The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2009, Page 35

Vol. 62 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
77
much that we have a named school after
her. She had another gift to our communi-
ty, in that she established with the aid of
her Women's Institute friends, a library on
one of the best sites in Gimli. This recently
saw our community rally in defence of her
gift, when a developer offered to buy out
the building and move the library to a new
site. How many towns can boast of a
library, a central locale of learning, in the
most desirous location on the lakefront!
There were some other wonderful
teachers and I will name only three and
they are likely selected because of my asso-
ciation with them. The first was Joey or
Jorunn Thordarson who taught Grade one
for years. Joey had the patience of Job.
While I attended her Grade 1 class, she had
in the range of 40 children, one of whom
was a deaf and another that suffered with
epileptic seizures. And there were no extra
helpers. She did it all! Then there was Ethel
Greenberg, who had such winning ways
with children. Ethel's quiet demeanour and
elegant grace instilled in many the confi-
dence that they could succeed. Kristine
Kristofferson or Stina Benson, as many
knew her by her maiden name, was an
exceptional writer and a published author,
no small thing in the 1940’s. She wrote
plays for her large classes, giving everyone
the belief that they were able to act, sing or
dance. I know that these traditions have
had an impact on others, for I cannot but
mention the wonderful work of two teach-
ers of today, Pam Lamb and Janice
Arnason who staged The Wizard of Oz,
with two separate casts of Grade Six and
Grade One students.
These teachers knew our families, just
as those workers in the Betel Home knew
our elders and so treated each person with
respect and dignity.
This is what a small community can
offer.
Two young sisters married two young
Joanne Gudmundson, Moyra Benediktson, Sheila Panteluk
Photo by Sheila Panteluk