Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.05.2007, Blaðsíða 4

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In one of those stolen mo-ments of peace at the Icelan-dic National League Con-
vention, I found myself talking
to Gerri McDonald, who has
long been active in the Icelan-
dic Canadian Club of BC.
We spoke about how orga-
nizations can have many mem-
bers but not necessarily muster
a lot of people for events — it’s
frustrating, because you know
the potential for something dy-
namic is there.
She said the INL Convention
is a great event to have in April,
when the long winter nights have
faded and you may be feeling
there’s nothing happening. The
convention dispels that immedi-
ately — hundreds of people com-
ing together from across North
America and Iceland, sharing
ideas, talking about what they
or their organizations are up to
— you leave energized.
It occurred to me that for
the Icelandic community in
North America, the conven-
tion is effectively our Sumar-
dagurinn fyrsti, or First Day of
Summer. I know many chapters
hold their own events for that as
well — but it does seem that the
convention motivates people to
look ahead to a brighter season.
Perhaps part of that is talk-
ing to people from west to east
and everywhere in between. Al-
ready next month we can look
forward to June 17 celebrations
in BC and Washington State all
the way east across the prairies,
and into Toronto, where the an-
nual Kvennahlaup, or Women’s
Walk, is becoming a tradition.
Then of course in Fargo-
Moorhead there is the Scandi-
navian Hjemkomst Festival, and
in Spanish Fork, UT Iceland
Days, both of which take place
near the end of June. Further
down the road there are August
the Deuce in Mountain, ND and
Íslendingadagurinn, the Ice-
landic Festival of Manitoba in
Gimli. These events each attract
thousands of people.
But things like the Kven-
nahlaup, also held in Winnipeg
and now in Gimli, show that new
ideas and traditions are emerg-
ing. Heck, if you are a golfer,
you can look forward to Icelan-
dic tournaments in Chicago and
Gimli, among other places, sup-
porting worthwhile causes such
as the Icelandic Association of
Chicago, the New Iceland Heri-
tage Museum, and Lögberg-
Heimskringla. Icelandic golf is
not something you would find
in the sagas, but then a tradition
has to start somewhere.
Sometimes you don’t notice
when it starts. Over the last few
years, more and more former
participants of the Snorri Pro-
gram have been attending the
convention, lowering the aver-
age age at the event by about
20 years depending how many
attend. This year was no ex-
ception, and some former par-
ticipants in Snorri or Snorri Plus
are now INL chapter presidents.
As well, there was even
more involvement from the
North American and Icelandic
business communities this year.
And with all the concur-
rent Icelandic cultural events
that NÚNA (now) comprised,
people were engaging with lit-
erature, music, and the arts in a
big way.
Overall the convention was
a wonderfully informal place
for people from all walks of
life, connected by their inter-
est in Icelandic culture, to get
together.
I thought more about what
Gerri said and I think she’s right.
The convention is a good way to
wake up and get motivated. Not
just for the coming season, but
maybe for the next big thing you
want to try, or see, or do.
Tradition is something that
you recognize after it’s been
going for awhile; culture is
something you do, maybe with-
out even being aware that it’s
“cultural.”
I wonder what the next few
years will hold for the Icelandic
community? Are we waking up
to something new?
* * *
P.S. To all those at the con-
vention who heard my wife and
I had a daughter the same week-
end and wanted to know the ba-
by’s name — turn to page 13.
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4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15 May 2007
Dear Editor:
The appropriateness of the
term “Western Icelander” for
folks of Icelandic descent in
North America has been ques-
tioned before. In 1996 I wrote
a long-winded letter on the sub-
ject, which L-H printed. I know
we are not Icelanders, but Cana-
dians and Americans. “Western
Icelander,” however, is the only
term that gracefully includes us
all.
I just received the May 1 is-
sue of L-H, which contains a let-
ter from Len Vopnfjord in which
he tells of his pride in being
identified as Vestur-Íslendingur
when he was in Iceland. I should
disclose that Len is my brother-
in-law. He is a gentleman of pro-
bity and discernment, although I
am at a loss as to what he was
doing in a liquor store in Reyk-
javík!
