The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.2005, Qupperneq 24

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 59 #4
Best,” the beautiful stained and leaded glass
windows and the numerous fireplaces
throughout the house. This Osier Home, as
it was so often referred to, had twenty-two
rooms, as well as a suite in the basement for
the caretaker and a sitting room in the attic,
which served as the maids’ quarters.
The first Matron of this Icelandic Old
Folks Home was Bjorg Thompson, who
received a salary of $100 per month.
Kristina Skordal was the first cook at a
salary of $50 per month. That first year
there were twenty-one residents in the
Home and their payments were $30 per
month. One of the residents listed was not
old enough for the pension so she worked
at the Old Folks Home until such time as
she received her pension. All the residents
were Icelandic so Icelandic was always spo-
ken and the church services were held in
Icelandic.
The first Christmas party at the Osier
Home was held on December 21,1947.
Olof Eyford, whose husband, Herman
Eyford would later serve on the Icelandic
Home Society Board, remembers attending
that party;
“It was an exciting time as it was the
first Christmas party at Osier Home. To
enter this beautiul Home gave you a feeling
of “ ah-h-h”. It was an elegant old struc-
ture, all decked with Christmas decorations
and resounding with festive carol music. It
was a wonderful welcome for the Seniors.
Special for them was the enjoymment they
got from seeing the little children, here and
there throughout the house. Noi Bergman,
dressed up as Santa Claus, handed out pre-
sents to all the residents and conducted
everyone in singing around the Christmas
tree.
That first Christmas the Icelandic tra-
dition of serving sukkulad ( hot chocolate)
to the residents started and this was kept up
through Hofn’s history. Mr. Thorlacius
donated the Christmas tree and continued
to do so for many years. People in the
Icelandic community donated fresh fruit,
vegetables and fish, as well as furnishings
for the Home.
Solskin members would gather at
Osier Home to make quilts and to mend
and sew items for the Home; some gath-
ered to clean up whatever needed cleaning.
It became a community endeavour to show
pride in their Old Folks Home on Osier.
By January of 1948 there were twenty
four residents in the Osier Home and only
$10,000 was owed on it. In June of 1948 the
name Hofn, which means haven or har-
bour, was selected as the name of the Old
Folks Home although many still referred
to it as the Osier Home. Some alterations
were made to the Home to accomodate the
new residents and a large room on the main
floor became the sick bay. Entertainment
for the residents was provided by the vari-
ous Icelandic clubs in the area. The Osier
home had become a wonderful gathering
place for the Icelandic community as well
as a comfortable haven for the elderly resi-
dents.
In October of 1957 there was a 10th
Anniversary Celebration at Osier home,
sponsored by the Solskin Ladies. Thora
Orr wrote about the refreshment served on
that day; “We made skyr from thirty gal-
lons of buttermilk and served it by dish and
by carton. A large number of people gath-
ered at Hofn that day and kept our Solskin
members busy, dishing up skyr and other
Icelandic delicacies. The rooms were deco-
rated with numerous vases of autumn flow-
ers supplied by the Solskin Ladies.”
During the 1950s more Icelandic resi-
dents required accomodation. It became
apparent to the Icelandic Home Society
that Osier Home would need to be
enlarged or else property secured to build a
new Icelandic Home. By 1960 plans were
underway to build a new Icelandic Home.
At that time the Icelandic Hofn Society had
assets of $37,739 . The City of Vancouver
had opened up an area on South Marine
Drive for Senior Citizens Homes. The
Hofn Board placed a bid on property in
that area. While these plans were underway
the Lands Department requested a letter
from Solskin Ladies who had been great
supporters of Hofn, stating that they
would continue to support the future
Icelandic Home Hofn. The Solskin Ladies
agreed to this and they sent letters out to all
Icelanders in the area. This resulted in addi-
tional funds of $10,000 towards the Home
Building Fund.Through the efforts of the