The Icelandic connection - 01.12.2020, Side 21

Vol. 71 #4
ICELANDIC CONNECTION
163
I.O.D.E.
Servicemen’s Record Book
The Jon Sigurdson Chapter of the I.O.D.E. is sponsoring the
publishing of a book recording the names and photo of some
1,500 veterans of World War Two who are of Icelandic des-
cent. The book will be in hard cover and hopefully will sell
for $35. We need to presell 200 copies to help finance
printing.
Your support for this project would be appreciated.
Please mail your cheque or a suitable deposit to:
Mrs. A. F. Wilson,
802-188 Roslyn Rd„ Wpg. R3L 0G8
or
Mrs. H. Westdal,
40 Garnet Bay., Wpg. R3T 0L6
This space made available courtesy
Neil Bardal Inc.
Family Funeral Counsellors
984 Portage Ave. 786-4716
Advertisement in the Logberg-Heimskringla
April 7,1989 edition
Planning to use the
format of the World
War I Veterans book,
Minningarrit Islenzskra
Hermanna, Dee Dee, Jo
and Dora wrote an article
about the World War II
project for the Logberg-
Heimskringla newspaper to
peak people’s interest. They
also advertised in various
publications in North
America including the
Saskatoon Star Phoenix
and the Cavalier Chronicle
in North Dakota. Veterans
and their families were
asked to reply to the
advertisements to receive
an application form for
inclusion in the book.
To ensure they had a real
interest in the project, each
applicant was required
to send a down payment
of $15. If there was not
enough interest in the book,
the women were quite willing to return
the money.
However, the Committee did not have
to worry. Over 2000 veterans’ biographies
and photos were submitted! Some of these
biographies had already been published in
the Icelandic Canadian magazine, now the
Icelandic Connection.
With such an overwhelming response,
Jo, Dee Dee and Dora decided to divide
up the roles. Jo Wilson received the
applications at her home, where she had
the perfect slot for the mail to be dropped
through without damaging the photos.
She wrote up each biography, sometimes
with the help of her husband, Frank. Dee
Dee Westdal, with the aid of her husband
Harald, proofed the same information
and made sure each biography was in
the same format. Dora Sigurdsson, the
treasurer, kept track of the $15 deposits
from the applicants, and the expenses. She
researched the veterans’ Icelandic roots in
her extensive library which she also used
to do genealogies.
Once all the biographies were
collected, the next step was to get each page
camera-ready for the publisher. By doing
this the committee would save money thus
making the book financially accessible
to everyone. Two second-hand IBM
typewriters were purchased, both having
the ability to justify the print on the right-
hand side of the page. These machines
were set up in Dee Dee’s rumpus room
where she began typing and placing the
photos on each page. These pages needed
a lot of attention to detail, which was