FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK
Gleðilegt sumar or Happy Summer.
The summer is the time of summer-festivals and Iceland's Independents Day. On the 17th of June, Iceland gained independence from Denmark. This is celebrated all over Iceland and in Chicago. This year we are going to be in Cantigny Park, same as last year. Last year we had a great time, around 50 people and the weather was very nice. I hope all of you can join us the 16th of June and bring friends and family.
The Þorrablót was a big success this year in a new location and "new" musicians. We lost some money but that is OK every once in awhile - we are a not for profit organization. Enclosed in this newsletter is the profit and loss statement for the Þorrablót prepared by our treasurer Sonja Johnson. We are in the process of looking for a place for next year's Þorrablót and we need your feedback, so please let us know what you think; same place, the Swedish American Museum, or any other place that will allow us to bring out food and drink.
After our get-together in Cantigny Park, the Scandinavian Day Celebration will be held in September in Vasa Park and we will be selling Lena's black-bread with Hangikjet - the smoked lamb many of you know so well. If the weather is nice, a day in Vasa Park is always great fun with a lot of activities. The format of the festival has changed this year and some of the Baltic countries will be participating for the first time. I hope to see all of you there in September.
Lastly, if you are interested in participating in our meetings and other activities that come up every so often between the formal gathering, the best thing is to be on my email list. Send me an email and I will let you follow our discussions and inform you of all our meetings. Your email will be safe with me and will not be given out to anyone.
Einar Steinsson, President
Email: lhallgri@students.depaul.edu
From the Editor
Greetings everyone,
Finally, after a rocky temperature roller coaster ride these last few weeks, summer has arrived in Chicago. More importantly, it seems to be here to stay. In light of the unbearable lightness of being of summer time, I will keep this short.
One of my favorite poems by the Nobel Prize author Halldór Laxness is about summertime and it's promise of better times. I would like to share that with you. Hopefully, I will be forgiven for my translation of one of the gems of Icelandic literature and no warrants made for my arrest for this atrocity.
BRÁÐUM KEMUR BETRI TÍÐ
Bráðum kemur betri tíð með blóm í haga
sæta lánga sumardaga.
Þá er gaman að trítla um tún og tölta á eingi
einkum fyrir únga dreingi.
Folöldin þá fara á sprett og fuglinn sýngur,
og kýrnar leika við kvurn sinn fíngur.
BETTER TIMES SOON ARRIVE
Better times soon arrive with flowers in bloom
sweet long days of summer.
Then it is fun to tread fields lightly and walk through meadow
especially for the young.
The foals will then gallop and the bird sings,
and the cows are in their highest spirits.
English translation GSG.
www.simnet.is/chicago
We would like to encourage everyone to check out our website. It has pictures from most of the events of the Association from previous years. There you can find more pictures from the last Þorrablót and some interesting links in regards to Iceland etc.
Scandinavian Day Celebration
And the celebrations go on and on. This is just a friendly reminder of the upcoming Scandinavian Day Celebration in September. It will be in Vasa Park and we will continue our efforts to make black bread with smoked lamb (rúgbrauð með hangiketi) part of the world cuisine. More detailed announcements regarding this event will be made at a later date.
We Still Need a Logo
We continue to look for ideas for a logo for the Association. All ideas are welcomed. In general a logo should be an original construction, simple and something that represents the association. Preferably, it should look good both in color as well as in black and white. If you have an idea, please contact any of the board members.
To Buy Icelandic Online
There are now available few links on the internet where it is possible to bye Icelandic products, ranging from foods to apparel to souvenirs. One is www.icelandicstore.com and another is www.buyicelandic.com. Check it out if you are homesick or just like to get a taste of the old country.
Thanks, Everyone!
The Association would like to thank everyone who donated their time and effort to the Þorrablót, helping to make it the success it was. Many of you donated prizes in the raffle, food and beverages. We thank you as well.
No Better Time Than the President
This year's Þorrablót was a blast and many welcomed the change of venue, the Gray's Mill in Montgomery. The date has been set for Þorrablót 2002, February 16. So mark your calendar, we plan to make at least as good as this year's, if not better.
Click HERE to see how we did for Þorrablót versus in past years.
* Catering and rent are together
Iceland´s Independence Day June 17th (16th)
As before, we will celebrate Iceland's Independence Day in June. Unfortunately, June 17th is on the same day as Father's Day. Therefore, it was decided to have our celebration the day before on the 16th. This was done to make sure that members who also wanted to do something special on Father's Day, would have the opportunity to go to our celebration as well. So, hopefully everyone will appreciate this arrangement and our initiative to change an Icelandic tradition to make way for an American tradition.
This year's celebration will be at Cantigny Park just like last year. Cantigny is located in Wheaton, Illinois, a western Chicago suburb, approximately two miles north of Interstate 88. We will have it picnic style, so everyone bring a picnic basket-nothing will be provided. Let's meet at 2.00PM at the main entrance. If you are planning to attend give Einar and Lena a call @ 773.489.4621. We want to see how many of you will be able to attend so we can plan on either meeting everyone at the gate or put up signs to lead the way to where we will be.
