October 2002

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

I want to be the first one to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year even though it’s still early December.

Since this is the last newsletter of the year I feel it’s appropriate to look back and evaluate what we have accomplished. Let’s first look at the end and …. you get the picture?

We’ll end the year with a “Jólabarnaball” on the 28th of December and I hope children of all ages will show up and have a great time. This is the first time we do this and I know you all will help make this a success. And Santa Claus will show up!

Two weeks ago we had a great Christmas tree decoration at The Museum of Science and Industry and few of us later attended the opening of the show Christmas Around the World. It’s really a nice show to explore and taking in trees from over 50 nations will definitely get you in the Christmas spirit.

27th of October we had our General Meeting at a nice restaurant in Anderson Ville, Chicago – Mr. Thai. Nearly thirty members and guests showed and everyone had a good time. We did some number crunching, elected the board, and made plans for 2003.

In September Stella invited us to a crafts meeting at her house were we fixed up our Christmas decorations – painted and made new Santa Clauses for our tree at the museum. This was a fun event and we had twenty attendees with children.

On Scandinavian Day Lena and I set up and ran our booth in Vasa Park with a great help from John Hofteig. We made a profit of around $150 and met a lot of people interested in the association and Iceland.

15th of June we celebrated Iceland’s Independent Day – 17th of June, in Cantigny Park where 30 people barbequed and dined in a weather that we can only dream about and long for now in the cold!

We had a productive meeting at Steinar’s house in May, finally evaluating the Þorrablót and discussing upcoming events.

Last, but not least, The Þorrablót this year was very successful with more people than ever. The only thing that went wrong was the sound system but everyone had great food, great company, and a great time.

Let’s do it again in 2003.

Einar Steinsson, President

ASSOCIATION AFFAIRS

FROM THE EDITOR

Norwegians are in addition to being the nicest people, closely knit to us through our common history and culture. They are also known to be quite argumentative and stubborn in a disputes (just as we are), especially with their sister nation in the North-Atlantic.

One of the everlasting arguments between the two nations is the nationality of Leifur Eiríksson, the discoverer of North-America. Opinions about this are strong on both sides. I have had people of Norwegian descent hiss at me red in the face: “Everyone knows Leif was Norwegian.” At the Norway station at Epcot in Disney World is a diagram that shows how Leif and other Vikings traveled from Norway to Iceland, Greenland and then Vínland. Which they did over a course of few hundred years, but was Leifur Norwegian? That is where the issue gets sticky.

Leifur’s grandfather was Þorvaldur Ásvaldsson who lived in Jaðar in Norway. He and his son Eiríkur the red left Norway for Iceland after a slaying. They settled at first at Drangar at Hornstrandir which is a very remote area in North-West Iceland (currently deserted and only accessible by boat, helicopter or few days walking across a barren landscape). Eiríkur married an Icelandic woman Þjóðhildur whose family had long lived in Haukadal. Their two sons, Leifur and Þorsteinn, were both born in Iceland.

After having lived in Haukadal for number of years, he was forced to leave Haukadal after another slaying. He was later found guilty of manslaughter, left the country and settled in Greenland. He named the country so as is obviously taught in schools in US today, so that “menn þat mjök mundu fýsa þangat, ef landit héti vel” or “people would like to go there if the name was right.”

In those times, a tradition for Icelanders who wanted to make a name for them was to sail to Norway to spend some time with the King and his court. Leifur sailed from Greenland to Norway and did just that. He and the King became good friends. On his way home he found Vínland with wheat fields and grapevine. Vínland was later settled temporarily by a man named Þorfinnur karlsefni.

My argument would be that even though Leifur’s father and grandfather were Norwegian, Leifur was born in Iceland by an Icelandic woman, grew up there only to move to Greenland as an adult and only going to Norway for educational purposes. It’s like saying that an Icelander on a student visa in the US is an American!! No, let’s not be ridiculous. Of course Leifur was Icelandic and he came here first!

Merry Christmas everyone or Gleðileg Jól.

References:
1)Eiríks saga rauða (The Saga of Erik the red).
2) Grænlendinga saga (The Saga of Greenlanders)


ANNUAL BOARD MEETING

The Annual Board meeting was held on October 27th at Mr. Thai in Chicago. Nineteen adults and six children attended. We reflected on the past year and what we would like to accomplish this year. Here is a summary of the agenda.

1. Annual Finance Report was reviewed and approved Sonja reported on the accounts for last year. In general the Association is better off financially than in preceding years. Einar explained that this was in part because this year's Þorrablót turned out to be less costly, and in part due to the profits made at the Scandinavian Day fair in September.

2. Board elected:

President: Einar Steinsson
Treasurer: Anna Kárdal
Editor: G. Steinar Guðmundsson
Secretary: Gunnar Hansson
Vice Presidents:
Stella Solis,
Binna Porter,
Jon Hofteig,
Sigurþór Heimisson
Siggi Birkis
Sonja Johnson
Auditor: Jon Hofteig
Webmaster: Orri Hallgrímsson

3. Membership fee was raised to $20 for individuals and $30 for families.

4. Þorrablót, Farsælda Frón, Christmas fest and decorations at the Science Museum were discussed.

