Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.05.2007, Page 8

8 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15 May 2007
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David Jón Fuller
You could be forgiven for thinking the Icelandic Festival had arrived in
Manitoba early, given the Ice-
landic activity in the province
this April, culminating in the
88th Annual Icelandic National
League Convention.
It was a weekend of intense
interaction, with Canadians and
Americans of Icelandic descent
meeting and visiting with each
other and visitors from Iceland.
There were politicians, artists,
businessmen, scholars, writers,
diplomats, engineers and musi-
cians in the mix — the stated
theme of “partnering with peo-
ple” was apt.
The Icelandic Festival of
Manitoba was itself one of the
partner organizations in this
year’s convention at the el-
egant Hotel Fort Garry. Other
groups collaborating under the
leadership of the Icelandic Ca-
nadian Frón’s Serena Goebel
and Susan Hjalmarson were the
Canada Iceland Foundation, the
Consulate of Iceland, the Uni-
versity of Manitoba Department
of Icelandic, The Icelandic Ca-
nadian Magazine, Jon Sigurds-
son Chapter IODE, Lestrarfé-
lag, Lögberg-Heimskringla, the
New Iceland Heritage Museum,
and the Scandinavian Cultural
Centre.
Every INL Convention is
marked by formal events such
as the opening ceremonies,
banquet and annual general
meeting. There are often cul-
tural, heritage and historical
presentations, discussions and
panels — and Winnipeg was no
exception.
Vi Bjarnason Hilton and
Judy Thorsteinson led a bus
tour of Icelandic Winnipeg,
which included stops at Lög-
berg-Heimskringla and the
Scandinavian Cultural Centre.
At the same time, Lestrar-
félag contributed a strong com-
ponent of poetry and literature
with readings on the hotel’s
mezzanine level, coordinated
by Linda Sigurdson Collette.
Poetry might have been the
secondary theme of the conven-
tion, as a poetry contest was
held in the months leading up
to the event, and winners were
announced and awarded over
the weekend. The organizers of
the contest were David Gisla-
son, Dr. Birna Bjarnadóttir and
Svava Simundsson, and they re-
ceived more than 40 entries on
the theme of heritage, from all
across North America. (Win-
ning entries will be published in
an upcoming issue of L-H.)
Other highlights included
a media panel discussion fea-
turing Steinþór Guðbjartsson,
reporter for Morgunblaðið; Joe
Olafson, broadcast journal-
ist for CTV Winnipeg; Lorna
Tergesen, Editor of The Icelan-
dic Canadian Magazine; and
Jon Thordarson, Photo Editor at
the Winnipeg Free Press.
Throughout the entire week-
end, up-to-the-minute coverage
was provided by Holly Ralph,
who recorded the proceed-
ings and placed audio files of
the events on the INL website
(www.inlofna.org) shortly after
they occurred.
This year’s convention also
saw the active participation of
President of Iceland Dr. Ólafur
Ragnar Grímsson. Dr. Gríms-
son kept a busy schedule. On
Thursday evening he spoke at
the University of Manitoba Ice-
landic Alumni Reception at the
Winnipeg Convention Centre.
On Friday morning he was an
honoured guest at a meeting of
the Winnipeg Chamber of Com-
merce. That same day he spoke
at a special luncheon hosted
by Premier of Manitoba Gary
Doer, which highlighted the
predominantly Icelandic Win-
nipeg Falcons hockey team, and
he also delivered the keynote
address at the INL Convention
that evening.
On Saturday he met many of
the artists and performers partic-
ipating in NÚNA (now) at a re-
ception hosted by Consul Gen-
eral of Iceland Atli Ásmundsson
and then attended the formal
INL Convention Banquet.
Adding to this high-pro-
file visit, major Icelandic bank
Landsbanki chose the Friday
of the INL Convention to open
its first branch in Winnipeg,
scheduling the ribbon-cutting
ceremony and follow-up recep-
tion between the convention’s
afternoon program and the
opening ceremonies. The same
day, Landsbanki signed a major
agreement to support the Snorri
Program, and was also a major
sponsor of the convention.
Another significant an-
nouncement took place at the
formal banquet, when Dr. Ken
Thorlakson revealed that the
Lögberg-Heimskringla Future
Fund Campaign had received
a pledge of an additonal three
years’ free rent from Gordon
Reykdal of Edmonton, AB; and
also that Donald K. Johnson
of Toronto, ON and Björgólfur
Guðmundsson, CEO of Lands-
banki, had partnered to cre-
ate a matching grant fund of
$250,000 — from now until the
end of the campaign on June 17,
all donations will be matched
from that fund, literally dou-
bling the contributions.
Tim Samson, in his keynote
speech at the banquet, mused
on “the Icelandic question”
— “who are you?” or “who are
your people?” He commented
on the importance of the many
Icelandic groups collaborating
on this year’s INL Convention.
“The convention is a power-
ful mechanism that brings us
together,” he said, mentioning
other such examples as Íslen-
dingadagurinn, August the
Deuce, the University of Mani-
toba Icelandic Department and
others. “It is the partnerships
among us and these kinds of
organizations that allow us to
ask ‘Who are you?’ about our-
selves.
“What will the equivalent
‘Icelandic question’ be in the
next generation?”
Perhaps time — and future
conventions — will tell.
All things
Icelandic
PHOTO: DAVID JÓN FULLER
From left: Dr. Ken Thorlakson, Future Fund Chair; Donald K. Johnson; Björgólfur Guðmunds-
son; and Gordon Reykdal. Standing behind are David Gislason and Senator Curtis Olafson.
INL Convention surpasses its goal of community involvement
PHOTO: DAVID JÓN FULLER
Susan Hjalmarson (left) and Serena Goebel.
PHOTO: FRANK WILSON
President of Iceland Dr. Óla-
fur Ragnar Grímsson.
PHOTO: LESLEY HUNTER
Bus tour leader Vi Bjarnason
Hilton (right) with Joe, one of
the two bus drivers.