Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.08.2014, Side 6

Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. ágúst 1 2014 • 11
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10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • August 15 2014
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1. Snorri Program
Snorri was the first
European child born in
America. His parents were
Vikings from Iceland. The
Icelandic National League of
North America (INL of NA)
for years has run a program to
bring young Icelanders to North
America (Snorri West Program)
and Canadians/Americans of
Icelandic descent to Iceland
(Snorri East Program).
2. Snorri West
Participants In 2014
Signý Æsa Káradóttir (19);
Anna Guðrún Ragnarsdóttir
(20), Hilmár Páll Hannesson
(20) and Kristján Sævald
Pétursson (27), were selected
to come to America in June/
July 2014 for one month. They
visited Washington DC, Ottawa,
Toronto (Muskoka/Kinmount)
and L’Anse Aux Meadows in
Newfoundland. The “kids”
loved it there. They got to play
the role of Vikings. They got to
taste moose meat.
3. Halifax Visit
I was asked by the INL
of NA if I would host the kids
for four days in Halifax. I said
I would be glad to do this.
Afterwards, I questioned what
I had done. I am childless and
could be the kids’ grandfather.
I asked my friends what to
expect. They said they would no
doubt like to party all night. I go
to bed at 9:30. This terrified me.
4. July 8, 2014. Arrival
(a) I picked the kids up at the
airport at 10:30 p.m. on an Air
Canada flight from Deer Lake. I
carried an Icelandic flag which I
waved upon their arrival. They
had four bags. My car trunk
could hold two. They had to jam
two in the backseat on their laps.
Not a pleasant scene.
(b) A very good lawyer
friend of mine, Margaret
MacDonald, agreed to take care
of the girls. I hired Margaret
many, many years ago at the
Nova Scotia Department of
Lands and Forests. She, of
course, will deny this. She is
now the NS Deputy Minister of
Finance. I am so lucky to have
her for a friend.
5. July 9, 2014. Markland
Visit
(a) I made the kids get up at
8 a.m. We hit the road and had
breakfast at Irving’s Big Stop
in Enfield. Then at 10:30 we
arrived at the Memorial Cairn at
Markland. I played our Society’s
CD on Markland in the car so
they would know the history.
Glenda Burrows (President)
and Bonnie Price (Treasurer)
were there to greet the kids.
Ásta Sól from Iceland was also
there with her family. Ásta was
visiting friends in Gaetz Brook.
In the past, she worked with the
Snorri West Program. I gave
everyone the Icelandic version
of Guðbrandur Erlendsson’s
book, My Life in Markland
1875 - 1881. They were told
to memorize it. We visited the
log cabin on Lot 3 which the
Society took six years to build.
It is a replica of the 19 houses
built for the Icelandic settlers
when they came to Nova Scotia.
It was dedicated on June 7th,
2014. Bonnie Price designed the
special historic sign in front of
the cabin.
(b) At noon we had a picnic
at Moose River Gold Mines
Provincial Park. Many of the
pioneer settlers worked at the
gold mines located here. It was
also the site of the 1936 mine
cave in trapping three people.
The recovery operation was
covered live by Frank Willis
on radio CBC. Phyllis Parker,
a Society member, made some
very delicious minced ham
and egg salad sandwiches. The
kids liked the minced ham.
They ate them for breakfast.
We had strawberry shortcakes
for dessert. Phyllis made the
shortcakes. The kids then visited
the museum located there.
(c) Myra Jerome, lawyer, is
a member of our Society and
she invited us all to her home
at Ostrea Lake on the Atlantic
coast for a BBQ. Myra has an
Icelandic sheep dog, Finnur,
who went berserk when he
heard Icelandic being spoken.
He understood the language as
he was born in Iceland. Myra
had kayaks for the kids. What
fun. There was fog in the bay
and I could hear them singing
Icelandic songs as they paddled
around. Myra had wonderful
hamburgers and sausages and
got the kids to make up a cone
dessert which they cooked
inside the BBQ to melt. They
will never forget that treat.
(d) No partying that night.
They were in bed with the lights
out by 9:30.
6. July 10, 2014. South
Shore Visit
(a) Up by 8:30. What a drill
sergeant! We went to Julian’s
Pastry Shop in the Hydrostone
for breakfast. We visited the
hydrostone houses built after
the 1917 explosion which killed
over 2,000 people. It was the
largest explosion this side of
Hiroshima.
(b) First stop was Peggy’s
Cove. They liked this very much.
It was foggy and mystical. Then
we visited the DeGarthe Stone
Memorial. He was a Finnish
artist.
(c) Next stop was the Swiss
Air Flight Memorial for the jet
that went down there killing all
passengers. Anna said a prayer
for them. When she got up from
her kneeling spot she found a
four-leaf clover. It is pressed in
her diary book.
(d) At noon we had lunch
at the fish Shack in Lunenburg
with Stefan Sopher and his
friend. Stefan Sopher is a Gimli
Icelander who retired with his
wife Marquise in Lunenburg.
He had Lunenburg town pins for
the kids. After an excellent fish
and chips dinner, Stefan treated
us all to a very tasty ice cream.
We then toured the waterfront
and saw the Bluenose II. It is the
sailing ship on the back of our
Canadian dime.