We are indeed all Vestur-
Íslendingur. In English, the
name “Western Icelander” fits
all of us.
Henry Bjornsson
Seattle, WA
* * *
Editor’s note: this issue’s
Guest’s Corner (page 13) comes
from W. L. Guðnason via Mar-
lene Bardarson. Here Marlene
provides some background in-
formation on “The Remarkable
‘Billy’ Guðnason.”
Billy was to become a world
traveller, but now prefers to live
and work in England. He was
always the apple of his mother’s
eye. Her letters and phone calls
always included mention of his
latest doings. This excerpt is
about William, or “Billy,” as we
will always call him, in most af-
fectionate terms.
Billy always marched to his
own drummer. He did acquire a
teaching credential, and taught
for a time in a rural school.
Then, restlessness took hold
and he began a series of careers,
all over the world. He took an
ocean freighter and worked his
way to Iceland, where he sought
out relatives, and worked for a
short time in the fishing indus-
try.
He soon decided that fish-
ing was not his calling, so he
tried and was successful at in-
ternational gem buying, flying
between Holland and South
America as casually as we go
from one state to another.
He has been a Master Chef
in a large hotel in England, and
has published a cookbook of
chili recipes he collected in oth-
er lands. He has become very
cosmopolitan, and is quite dash-
ing at times.
He lived in Japan for several
years as a private English tutor
to a wealthy Japanese family,
and has also sold automobiles
in Japan. As he usually does,
he immersed himself in the life-
style and customs of the country
he lives in, and became as Japa-
nese as possible, even to their
style of cooking. He reminisced
one time about the difficulty of
a sales profession in Japan. He
said that being a gaijin, a Cauca-
sian in an Asian community, and
a salesperson to boot, needed the
utmost delicacy, extremely good
manners and great tact to even
live, let alone succeed. Yet suc-
ceed he did, thanks to his many
years of living in “Jolly Old
England” where you are really
nothing if you have no manners.
But, after some years on
wandering, the conditions of
living in an extremely crowded
and ever noisier environment in
Japan, he tired of it. Caucasians
have not learned the Oriental
capacity to shut out the rest of
the world, to withdraw into their
interior world of serenity. Japan
became too much for him and
he had to come home. He need-
ed the association, the smells,
sights, language, even jokes!
Can you imagine trying to tell a
Japanese an elephant joke?
He came back to Canada,
to Glenboro to his mother and
sister, and to Toronto to Lore-
lie. Not for too long, though;
the same forces drove him out
again, and he returned to Eng-
land. I suspect he will always
be an Englishman (née Íslend-
ingur.)
We hear from him irregular-
ly, and usually it is a long con-
versation. He surprised all of us
when he flew to New York, on
the Concorde, to attend our son
Ron’s wedding in June 1984. He
landed in New York, and some-
how found the train to Long Is-
land, got as close to the small
town where the wedding was
being held, and telephoned the
church where we were all wait-
ing for someone to come and get
him at the railroad station. This
was how we found out that he
was coming. He was only here
a day or two, but what a visit,
what times we had!
Although Rose and Siggi
loved all their children, “Billy,”
as Mel and I most affectionately
call him, was always the apple
of her eye. Her world revolved
around her children, and Billy
was the centre. Her later letters
were always filled with what he
was doing. Bill somewhat re-
sented her strong pull, (the male
ego, probably) and railed about
it, and yet, he composed one of
the most tender, loving bits of
prose about her. She published
it in the Lögberg-Heimskringla,
an Icelandic publication in Man-
itoba, in the 25 June 1993 issue.
It was forwarded to us some
years later by Kristin Thomas-
son, Mel’s favorite first cousin.
Marlene Bardarson
Mira Loma, CA
Waking up for the summer
David Jón Fuller
Managing Editor