Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.05.2007, Blaðsíða 5

Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca
Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. maí 2007 • 5
Greetings from
Gordon J. Reykdal
Honorary Consul of the
Republic of Iceland
17703 - 103 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5S 1N8
Tel: (780) 408-5118
Fax: (708) 408-5122
E-mail: gord@rentcash.ca
With over 40 years
of experience Inland
ensures that
customers receive
quality products and
services for all types
of construction
and development
projects.
Aggregates
Phone: (204) 224-4255
Fax: (204) 224-3431
Concrete Pipe Products
Phone: (204) 339-9213
Fax: (204) 334-7957
Cements and Flyash
Phone: 1-800-252-9304
Fax: (204) 334-5900
“Working Together to Build
Our Communities”
ARBORG PHARMACY
Store Hours: Mon. - Sat. 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Fri. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Sun. noon - 4 p.m.Pharmacist: V. T. Eyolfson
Box 640, Arborg, MB R0C 0A0
Ph: 204-376-5153
SHARED WISDOM • SHARED COMMITMENT • SHARED VALUES
BETEL HOME FOUNDATION
GIMLI
SELKIRK
GIMLI
96-1st Avenue
204-642-5556
SELKIRK
212 Manchester Avenue
204-482-4651
Celebrating 91 years of Continuous
Care in the Community
MISSION STATEMENT
VISION STATEMENT
Make our home your home... Where care and service prevail.
Betel Home Foundation will continue to be a leader and
innovator in providing the highest quality of life for each
individual in our care. We will identify and adapt to emerging
health care needs and challenges. Betel Home Foundation is an
integral part of the community recognizing our Icelandic roots
and respecting others cultures.
Upcoming debate topics include:
• Is reading relevant to today’s Icelandic culture?
• Who’s smarter, women or men? (Note: one woman and one man will be selected for this — the
first who sign up. The woman will argue men are smarter, the man will argue women are
smarter.)
• My amma makes the best vínarterta. (Both sides will argue the same proposition against each
other)
If you would like to participate (or suggest a debate topic), please e-mail david@lh-inc.ca with the
subject line “DEBATE.”
This column will return next issue.
Can you play devil’s advocate?
It’s been fifteen years since I visited Lake Winnipeg in the springtime. When my family
and I left for supernatural BC, I
was optimistic, looking forward
to new friends, a new house,
and the exhilarating adventures
inherent in living by the sea. I
wasn’t focused on what I’d lose
or be required to give up.
As time went on, though,
the hole in my heart where the
lake used to be grew larger. The
spring blossoms evolved around
my Vancouver Island home and
despite their beauty, all I could
think about was sinking my toes
into the wet sandy shores of Lake
Winnipeg.
So I budgeted accordingly,
and returned each summer to
spend time lounging there with
my Icelandic relatives, diving
through refreshing ripples each
morning at dawn before kaffi-
sopa, and meditating on the
moon, mirrored in the dark, aque-
ous surface I loved. The lake has
always been a significant part
of my summer tradition — per-
sonified in my mind like an old
friend welcoming me home with
a wave and a watery embrace.
You see, much like a beauti-
ful woman you start dating casu-
ally, the lake reveals what it sees
as its best side to you first. She
wants to entice and lure you into
her seductive clutches, providing
welcoming waves to jump in, a
warm, approachable temperature
you won’t run screaming from,
and a smooth sandy bottom that
casually invites your feet to mas-
sage her grainy temples as you
venture out to the second or third
sandbar.
What she doesn’t realize (but
what becomes painfully obvious
to you) is that her frozen self is
much more delicate, vulnerable,
and attractive. She reveals it to
fewer people, saving it for a spe-
cial few who she trusts with her
humbling spirit.
This version of the lake is
only for the loyal lake-goer: the
person who visits her year-round
and recognizes there is more to
her than a convenient surface
upon which to water-ski. Like
all women, she is infinitely more
than the sum of her surface fea-
tures. Anyone just looking for
physical beauty won’t be trusted
with her more profound traits
like the bounty of freshwater fish
she provides, or the resting space
for trollers and sailboats.
