The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2009, Page 37

Vol. 62 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
79
managed to have the present library built.
In sports, there seems to have always
been many active and successful candidates
from Gimli. Val Peterson, was a javelin
thrower, she was the Manitoba champion
and also was the winner of the shot put and
long jump. She represented Manitoba in
the Canada Summer Games in Dartmouth,
Nova Scotia and came home with the
Bronze medal. There were many achievers
in the curling arena. There was a woman's
hockey team in the very early 1900s.
Today, although not particularly noted for
their athletic abilities, The Hiking Vikings,
a strong group of local women, have
walked or run in the Cancer Society’s ‘Run
for the Cure’ annual fund raising event for
years. Instigated by Sheila Panteluk , a can-
cer survivor, these women have raised over
one hundred thousand dollars in the eleven
or more years that they have been walking.
Ethel Howard, or “Scoop” her nick-
name, was the local newspaper reporter.
Ethel moved into Gimli as a mature woman
and took on the job with such a passion.
She is one of the reasons that the Women's
Institute began to collect the family and
local histories. She loved the local stories
and knew that they were worth keeping.
Later, Dilla Narfason and Mary Shebeski
also gathered tales and photos to put
together a collection called ‘Gimli
Memories’. These articles had run in the
local paper during Gimli's centennial and
once completed, Dilla and Mary compiled
them into a booklet. Kristine Valgardson
Johnson was an exceptional early photog-
rapher. A tale is told that she took pho-
tographs of the council in the early 1900's.
When she asked them for payment, they
refused. She destroyed their photos.
However, she has left us with a remarkable
set of historical photos of the community
that are now part of the collection at the
Manitoba Archives, and there is a pictorial
display at our Library.
Two present day women of note are
Senator Janis Johnson, who grew up in
Gimli and has set up her permanent home
here now. She is chairing the popular Gimli
Film Festival. Speaking of films, Norma
Bailey is also from here. She too has a cot-
tage here and is frequently seen around
town. Norma was one of the first to pro-
duce a successful series of films on women.
Kathie Hastie has made a name for herself
as one of Gimli's best known artists. The
field of Art has expanded rapidly with a
Elin Kristjanson and her children, back row, left to right: Albert, Larry, Kris, Leo, Baldur,
Burbank. Front row: Maria, Elin, Alda.