Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.11.2012, Qupperneq 1

Over 300 people gathered at the R i v e r t o n - H n a u s a
Lutheran Church, in Riverton,
Manitoba on Saturday
afternoon, October 20. They
were there to celebrate two
special events honouring
Sigtryggur Jónasson. The
Historic Sites and Monuments
Board of Canada had approved
the nomination submitted
by the New Iceland Heritage
Museum (NIHM) to have the
Father of New Iceland named
as a Person of National
Historic Significance. The
research for the submission
was done by Dr. Ryan Eyford,
a former summer student at
NIHM. The unveiling of this
plaque from Parks Canada
was done at Riverton on that
day. Following the unveiling
of the plaque, all the guests
were invited to step outside
from the church to the bank of
the Icelandic River where the
unveiling of the bronze statue
of Sigtryggur took place. The
day’s events were carried
out through the tremendous
efforts of the Icelandic River
Heritage Sites, Inc. group
(IRHSI) which is based in
Riverton.
That evening, 150 people
gathered at the Lakeview
Resort in Gimli for a annual
fall fundraising dinner. Most
of the attendees at the Gala
Dinner had also been at the
Riverton event. The next day,
the 137th anniversary date of
the arrival of the first group
of Icelanders was marked by
the annual “Walk to the Rock”
event. Some 80 people gathered
at the NIHM for the walk.
The October 21 event was co-
sponsored by the NIHM and
the Gimli Icelandic Canadian
Society (GICS). Participants
walked the 3.5 kilometres
along the shore of Lake
Winnipeg from Gimli to the big
white rock memorial at Willow
Island and then all gathered
back at the museum for hot
chocolate and coffee. At the
museum, Nelson Gerrard from
the IRHSI gave a thoughtful
and informative presentation
on the Father of New Iceland
Sigtryggur Jónasson.
Having Sigtryggur
Jónasson being a Person of
National Historic Significance
is an honour, not just for the
family from Riverton, but for
all of us in Canada who are of
Icelandic descent. The statue
of Sigtryggur at Riverton is
magnificent. The New Iceland
Heritage Museum Gala Dinner
was an enjoyable evening of
fellowship and entertainment.
The annual GICS / NIHM
sponsored “Walk to the Rock”
the next day was a time of
reflection to think of those
immigrants from Iceland who
chose the location for their
New Iceland settlement in
Manitoba and subsequently
all those who followed them
to build up the other Icelandic-
North American communities.
They had the vision and
fortitude to create the society
we enjoy today.
...Continued on page 11
LÖGBERG
HEIMSKRINGLA
The Icelandic Community Newspaper • 15 November 2012 • Number 22 / Númer 22 • 15. nóvember 2012
Publication Mail Agreement No. 40012014
photo: Guy Scott
A window to
your past
ICCT donates to the Kinmount
saw mill / pages 8 and 9
photo: Sabine Scheckel
Icelandic
designer
Hlynur Atlason explores
function and emotion / page 7
Iceland’s
Honorary
Consul to
North Texas
Meet Peter A. Gudmundsson
/ page 6
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca
INSIDE
Elva Simundsson
Gimli, MB
Weekend crowds celebrate New Iceland 2012
photo: kent láruS bjornSSon
Left to right: Rannveig Foreman, granddaughter of Sigtryggur,
with Jonina Britton, his great-niece, seated at the Riverton-
Hnausa Lutheran Church. A capacity crowd at the Riverton
Hnausa Lutheran Church on October 20 commemorated
Sigtryggur Jónasson, often referred to as “The Father of New
Iceland”, with two separate unveilings, that of the historical
plaque dedicated to a Person of National Significance and of the
bronze statue sculpted by Stan Watts, Atlas Bronze of Utah.
Sigtryggur Jónasson statue. Sigtryggur is holding a compass
in his left hand and a telescope in his right, symbolic of his
role as an explorer and land scout in search of New Iceland.
From his satchel protrudes a map. His left foot rests on a log
chewed by beaver, which together with fronds of fern signify
the boreal forest on the banks of the Icelandic River. He looks
out over the Icelandic River and faces north – the direction of
new settlement and Canada’s future.
See more on
pages 10 and 11
State Radio News – It appears that two thirds of the voters
(66.3%) in the recent referendum approved of the Constitutional
Council’s proposals as a basis for a parliamentary bill for a new
Constitution for Iceland. A majority of voters said yes to all of
the questions on the ballot. The only exception was the council’s
recommendation on removing the provision on the National Church.
A majority favours keeping the provision in the Constitution.
The voter turnout for the entire country was 48.9%.
Participation was highest in Reykjavík Electoral District South
and the Southwest Electoral District and lowest in the South
Electoral District (43.2%). This is just a bit more than participation
in the election of members in the Constitutional Council when
the voter turnout was only 36.7%, but considerably less than in
the last national referendum, which was about Icesave, when
more than 75% of registered voters cast their votes.
Continued on page 6
Iceland’s referendum: agreement
on all but one question
photo: kendra jónaSSon