The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2002, Page 51

Vol. 57 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
135
Falcons will be remembered “Forever”
by Shirley McCreedy
The Falcons Forever Campaign, under
the auspices of the United Icelandic
Appeal, was launched in the fall of 2001 to
recognize and to remember the achieve-
ments of the Winnipeg Falcons, the hockey
team which had reigned supreme at the
1920 Olympic Games. The campaign goal
was to raise $15,000.
Dan Johnson, president of the United
Icelandic Appeal at the time was the chair-
man of the Falcons Forever Campaign.
Dan began collecting Falcon memorabilia
several months before the campaign was
inaugurated. The organizing committee of
the campaign had as its objective a perma-
nent Falcons exhibit at the Betel
Waterfront Centre in Gimli, Manitoba as
well as taking the Falcon exhibit to the
2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake
City, Utah.
One of the most stunning parts of the
exhibit was the 10 foot by 5 foot mural of
the 1920 Falcons, commissioned by the
committee, painted by local Winnipeg
artist Luther Prokrant. Other items in the
exhibit, all donated by descendants and
fans of the Falcon players, included a pair
of Slim Flalderson's skates as well as a large
collection of original photos and newspa-
per and magazine articles.
Following the Olympics in Salt Lake
City in February 2002, the Falcon exhibit
was shipped back to Winnipeg where on
March 19, 2002, the display was set up in
the rotunda of the Manitoba Legislative
Building, at which time a reception to hon-
our the Falcons was held. The Falcon
mural was unveiled that day and the entire
exhibit remained on display in the rotunda
for over a month.
The large Falcon mural has been in the
Wevel Cafe at the Betel Waterfront Centre
for several months now, and the visitors to
the museum there can browse through the
memorabilia in relation to our Olympic
champion hockey team. Information on
the "Falcons Forever" story is posted in
The Book of Life at:
www.bookofhfeonline.com
Donors may still contribute funds or
memorabilia to: Falcons Forever, c/o The
United Icelandic Appeal, P. O. Box 102, 94
First Avenue, Gimli, MB. ROC 1B1.
Dan Johnson