(e) I checked the kids into
the hostel at Port Mouton School
as my cottage is way too small
to handle five people. We visited
my 95-year-old aunt, Eleanor
Rogers, in Hunt’s Point. She
told the kids about her mother,
Sigridur Nikolina Erlendsdottir
(1878), who came to Markland
with her parents in 1879 and
then moved with her family to
Lockeport. The kids sang her a
lullaby before they left. In the
car they said that she looked so
Icelandic that they expected her
to speak to them in Icelandic.
(f) I then hosted a BBQ at
my summer cottage in East Side
Port, L’Hebert. It was the BBQ
from hell. I made up a nice salad
and forgot to bring any dressing.
We were five miles into the
woods. I put the European hot
dogs in a pot to boil, forgot
them, and they imploded. I
served them anyway. Hilmár
did the hamburgers as I only
know how to cook on high and
usually incinerate whatever I
am cooking. I had one of Marg
Robar’s apple pies from Port
Mouton. These are ever so good.
I transported the ice cream in
my cooler for seven hours. You
can imagine what this was like
when I opened it. I gave them
strawberries to put on their pie.
(g) We then visited White
Point Beach Lodge. This
is a very fine beach resort
established in 1928. They have
rabbits everywhere. We walked
the beach. They sky was pink
that night and a full moon. I
have never seen it so beautiful.
I took lots of pictures and I will
try to paint a large picture of the
scene. The kids said the sky was
like their northern lights.
(i) All were to bed at the
hostel at 9:30. No partying that
night.
7. Friday, July 11, 2014:
Lockeport Visit
(a) I was merciful on this
day. They got to sleep in till 9. I
served breakfast at my cottage.
The hummingbirds were there
to greet them. They had never
seen a hummingbird.
... continued on page 12
Snorri West participants come to Halifax
THE DIARY OF A HOST
Snorri West participants at Markland on July 9, 2014, with Bonnie Price and Marshall
Burgess on the left and Glenda Burrows on the right
Snorri West participants at Lockeport Icelandic Memorial Cairn on July 11, 2014
J. Marshall Burgess QC
Halifax, NS
PHOTO: ÁSTA SÓL KRISTJÁNSDÓTTIR
PHOTO: J. MARSHALL BURGESS QC
It can’t be a reunion if you are meeting for the first time. Using the Icelandic
Festival in Gimli as the magnet,
the grandchildren of Thorsteinn
and Gudrun Borgford gathered
for the first time ever using the
Manitoba locales of Winnipeg,
Gimli and Arnes.
I never met my grandfather,
Thorsteinn, who died in 1959
at the age of 85 years. My
grandmother, Gudrun, died in
1944, long before my birth.
Although I had briefly met
some of my father’s siblings, I
had only met one of my many
cousins with whom I share
a common grandfather and
grandmother.
Now in our sixties and
seventies, we were able to
assemble most of the surviving
grandchildren of Thorsteinn
and Gudrun for four days filled
with sharing family history.
Karen Botting, who is one of
the many grandchildren and
an active member of the Jon
Sigurdsson Chapter IODE in
Manitoba, pulled us all together
and provided the structure for
us to get the most from our
meeting. Our amma, Gudrun,
was a founding member of
Jon Sigurdsson Chapter IODE
in 1916, and served twice as
president.
Thorsteinn and Gudrun
Borgford were active members
of the Manitoba Icelandic
community. They emigrated
from Iceland as children,
married in 1895 and had eight
children, whose careers took
them to the far reaches of
Canada and the United States.
One of the highlights of
the event was a tour of the
Manitoba Legislative Building.
Thorsteinn, as a partner of
the J. McDiarmid Company,
was responsible for the
construction and the structural
engineering of the Manitoba
Legislature. His picture graces
the historic photo gallery of the
construction of the structure
nearly 100 years ago. We also
toured many of the buildings
and houses that our grandfather
had built or inhabited during
his life in Winnipeg.
One evening we were
privileged to gather for a meal
at the Kennedy House on River
Road, an historical part of
Manitoba’s early days, where
our grandfather had worked
and lived as a youth. To our
delight, we were joined by Jo
Wilson, now 95 years old and
a mainstay of the Manitoba
Icelandic community. Mrs.
Wilson grew up with our parents
and knew our grandparents
well. She shared with us that
our grandmother, Gudrun, was
the first to sign her baby book
when she was born. She held
our attention as she described
many of her memories of
our family. She told us of an
incident where the oldest son
of Thorsteinn and Gudrun,
Ingi, along with an adopted
son, Eddie Christian, both
teenagers, wrote their names
on the “Golden Boy” before it
was placed atop the Manitoba
Legislative Building.
We were also treated to
a story from a manuscript of
our grandfather, where young
Thorsteinn, after being bullied
as the only “fair-haired” boy in
the community where he lived
and worked at the Kennedy
House, got his revenge against
a group of local boys who
chased him.
... continued on page 12
Brian Borgford
Calgary, AB
Borgford family reunion union
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KAREN BOTTING
Thorsteinn and Gudrun Borgford
Gudrun Borgford and three of her children, Thora, Helga
and Skapti (Scotty) at Árnastaðir circa 1922
From left: Louise Pesnicak, Tom Pesnicak, Frances Vertucci, Karen Botting, Thor Borgford, Solvieg
Christie, Brian Borgford, Richard Crogan, Sue Toupal, Paul Crogan with sign from Árnastaðir
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