The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1964, Blaðsíða 13

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
II
The visit of His Excellency John P. Sig-
valdason and Mrs. Sigvaldason
to Manitoba
The week that the Canadian Ambas-
sador to Norway and Iceland, and
Mrs. Sigvaldason spent in Manitoba,
September 24, to October 1, this fall
will be a memorable one to all who
were privileged to meet His Excellency
and his charming wife.
In his public addresses the Ambas-
sador delivered messages which en-
thused all who were present. His main
address delivered in the First Lutheran
Church appropriately divided into two
parts. The first is on his impressions
of Iceland, the pertinent parts of which
appear elsewhere in this number of
the magazine. The second part was
devoted to his reaction and conclusions
drawn as he came in personal contact
with leaders in the Far East and saw
tn action the myriads of people of
Asia, particularly of Indonesia where
lie served as Canadian Consul from
I960 to 1964. These impressions will
appear in the next number of the mag-
azine.
Ambassador Sigvaldason’s first ap-
pearance was on Thursday evening
September 24, in the Winnipeg Cham-
ber of Commerce Club rooms. He and
Mrs. Sigvaldason were the guests of
honor of the Canada Press Club and
the Senior officers of the Winnipeg
Chamber of Commerce. After words
of welcome from Leo J. Lezack, the
President of the Club and Mr. Edson
Hoyd the President of the Winnipeg
Chamber of Commerce, and others,
the Ambassador gave the first of his
heart-warming talks which created an
immediate friendly atmosphere
wherever he spoke.
All present then adjourned to the
dining room of the Club where light
refreshments and coffee were served.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Sigvaldason
mingled freely with those present and
both showed in their friendliness to all
alike, how well qualified they are for
the diplomatic posts they occupy. Mrs.
Sigvaldason is of central European and
British descent and speaks both Eng-
lish and German fluently. John Sig-
valdason has retained his Icelandic re-
markably well. Both learned the lan-
guage of Indonesia the four years they
were in Jakarta. Both are learning to
speak Norwegian.
John Sigvaldason was born in Bal-
dur, Manitoba, and on Saturday and
Sunday he and his wife visited the Ar-
gyle district, including Pilot Mound,
where Mrs. Otto Schultz, a cousin of
John resides.
On Monday evening, September 28,
the Ambassador addressed a meeting
of the Icelandic Canadian Club in the
First Lutheran Church which was well
attended, close to 150 feeing present.
His address is being reported as al-
ready indicated. During the refresh-
ment hour both Mr. and Mrs. Sigvald-
ason preferred not to sit formally at
the head table and chose to mingle
with those present. “Lau baeSi voru
svo blatt afram” is an Icelandic expres-
sion which very aptly describes these