Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.01.2008, Page 3

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Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. janúar 2008 • 3
ICC of BC celebrates
100 years
Margaret Amirault
The Icelandic Canadian
Club of British Columbia cel-
ebrates its 100th anniversary
this year.
The club traces its begin-
nings to August 8, 1908, when
the literary society of Ingólfur
was established in Vancouver.
Since then, the name of the club
has been changed twice.
The first change took place
in 1946 when Ingólfur merged
with the social club Ísafold un-
der the name Ströndin, which
means “the coast.”
The second change took
place in 1967 when the new
name was adopted as part of a
long-term reorganization of the
club. Throughout this past cen-
tury and three different names,
the unity of the membership
and the objectives of promoting
a common heritage and friend-
ship between Icelanders and
people of Icelandic descent re-
main unchanged.
The goals of the society are
to promote an interest in Ice-
landic culture, traditions and
fellowship; to promote the ob-
servation of Icelandic holidays;
to entertain prominent official
guests from Iceland and North
American officials; and to bring
together Icelanders, Canadians
and other persons interested in
Icelandic culture, traditions and
fellowship.
The ICC of BC is an ac-
tive Icelandic organization with
a membership of about 500. It
regularly holds Icelandic lan-
guage classes, maintains a li-
brary and Icelandic community
archives, celebrates Icelandic
holidays and cultural traditions,
produces a newsletter for its
members and friends, offers a
scholarship program and hosts
entertainers, visitors and distin-
guished guests from Iceland.
In 1990, the club acquired
“Iceland House” to provide a
home for its cultural endeav-
ours. The ICC of BC also works
within the Icelandic National
League to achieve a national
voice for Icelandic culture
throughout North America.
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“Working Together to Build
Our Communities”
Steinþór Guðbjartsson
Reykjavík, Iceland
Donald K. Johnson of Toronto was named the Globe and Mail’s Na-
tion Builder of 2007. He “spent
his life doing deals in Toronto’s
financial district, but it’s the
agreement Don Johnson finally
won in Ottawa that has made
all the difference — a change
in tax law that has unleashed a
flood of charitable giving from
Canada’s wealthy,” Andrew
Willis wrote in the Globe and
Mail.
“I’m honoured and flat-
tered,” says Don Johnson, who
was born in Lundar, MB about
72 years ago. His father Páll
Björn Jónsson was born in Ice-
land and emigrated with his
parents to Lundar in 1894. His
mother Fjóla Kristjansson was
born in Otto, Manitoba to par-
ents who had emigrated from
Iceland.
Don has been involved ex-
tensively in fundraising for
many years. He was one of the
major benefactors of the Future
Fund Capital Campaign which
has stabilized Lögberg-Heim-
skringla. His generous donation
of $100,000 early in the cam-
paign and his matching grant
fund with Landsbanki towards
the end of the campaign paved
the way towards attaining and
exceeding the fundraising goal.
He also played a major role
in the Valuing Icelandic Pres-
ence Millennium Campaign to
support the Department of Ice-
landic Studies and the Icelandic
Collection at the University of
Manitoba.
In his report Andrew Wil-
lis points out that Canada’s rich
are giving away fortunes on a
scale Canada has never expe-
rienced, thanks to Johnson’s
efforts. He “is a fellow from
small-town Manitoba whose
tireless, 12-year campaign for
more generous tax treatment on
charity donations has opened
the philanthropic floodgates
from coast to coast. As a Bay
Street deal-maker, Mr. John-
son spent his career convincing
chief executive officers that he
could help build their compa-
nies. But he spent almost as
much time convincing a series
of skeptical finance ministers
that a particular tax break for
the wealthy could be good for
all Canadians. Now, as bil-
lions pour into charities, those
finance ministers are staggered
by what he has wrought.”
Willis recalls that in 40
years before the 1997 tax break,
the United Way in Toronto had
received $44,000 in stock do-
nations. “Since then, the char-
ity has been given $60 million.
Nationally, gifts of stock to Ca-
nadian charities, negligible be-
fore 1997, total $3 billion in the
past decade.” And he continues
and quotes Don: “ ‘My hope is
these gifts help Canadian insti-
tutions go from good to great,”
Mr. Johnson says. “We’re com-
peting against the United States
and the rest of the world, and
these gifts will build the en-
dowments and the institutions
that will attract the very best
people, in medicine, in educa-
Don Johnson Nation
Builder of 2007
PHOTO: STEINTHOR GUÐBJARTSSON
Don Johnson
GIMLI, MB — The latest is-
sue of The Icelandic Canadian
Magazine is now available.
In Vol. 61, No. 2, Iceland’s
famed poet and naturalist Jónas
Hallgrímsson is featured on the
cover. The 200th anniversary of
his birth was celebrated this past
November, and he is the subject
of the guest editorial by Birna
Bjarnadóttir and an article by
Stefan M. Jonason.
Also in this issue are an es-
say on the character of Guðrún in
Laxdæla Saga, reviews of Winni-
peg Modern: Architecture 1945
to 1975 and Mistik Lake, poetry
by Otto Christensen, fiction by
Kritian Vigfusson, memories of
Riverton and much more.
For more information or to
subscribe, contact Lorna Terge-
sen at (204) 642-9650 or visit
www.icecanmag.com.
New Icelandic Canadian out now 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
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PHOTO: NELSON GERRARD
AKRA, ND — North Dakota has its first Icelandic Heri-
tage sign. A sign for the little village of Akra was donated
by Nelson Gerrard last August and was put up by Finn
Abrahamson on the same day. Akra is on the south bank
of the Tongue River, just north of the main highway a few
miles west of Cavalier.
First ND heritage sign
Kendra Jonasson
WINNIPEG, MB — The Icelandic Canadian Frón
hosted their annual Heritage Day Brunch on 6 January
2008. The Frón invited several community organiza-
tions to put up a display about their organization’s ac-
tivities and events.
The Jón Sigurdsson IODE, the Icelandic Canadian
Magazine, Lögberg-Heimskringla, the University of
Manitoba Icelandic Department and the Frón all partici-
pated. This events allows all groups to mix and mingle
and get caught up on what we are all doing while enjoy-
ing and great brunch.
There was also a second reason to celebrate on that
first Sunday of the year — Gunnþóra Gisladóttir’s birth-
day. Gunnþóra was surprised to have the whole room
erupt with the singing of “Happy Birthday” in not one
but two languages. She was also presented with two
wonderful cakes that were enjoyed by all.
Heritage Day Brunch
PHOTO: KENDRA JONASSON
Gunnþóra with her two birthday cakes
at the Heritage Day Brunch.