My cousin and I walked
her shores this month, admiring
miniscule icebergs melting in
her shallows, cooing over baby
prisms the sun elicited on the
watery surface. We watched in
awe and marvelled at her glassy,
white beauty.
With an eye peeled to the
ground for lucky stones, we stud-
ied the curves and twists of our
icy friend’s coastline from the
familiar shores of Loni Beach
to the slightly more turbulent
and unpredictable North Point,
taking photographs, discussing
summer plans, and paying trib-
ute to this indelible piece of fam-
ily history.
I could feel the great antici-
pation of the lake as I waded out
onto what was left of its win-
ter coating and breathed in the
crisp, familiar scent of spring-
time. There’s a certain nostalgia
associated with the lake for me.
And for a long time I thought it
had solely to do with my family,
and the opportunity we take each
summer to come together, eat
traditional goodies like vinarter-
ta and pönnukökur and celebrate
a common background. What I
didn’t realize all along was that
it was the lake, and her magical
presence. Like a good woman,
she can keep a secret, and always
makes you feel welcome in her
realm.
It turns out I did give up a lot
when leaving Manitoba all those
years ago, but the excitement I
feel at coming back each sum-
mer makes it all that much more
worthwhile.
Heather Neale is a Vancou-
ver-based freelance writer of
Icelandic descent. She visits her
amma every summer at Loni
Beach in Gimli.
Ideasdóttir
A Woman’s Perspective
Heather Neale
Vancouver, BC
Lake Winnipeg lover
It was this dramatic history
that inspired Freya Björg Olaf-
son’s dance piece, performed re-
cently at Winnipeg’s Gas Station
Theatre as part of the arts festi-
val NÚNA (now). In her perfor-
mance, Olafson uses music and
art as well as dance to interpret
the historical significance of the
site as well as her relationship to
this history. She is a great-great-
granddaughter of the pioneer
who built his home among the
graves at Nes.
The goals of Icelandic River
Heritage Sites Inc. include not
only riverbank stabilization and
tree planting at Nes, but a unique
monument incorporating both a
bronze sculpture and a symbolic
sheltering structure.
Sigtryggur Jonasson
sculpture
Plans are also underway to
commission and install a life-
size sculpture of Sigtryggur
Jonasson, “Father of New Ice-
land,” at Modruvellir near River-
ton. Jonasson’s original home-
stead on the west bank of the
Icelandic River, Modruvellir is
considered the most appropriate
location to honour this visionary
leader of Icelandic settlement in
Canada. During his occupancy
from 1876 to 1881, this site near
the Riverton Centennial Park
served as Government House for
New Iceland, as well as a cul-
tural centre housing the district’s
first school, the post office, and
the editorial base of the pioneer
newspaper Framfari. Jonasson’s
home also became the headquar-
ters of New Iceland’s first major
corporation, a shipping, mer-
cantile, and sawmill enterprise.
While Sigtryggur Jonasson has
been widely recognized for his
remarkable achievements, his
grave in the Riverton Cemetery
is marked only by a small stone.
“It’s time we turned our at-
tention to our neglected heritage
sites,” observed a member of
Icelandic River Heritage Sites
Inc. “History is all around us,
not just in museums and parks,
and commemorating a variety
of sites will demonstrate in a
tangible way the value we place
on preserving our history and
heritage for future generations.
We also anticipate our initiatives
will provide significant benefit
to the area in terms of increased
tourism. Thousands of visitors
from throughout North America
and Iceland come to Manitoba
every year, eager to visit the
places where the saga of New
Iceland unfolded, where family
members or relatives settled and
in many cases where they were
laid to rest.”
The Icelandic River Heritage
Sites Inc. Board is comprised
of President Harley Jonasson,
Vice-President Nelson Ger-
rard, Secretary Joel Fridfinnson,
Treasurer Wanda Anderson, and
Directors Sigmar Johnson, Mar-
garet Wishnowski and Dr. Irvin
Olafson. The Board is presently
consulting with various authori-
ties with regard to these priority
projects, and is seeking chari-
table status with a view to com-
mencing ambitious fundraising
efforts.
Continued from page 1
Heritage sites