The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1984, Side 7

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
EDITORIAL
ICELANDIC CANADIAN FRON
by Shirley Syms
As I thought about writing this editorial,
I did not know what approach I would take.
Would I talk of the history of Fron, about
its parents, The Icelandic Canadian Club
and Fron, or would I speak of the present
day Icelandic Canadian Fron with its
aspirations for the future? I decided on the
latter because many exciting things have
been happening.
When my husband, children and I first
joined Icelandic Canadian Fron (hereafter
referred to as I.C.F.) in 1981, friends of the
Icelandic persuasion had two comments:
“Oh, I didn’t know you could speak
Icelandic,” and “I.C.F., that’s a club of
old folks”.
Of course, our friends were wrong on
both counts. I.C.F. members do speak
English, extremely well, in fact, and some
are fortunate to be fluent in Icelandic, as
well. Secondly, I.C.F. has a variety of very
interesting members of all ages — the
younger ones getting along very well with
the older ones and both age groups enjoy-
ing one another immensely.
The I.C.F. executive considered, very
seriously, what improvements they wanted
to make. One direction they chose was to
try to increase membership. To that end,
the executive conducted telephone blitzes,
sent out introductory packages to people of
Icelandic descent that they knew or thought
they knew, and sent out our newsletters
regarding I.C.F.’s interesting programs.
These measures were very successful in
increasing the membership considerably.
Another emphasis on the program for the
year has been to try to include children in
as many events as possible and to make
events family-oriented. The executive
found that most people would rather go out
socially without their children so this has
been a big hurdle to overcome. Some chil-
dren were present at the Christmas party
and the Thorrablot and many people
commented on how nice it was to see
children at social events, “just like the old
days”. I.C.F. now has children’s prices to
events that require tickets.
I.C.F.’s slate of activities during 1983
and 1984 has been planned to attract all age
groups. Cultural programs with very talented
Icelandic performers, notably the children
of Fron members or Icelandic parents with-
in the Icelandic society, have proved very
popular.
Our Christmas party which originated as
a Seniors party has evolved, or is trying to
evolve into a family Christmas party.
Special Icelandic children’s stories have
been included these past two years in the
hopes of attracting more children, as well
as the traditional sing-song and the artistry
of talented performers.
I.C.F.’s Heritage Series, highly infor-
mative lectures on various facets of Ice-
landic life by experts in the field, have
proved to be extremely interesting, but this
type of program has not attracted too many
people, much to the surprise of the execu-
tive. Icelanders are known to be intellectual
and well-read people, always eager to
improve their minds. The Heritage Series is
committed to do this.
I.C.F.’s most popular events continue to
be the socials, which are growing larger
every year. At the Thorrablot this year two
hundred and ninety-five people sat down
for dinner, fifty more than last year. As in
keeping with I.C.F.’s idea of appealing to
all ages, a short program was held. Adults
and children entertained with a variety of