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE AT THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

Our traditionally decorated Christmas tree is among fifty other trees now on display at the Museum of Science and Industry. The tree will be up until 1 pm January 11 2003 when we will take everything down and it will be no more.

REMEMBER, ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEES ARE DUE JANUARY 15TH.

Annual membership fees are due January 15, 2002. Please, send in the enclosed pre-stamped envelope a check made payable to Icelandic Association of Chicago. Annual membership fees are $30 for families and $20 for individuals/students.

ÞORRABLÓT

This year's Þorrablót will take place on February 22, 2003. The tradition has been to alternate between city and suburbs, and this time the location will be in the suburbs. An attractive option (in terms of space and cost) appears to be Gray's Mill in Montgomery where we held the Þorrablót in the year 2000. We are negotiating with them in regard to price, rental, fees, etc.

Hjónabandið will be hired again this year and we are currently shopping around for the best price in catering and Þorrafood.

The ticket price will be unchanged: for members $45 in advance and $50 at the door, and $55 for non-members. The higher at-the-door price ($50) will be strictly enforced.

More details will be in the next issue of Farsælda Frón.

JÓLABALL 2002 (YULEFEST 2002)

Our new tradition, the annual Jólaball will be held at the Cheshire Club in Aurora Sunday 29th of September from 3 to 7 pm. We will provide drinks, soft drinks, juice, coffee and hot cocoa. Otherwise, we would like to have this in the “pot-luck” format where everyone brings pastry or other snacks for sharing.

Santa will be there with gifts for all the children. Some of the adults as well if they have been nice. Santa asks the parents to bring a $5-10 unmarked gift for each of their children that he (or she) will pass out randomly to the children. Suggestions are small books, games, crafts etc.

The Cheshire Club is on Winthrop New Road. Directions from Chicago are as follows: Take I-290 west and continue on I-88 west towards Aurora. Exit on IL-56 west. Go past the Prestbury Golf Course and turn right on Golf View Road. Turn right on Hankes Rd and then left at Winthrop New Road and the club is on the left hand side of the road. See map.

LETTERS TO THE ASSOCIATION

NEW FROM UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA PRESS

Icelanders in North America

The First Settlers by Jonas Thor

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands of Icelanders emigrated to both North and South America. Although the best known Icelandic settlements were in southern Manitoba, in the area that became known as “New Iceland”, Icelanders also established important settlements of varying duration in Brazil, Minnesota, Utah, Wisconsin, Washington, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia.

The story of the Icelanders´adjustment to the new agriculture, climate and society is one of perseverance, exploration, and religious and social controversy, as they struggled to retain their Icelandic heritage. By the end of the 19th century, the dream of an exclusive Icelandic colony had been replaced by new settlement patterns and expectations. A gradual assimilation occurred, but the continuous immigration and the patriotism of the Icelanders ensured that the Icelandic culture was retained, and is still in evidence today.

Using letter, Icelandic and English periodicals and newspapers, census reports, and archival repositories, Jonas Thor looks at Icelandic immigration from a continent-wide perspective. Illustrated with maps and photographs, this book is a detailed, social history of the Icelanders in North America, from the first settlement in Utah to the struggle in New Iceland.

Jonas Thor studies history at the University of Iceland and University of Manitoba and now teaches in Reykjavik.

Order from: University of Toronto Press 1-800-565-9523. USA orders ship from New York warehouse. Individual orders may be pain by check or money order, or charged to Visa or MasterCard.

LEARN ICELANDIC!

This winter I will teach a beginners course in Icelandic at North Park University. The class is scheduled for mid January through April, a total of 12 weeks, 1 1/2 hours 1 night a week. The fee for the course is $150 + book. Please contact the university, 773-244-6200, for information.

Hope to see some of ya there!

Kveðja,

Lena Hallgrímsdóttir 773-489-4621 einarandlena@ameritech.net

Online Interpreters
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Skokie, IL 60077
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NEWS YOU CAN USE

The Reykjavík Tríó in Chicago in February

The Reykjavík Tríó was established in 1988 and has performed at multiple places in Iceland and Denmark, in addition to performances in Germany, Finland, Britain and The Czech Republic. Their recorded performances have been broadcast throughout Europe. The members Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, violin, Gunnar Kvaran, cello and Peter Máté, piano, are all faculty members at the newly established music department of the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavik. Their concert in Chicago will be at North Park University on Saturday afternoon, February 8, 2003 at 3 pm in Anderson Chapel. The program is as follows:


Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Trio in C minor, Opus I No. 3
Allegro con brio
Andante cantabile con variazione
Menuetto: quasi allegro
Finale: prestissimo


Jón Nordal (1926- )
Sighing on a sleeping string (1998)

Antonin Dvorák (1841-1904)
Piano Trio in F minor, Opus 65
Allegro ma non troppo
Allegro grazioso
Poco adagio
Finale: allegro con brio