The Icelandic Canadian - 01.02.2007, Side 8

134
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 60 #4
the toast to Iceland and I gave the toast to
Canada at the Islendingadagurinn.
I don’t think a year has passed since we
moved to Saskatchewan in 1970 that we
have not visited Gimli, and over the years
have observed its fortunes wane and wax.
From an outsider’s vantage point the
decline started with the closing of the air-
base and the loss of associated services. It
was like watching a sad spectacle of a grand
dame slowly going to seed and losing her
lustre.
By the same token it has been heart
warming to see the grand old Icelandic cap-
ital of North America restored to even
greater glory with the opening of the
Lakeside Resort, the new Betel Home, the
Waterfront Centre and the restoration of
such historic landmarks as the high school,
the harbour museum and the Unitarian
Church by Leo Kristjanson and crew.
Similarly, contacts between Iceland
and New Iceland have ebbed and flowed.
The launching of charter flights by Viking
Travel in Gimli in the 1970s resulted in
hundreds of visits back and forth during
Viking Travels years in operation. For a
while there was a lull in these visitations.
That, however, changed with the millenni-
um celebrations in 2000.
Never have the bonds between Iceland
and Canada, between Islendingar and
Vestur Islendingar been stronger. Since the
year 2000 millennium celebrations of
Leifur Eiriksson discovery and settlement
of North America in the year 1000, and the
establishment of the Consulate General in
Winnipeg and the Embassy in Ottawa
there has been a blossoming in cultural,
artistic, educational and high level official
exchanges. The three highly successful
Snorri programs are but an example.
Much credit goes to the first Consul
General, Svavar Getsson and his wife
Gudrun Agustsdottir who got the ball
rolling and to the current Consul General
Atli Asmundsson and his wife Prudur
Helgadottir who have kept it rolling.
While understandably the preponder-
ance of visits and exchanges in Canada are
in Winnipeg and Gimli, I am pleased to
note there has been a marked increase in
visits to and performances in
Saskatchewan. The Icelandic spirit, her-
itage and traditions are alive and well in the
Land of the Living Skies due to the dedica-
tion and the hard work of the Vatnabyggd
Icelandic Club founded in 1981.
It is the a rural INL chapter and can
boast, or I’ll do so on their behalf, of many
accomplishments and milestones: annual
Porrablots with upwards of 200 attending,
hosting of two iNL conventions, 17th of
June celebrations, the annual Great
Icelandic Vatnabyggd Open Golf
Tournament, the erecting of the magnifi-
cent Landnemar/Settlers Statue in 1998,
organizing bus tours to meet President
Vigdfs at the Saskatchewan Legislature
during her brief visit in 1989 and the the
hosting of President Olafur Ragnar
Grfmsson in 1999. It was following Vigdfs
visit that I was appointed consul for
Iceland in 1990.
The Sixth Consular Conference in
Reykjvfk in May 2006 was the first such
conference I attended and it was well worth
it. Iceland has 250 consular representatives
in 80 countries with 160 consuls from 60
countries attending the conference. There I
discovered that I am the fiftieth longest
serving consul for Iceland. We were
informed, wined and dined and royally
treated in every respect with, among other
things, a snowmobile excursion and
gourmet lunch on the Langjokull glacier.
Also a personal meeting and photos with
President Olafur and his wife, with 160
signed photos delivered the next day as we
returned from the glacial trip. 1 am already
looking forward to the next conference in
2011.
The Icelandic settlement in Canada is
now over 130 years old and the ties that
bind us across the ocean are stronger than
ever. The Icelandic heritage is preserved
and celebrated by INL chapters and
Icelandic associations from coast to coast.
How strong the Icelandic presence and
community will be 130 years from now is
anybody’s guess. In my opinion the fore-
seeable future is bright, with the young and
vigorous Snorri Program generations fol-
lowing in the foot steps of the generation
led by the strong leaders of today and yes-
terday.