It has been said that almost.
everybody who has been in-
volved in the Icelandic commu-
nity in New Iceland has visited
Iceland at least once. With that
in mind it sounds strange that
Laura never went to Iceland
until last spring. She has been a
very active member in all kinds
of organizations that have to do
with Icelandic matters. She has
been a very valuable member of
the INL for more than a decade.
Since 1993 she has been one of
the main forces of the Gimli
Chapter of the INL and been on
the executive board ever since,
either as a president or some-
thing else.
She became a member of
the chapter when she moved
to Gimli in 1977 and has been
more and more active in the
club with every year. She has
been involved in the Lutheran
church all her life. During the
last two decades or so she has
been a volunteer for the Mani-
toba Heart and Stroke Foun-
dation. In short, if something
is going on in town regarding
charity it is almost certain that
Laura is there.
“Since the early 90s I have
been very busy in Gimli and not
had time to go anywhere, not to
mention lceland. When Stefan
Stefanson and Ted Arnason or-
ganized charter flights to Ice-
land, I stayed behind because
somebody had to entertain the
Icelanders in this area or look
after them.”
Strengthening the ties
Laura has lived in some
places in Manitoba. She was
bom in Baldur about 75 years
ago. When she finished school
she moved to Glenboro and af-
ter that she lived in Brandon for
almost 20 years. Since then she
has been in Gimli.
“I have been happy wher-
ever I’ve been,” she says. “I’ve
lived in Gimli for about 28
years now and this is home.”
She lives in a small house, one
of the “Icelandio” houses in
town, but it is big enough for
her to welcome guests. She has
opened her house to everyone,
including two participants in
the Snorri West Program. “It
was fun having the girls here,”
she recalls, “and I had a good
time with them during my visit
in Reykjavík.”
Apparently she stayed with
one of them, Aðalheiður Dóra
Albertsdóttir, during her visit to
Iceland, and went with the other
one, Kristín Elísabet Gunnars-
dóttir, to look at the nightlife.
“I stayed with Dóra, who
is a relative of mine and stayed
with me in 2003. Kristín was
here last summer and she want-
ed to show me the nightclub
where she had worked. That
was the nightlife for me and
we did net stay there for a long
' time. I was more interested in
seeing her mother and we had
an enjoyable time together. It
was also nice meeting Magnús
Sigurðsson again, and he also
participated in the Snorri West
Program last summer. In short,
this was quite an adventure.”
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca