Farsælda Frón
Icelandic Association of Chicago
Volume No. 15 Issue No. 1
Our open board meeting on the 11th of May was successful and productive. We covered various topics including Þorrablót 2013, planning of Þorrablót 2014, 17th of June celebration, improvements to our website and redesign, festivities in Vasa Park, membership and marketing – and last but not least, the first two scholarships were approved at the meeting, hurray! We also added a new member to our board: Kolla Kristjánsdóttir Fass is the new Chairperson for Membership and Marketing – Welcome onboard Kolla.
Next up is Iceland’s Independence Day celebration on June 22nd in Vasa Park, Elgin. We still like our recent location, Promontory Point by the Lake, but this time the date falls on the same day as Midsummer Festival in Vasa Park where the IAC sells Icelandic Glacial water for our scholarship fund. So we thought it was a good idea to combine the two. We hope to see many of you there for the Icelandic hot dogs with all the trimmings.
The 8th Greater Chicago Icelandic Open will be held at Hilldale Golf Club in Hoffman Estates on August25th and registration has started. Larry Shaw and his daughter, Kathy Mehl are the 2012 Champions. Like Þorrablót, the golf outing has sold out for the last three years! You can register here.
Gleðilegt Sumar,
Einar Steinsson
President
From the Editor
I hope this spring finds you well and that you are enjoying the back and forth between hot and cold weather. Hopefully our Independence Day (17di Júní) celebration which will be held on the 22nd of June in Elgin’s Vasa Park will bring us sun and a light breeze and lots of fun and good food. Just remember that the Icelandic hot dog is one of the best food groups out there. Lena provides us with immaculate details about the celebration below our "New and Noteworthy" section. See you then!
We encourage you to read Joni Shaw's piece below that she wrote about the history of the Icelandic Association of Chicago and its origins. It illustrates the unique relationship among this tiny community of people from that island in the North Atlantic, no matter where we land within an enormous world population.
Attached you will also find two articles written by John Hofteig about the recent elections in Iceland and the INL.
New and Noteworthy
Iceland's Independence Day '17di Júní'– Vasa Park, Elgin, Saturday June 22nd. Icelandic Hot Dogs!
All members are invited to celebrate our Independence Day at the Midsummer Festival in Vasa Park, Elgin. Please join us for a picnic style festival and a fun afternoon, in the company of other Scandinavians celebrating Midsummer, which we Icelanders call Jónsmessa. The IAC treats you to Icelandic hot dogs, pylsa, Icelandic style – ‘ein með öllu’ – which includes dried fried onion and remoulade! What makes our hot dogs unique and oh so good, is the Icelandic lamb meat. Please note that other than the hot dogs, the event is a BYO, so please bring drinks, sides, salads, sweets, or other plates you'd like to eat or share. You can also purchase food items from vending specialties in support of the Scandinavian Club and our Association sells pop and Icelandic Glacial water in support of our scholarship fund. Remember to bring picnic gear: blankets, lawn chairs, sunscreen, insect repellent, umbrellas... If anyone owns flags or other 17th of June decorations, please bring it with you – takk!
Logistics. The official address for Vasa Park is Rte 31, South Elgin. It is north of North Avenue on Rte 31. It is made obvious by the Scandinavian flags on the east side of the road. The price for entering the park: adults $5:00 donation, age 12 and under free. No pets are permitted on the grounds. The park opens at 1:30 PM but the Icelanders will meet at 3 PM and fire up the grill for the dogs. We'll have our parade with flags and balloons but the park also offers other activities including music and a bonfire!
We look forward to seeing you, rain or shine and sing: Hæ, hó, jibbíjei og jíbbííjei, það er kominn 17di júní…
Email Lena if you have any questions and check out Vasa Park’s webpage for more information on the Midsummer and other events at the park this summer. We attached the official Vasa Park flyer to this e-mail as well for your reading pleasure.
From the Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Announcing the New Government in Iceland:
A Government of the Progressive Party and the Independence Party took office on May 23rd, 2013.
A comprehensive policy statement of the new Government in Iceland has been introduced, where the focus is put on a forward looking policy, aiming at serving the whole of the country and the people. The guiding element will be the improved prospects of the households in Iceland, and promotion of opportunities in trade and employment, which will create added value for the benefit of the nation as a whole.
Nine ministers will take seat in the new government, four from the Progressive Party, and five from the Independence Party. Two of the current ministries, Ministry of Industries and Innovation, and Ministry of Welfare, will have two ministers each.
Scandinavian Day – September 8, 2013
New “Sponsor” Tab on IAC Website:
Marc Johnson, our webmaster, recently added a “Sponsor” tab or button on the top-right of our homepage. Clicking on the “Sponsor” tab opens a page listing several companies which have made contributions of cash or in-kind gifts to the Icelandic Association of Chicago or have otherwise been very helpful in ensuring the success of our Scholarship Program, Annual Icelandic Open Golf Tournament, and our Thorrablot. The Board and those who worked on our most recent Thorrablot will be up-dating this page to include vendors who have donated raffle gifts for recent Thorrablots. If you know of companies which should be recognized for their valued assistance to our Association, please contact any member of the IAC Board and please consider patronizing these enterprises which have been so helpful to our Association. Once this list is fully up-dated, a future Frón article will provide additional background relevant to each of these IAC sponsors. J.H.H.
Joni Shaw Remembers:
Volume No. 15 Issue No. 1
From the President’s desk
90th Anniversary celebration continues!Our open board meeting on the 11th of May was successful and productive. We covered various topics including Þorrablót 2013, planning of Þorrablót 2014, 17th of June celebration, improvements to our website and redesign, festivities in Vasa Park, membership and marketing – and last but not least, the first two scholarships were approved at the meeting, hurray! We also added a new member to our board: Kolla Kristjánsdóttir Fass is the new Chairperson for Membership and Marketing – Welcome onboard Kolla.
Next up is Iceland’s Independence Day celebration on June 22nd in Vasa Park, Elgin. We still like our recent location, Promontory Point by the Lake, but this time the date falls on the same day as Midsummer Festival in Vasa Park where the IAC sells Icelandic Glacial water for our scholarship fund. So we thought it was a good idea to combine the two. We hope to see many of you there for the Icelandic hot dogs with all the trimmings.
The 8th Greater Chicago Icelandic Open will be held at Hilldale Golf Club in Hoffman Estates on August25th and registration has started. Larry Shaw and his daughter, Kathy Mehl are the 2012 Champions. Like Þorrablót, the golf outing has sold out for the last three years! You can register here.
Gleðilegt Sumar,
Einar Steinsson
President
From the Editor
I hope this spring finds you well and that you are enjoying the back and forth between hot and cold weather. Hopefully our Independence Day (17di Júní) celebration which will be held on the 22nd of June in Elgin’s Vasa Park will bring us sun and a light breeze and lots of fun and good food. Just remember that the Icelandic hot dog is one of the best food groups out there. Lena provides us with immaculate details about the celebration below our "New and Noteworthy" section. See you then!
We encourage you to read Joni Shaw's piece below that she wrote about the history of the Icelandic Association of Chicago and its origins. It illustrates the unique relationship among this tiny community of people from that island in the North Atlantic, no matter where we land within an enormous world population.
Attached you will also find two articles written by John Hofteig about the recent elections in Iceland and the INL.
New and Noteworthy
- We have new information regarding a new link on our website listing sponsors who have generously donated to the Association for various events, including the scholarship fund. More details below.
- If you do not receive it already, here is a link to the latest edition of the Embassy of Iceland’s newsletter.
- If you have ever wondered what it would be like to travel inside of a volcano, you can read how to do so here.
- Or if you prefer to travel Iceland on horseback, read this article in thedailybeast.com called: Iceland by Horseback is the Ride of a Lifetime.
- An interesting article (in Icelandic) about Icelanders who live in the United States.
- The Norse Mythology blog is holding a Midsummer Art Contest for all ages. Check it out.
Iceland's Independence Day '17di Júní'– Vasa Park, Elgin, Saturday June 22nd. Icelandic Hot Dogs!
All members are invited to celebrate our Independence Day at the Midsummer Festival in Vasa Park, Elgin. Please join us for a picnic style festival and a fun afternoon, in the company of other Scandinavians celebrating Midsummer, which we Icelanders call Jónsmessa. The IAC treats you to Icelandic hot dogs, pylsa, Icelandic style – ‘ein með öllu’ – which includes dried fried onion and remoulade! What makes our hot dogs unique and oh so good, is the Icelandic lamb meat. Please note that other than the hot dogs, the event is a BYO, so please bring drinks, sides, salads, sweets, or other plates you'd like to eat or share. You can also purchase food items from vending specialties in support of the Scandinavian Club and our Association sells pop and Icelandic Glacial water in support of our scholarship fund. Remember to bring picnic gear: blankets, lawn chairs, sunscreen, insect repellent, umbrellas... If anyone owns flags or other 17th of June decorations, please bring it with you – takk!
Logistics. The official address for Vasa Park is Rte 31, South Elgin. It is north of North Avenue on Rte 31. It is made obvious by the Scandinavian flags on the east side of the road. The price for entering the park: adults $5:00 donation, age 12 and under free. No pets are permitted on the grounds. The park opens at 1:30 PM but the Icelanders will meet at 3 PM and fire up the grill for the dogs. We'll have our parade with flags and balloons but the park also offers other activities including music and a bonfire!
We look forward to seeing you, rain or shine and sing: Hæ, hó, jibbíjei og jíbbííjei, það er kominn 17di júní…
Email Lena if you have any questions and check out Vasa Park’s webpage for more information on the Midsummer and other events at the park this summer. We attached the official Vasa Park flyer to this e-mail as well for your reading pleasure.
The 8th Greater Chicago Icelandic Open – Save the Date: August 25th at 1:00 PM
Registration for The Icelandic Open starts in June. It’ll be the same place, Hilldale Golf Club in Hoffman Estate, and same price, $35, as last year; maybe, new results… and for sure, fun time for everyone. Trip to Iceland for a ‘hole in one’ and lots of other goodies. If you already know you’ll play, let me know and I’ll reserve a spot. We have sold out the last three years. Spread the word, and have a great weekend. You can register here.
A Government of the Progressive Party and the Independence Party took office on May 23rd, 2013.
A comprehensive policy statement of the new Government in Iceland has been introduced, where the focus is put on a forward looking policy, aiming at serving the whole of the country and the people. The guiding element will be the improved prospects of the households in Iceland, and promotion of opportunities in trade and employment, which will create added value for the benefit of the nation as a whole.
Nine ministers will take seat in the new government, four from the Progressive Party, and five from the Independence Party. Two of the current ministries, Ministry of Industries and Innovation, and Ministry of Welfare, will have two ministers each.
- Prime Minister: Mr. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, chairman of the Progressive Party.
http://eng.forsaetisraduneyti.is/minister/ - Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs: Mr. Bjarni Benediktsson, chairman of the Independence Party. http://eng.
fjarmalaraduneyti.is/minister/ - Minister for Foreign Affairs: Mr. Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, (PP)
http://www.mfa.is/minister/about/ - Minister of Health: Mr. Kristján Þór Júlíusson (IP) (Ministry of Welfare).
http://eng.velferdarraduneyti.is/minister/minister-of- health/ - Minister of Education, Science and Culture: Mr. Illugi Gunnarsson, (IP)
http://eng.menntamalaraduneyti.is/ minister/ - Minister of Industry and Commerce: Mrs. Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, (IP) (Ministry of Industries and Innovation).
http://eng.atvinnuvegaraduneyti.is/ ministers/nr/6748 - Minister of Social Affairs and Housing: Mrs. Eygló Harðardóttir (PP) (Ministry of Welfare).
http://eng.velferdarraduneyti.is/minister/minister-of- social-affairs-and-housing/ - Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, and Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources: Mr. Sigurður Ingi Jónsson (PP) (Ministry of Industry and Innovation, Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources).
http://eng.atvinnuvegaraduneyti.is/ ministers/nr/7594 - Minister of the Interior: Ms Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir (IP)
http://eng.innanrikisraduneyti.is/ minister/about-the-minister
Scandinavian Day – September 8, 2013
Save this date and come and celebrate Vasa Park’s 60th
year anniversary. Traditional food, crafts, games, gifts and entertainment are
fare for the day. The vendors always
have great Scandinavian products to tempt you.
An ABBA Salute will be a highlight of the day along with many local
clubs who will entertain with song and dance. Scandinavian food will be in
abundance and the Icelandic Association of Chicago will sell Icelandic Glacial
Water and pop once again.
We need many hands to help us with that venture. The proceeds go entirely to our Scholarship
Program. Please contact Joni Shaw (ammajoni@msn.com) to set up a time to sell that wonderful water
with us.
The day will begin with a Worship Service followed by the
Opening Ceremonies. For the Opening
Ceremonies we need several volunteers: two people for the procession - one to
carry the Icelandic flag and one to carry the sign for Iceland; and a soloist
or a group (Thorrachoir?) to sing the beautiful Icelandic National Anthem. Again – deluge Joni Shaw with your
willingness to sign up for these opportunities.
The festivities begin at 9:00 AM and conclude at 6:00 PM. Fees are $10.00 for
adults, children 12 and under are free.
Parking is free. Vasa Park is
located in South Elgin on Rte 31 which is 7 miles south of 1-90 (Northwest
Tollway) or 5 miles north of Il Rte 64 (North Avenue)
Marc Johnson, our webmaster, recently added a “Sponsor” tab or button on the top-right of our homepage. Clicking on the “Sponsor” tab opens a page listing several companies which have made contributions of cash or in-kind gifts to the Icelandic Association of Chicago or have otherwise been very helpful in ensuring the success of our Scholarship Program, Annual Icelandic Open Golf Tournament, and our Thorrablot. The Board and those who worked on our most recent Thorrablot will be up-dating this page to include vendors who have donated raffle gifts for recent Thorrablots. If you know of companies which should be recognized for their valued assistance to our Association, please contact any member of the IAC Board and please consider patronizing these enterprises which have been so helpful to our Association. Once this list is fully up-dated, a future Frón article will provide additional background relevant to each of these IAC sponsors. J.H.H.
Joni Shaw Remembers:
Dear friends,
To those of you who may remember the early days of the
Chicago Icelandic Club (Visir and the
Chess Club) and to those of you who are young and don’t know our early history
– I submit this document written by another generation. My mother was one of
the authors and that is why I have this particular version. My intent is twofold: one is to inform and
the second is to invite submissions to complete our history. This is our 90th Year Anniversary
as a gathering of Icelanders and I have been asked by Logberg-Heimskringla to
detail Chicago ’s
history to date, including pictures. The
editor would especially like a picture of Arni Helgasson. Where I have a real
void of information is starting in the 50’s and 60’s. How did the club get started again? Who
spearheaded the effort? Who were the
driving forces? How often did they gather and what did they do? Icelanders are
writers. Please send me your memories
and pictures, if possible. As previously
mentioned, I need memories of the 50’s to the present day – but especially the
time of its demise to the days when it started up again. I know there was a time when it was a very
large and active group and I want to document that era. Either email your
thoughts to ammajoni@msn.com or call me
at 630-466-5555
THE FIRST ICELANDIC
CLUB OF CHICAGO
Many of the Chicago Icelanders are from families that
migrated to Canada
in the 1870’s. They became fishermen,
fur trappers and farmers for the most part.
The second generation, looking for a better way of life, came to Chicago in the early
1920’s.
Hjortur Thordarson, who had a transformer manufacturing
company in Chicago ,
hired a good number of these young Icelanders when they came to the city. Some of those men started their own
companies. Arni Helgason was one –
Lawrence Johnson was another. Arni
Helgason’s firm was the Chicago Transformer Company, no longer in existence. Lawrence Johnson’s firm was Johnson Electric
Coil Company and is still in existence located in Antigo, Wisconsin , enjoying sixty years of
successful business. It is still owned
by the second and third generation of Lawrence Johnson.
From this nucleus, the first Chicago Icelandic Club was
formed around 1923. The “Visir” Club was
extremely successful, meeting monthly from September to May, with a picnic in
June at Harms Woods, north of Chicago . Speeches, games and races were all an
intricate part of these picnics and they were well attended. (Marge has old movies of some of these
picnics.)
The Visir meetings attracted a large number to which they
were treated to good food (some Icelandic), speakers and news from Iceland . An Icelandic student entertained us with his
great tenor voice at one time. Young
people wrote and produced small plays and skits. There was also poetry and group singing. These meetings were attended by both parents
and children. Many came from quite a
distance. The meetings were held at the
Norski Club on Kedzie Avenue
in Logan Square , Chicago .
A Halloween costume party with live music always brought out
a lot of members and guests. Each year
the annual February Thorrablot was held.
The Iceland Airlines also gave round trip tickets to raffle.
A Christmas party was given for the children in
December. Each youngster had to perform,
sing, dance, play music or recite before Santa Claus arrived to give each child
a gift around the big Christmas tree.
Sveinn Storm and Arni Helgason were Santas for many times. Arni’s white hair and rotund figure made it
hard for anyone to doubt this was really Santa. (He was President of Visir for
some time and also Counsul to Iceland .)
A large faction of this group started the Icelandic Chess
Club in 1928. They met in the homes
monthly during the winter. Dorothy
Johnson has the minutes of these meetings, written Icelandic until 1939. The last minutes were written in 1963.
Visir began its decline during and after World War 11, when
so many of the young were in the service and the group of older ones occupied
in defense work. It started up rather
weakly during the late 40’s and early 50’s, but did not survive.
The Chess Club continued into the 60’s when the older
members began to pass away and chess did not hold an interest for the younger
people, busy starting their families.
These clubs were a good opportunity for the members to speak
Icelandic and keep up the skills of their language. (At one time Joe Bjornson,
who was a teacher at Harrison
High School , gave
Icelandic lessons to some of the younger members.) Also, many of these Icelanders came to Chicago leaving their families in Canada . Therefore, a closeness was established
between them to fill the family void.
The early social life revolved around these Icelandic groups.
These notes are compiled – with the help of several
long-time members still living – of their memories and ours:
Marjorie Johnson
Krengel
Dorothy Clemens
Johnson
Dolores Thorkelson
Johnson
Second generation of
the Canadian immigrants
The following is a
list of the families in the early days of Visir,
The First Chicago Icelandic Club
Joe Bjornson, President Arni
Helgason , President
Oli Alfred Joe
Gudmundson, President
Gustav Anderson Skafti
Gudmundson
Julius Anderson Lawrence Johnson
Petur Anderson C.
Melsted
Egill Anderson Daniel
Olafson
Arni Arnason Sveinn
Storm
Alex Benson Allen
Sveinsson
Ben Geston Wm.
Taylor
Ingolfur Brynjolfsson Th.
Thorkelson
Kris Christianson Eric
Vigfusson
Paul Clemens Vigfus
Vigfusson – and later ones
Pall Einarson Earl
Krengel
Kristin Helgason Monte
Johnson
Vigfus Johnson Fred
Weisman
Apologies to those
who may have been omitted
Reflecting on this history, I have some impressions of my
own as a child of these first Icelanders in Chicago .
My grandfather, Paul Melsted Clemens, came directly from Reykjavik to Chicago
with his family in the 1890’s. Icelanders in Chicago were in significant numbers at that
time. He was one of the founders of the Icelandic Club in 1923. My mother was
born in Winnipeg , however, the family returned
to Chicago in
the 1920’s. She graduated from Hyde Park High School . My father was born in Gardar, North Dakota
but was raised in Wynard, Saskatchewan
He came to Chicago in the 1930’s and was welcomed and housed within the
caring and generous Icelandic community. Hjortor Thordarson, who was mentioned
in the article above, was a prosperous Icelander who provided jobs for many
Icelanders. (Google Chester Thordarson – Thordarson Electric Manufacturing
Company.)They were hard workers (and annoyed many of his other employees who
didn’t want to work so hard - according to lore). There were clusters of
Icelanders all over the city. My family
was on the south side, but many were on the north side. They helped each other
and nobody even entertained the question “What’s in it for me?” This attitude
influenced me greatly as a child.
Many came from Canada
and I spent many summers in Canada
with family members. However, we didn’t say we were going to Canada or the US
– we said Winnipeg , Wynard, Ashern, Kandahar or Chicago .
Who knew there was a border? We were all
one – Icelanders in North America . It was a shock to me when a few years ago I
had to have a passport to visit my family.
For most of my life we were one and in my mind we still are.
Their children were included in the gathering. I particularly remember the picnics where
there was Glima and long speeches which also included Rimur. Three legged races and egg tossing games were
for the children – and PONNUKOKUR. They
encouraged the creative side of their children. We were one big family.
I lovingly remember more than half of these Chicago
Icelanders and my actions and decisions are generally informed by the lessons
learned from these loving, generous and pragmatic Icelanders.
Joni (Johnson) Shaw
27-April-2013 Parliamentary Elections:
Iceland, the proverbial land
of Fire [volcanoes] and Ice [glaciers], is also home to earthquakes, both those
measured on the Richter scale and those registered in the voting booth, as
evidenced by dramatic changes in 2009 and most recently in 2013. Four years ago, when the severity of
Iceland’s fiscal and financial crises erupted, a plurality of the electorate
was receptive to or in favor of joining the European Union and adopting the
Euro in order to avoid wildly fluctuating foreign-exchange rates. In addition, the electorate was disenchanted,
at best, and angry, at worst, at the financial abuses by some following
privatization of the banking sector. The
time, then, was ripe for the Socialist Party and Left Green Party to each
garner a plurality of the vote, in aggregate, sufficient to form a durable
coalition government. Now four years
later, this same Icelandic electorate is skittish, at best, regarding joining
the EU and adopting the Euro, especially because the former might restrict
Iceland’s prerogatives regarding fishing quotas, etc., still a significant
driver of Iceland’s economy, despite recent decades of remarkable
diversification. In addition, the
financial and fiscal circumstances of
Iceland and its citizens, while not fully resolved, have seen much
improvement in the intervening four years.
As Ambassador Stefánsson wryly noted in his banquet remarks at the
recent INL of NA Seattle Convention: “Iceland
is still not out of the woods: Iceland
has no forests!” Ironically, this
time-around, the Progressive Party which, early-on, had advocated privatization
of the major state-owned banks, and the Independence Party, which executed same,
each garnered a plurality of the votes, in aggregate, sufficient to form a
durable coalition government which was announced on 23-May-2013. Relevant to their joint success was the fact
that, at the present time, the Progressive Party is opposed to joining the EU
and the Independence Party is skittish.
Members and friends of our
Association who are fluent in Iceland are quite up-to-date on all of this, as
relevant news in Icelandic is available on-line [ www.RUV.is and www.Morgunbladid.is]. Those not fluent in Icelandic will find
relevant English-language postings in Daily News From Iceland [www.IcelandReview.com], especially
the posting dated: 23- and 24-May-2013,
which summarize the final accords agreed to by the two new coalitions partners
and the final allocation of ministerial portfolios amongst Progressive and
Independence Party members of the new Althing.
The Wall Street Journal in its print editions, dated: 26- and 29-April-2013, respectively,
immediately before and after the parliamentary elections, had excellent analyses,
the full transcripts for which are available via an exact-word Google search on
the following two phrases: “Europe
Gets Cold Shoulder in Iceland” and “Iceland’s Voters Oust Pro-European
Leadership.”
J.H.H.
Icelandic National League of North America [www.INLofNA.org] 94th Annual
Convention, Seattle, WA April 4-7, 2013: “There’s No Place Like HEIMA!”
Our Association was represented by John H. Hofteig. This year’s
convention theme was in keeping with the INL of NA’s mandate of preserving
Icelandic Heritage for Western Icelanders and promoting same in their
respective North American communities.
Included were twenty-some presentations around the general theme of
Iceland as HEIMA, i.e., home, even for Western Icelanders remote in time by one
or more generations from Iceland. The
convention was hosted by the Icelandic Club of Greater Seattle and held at the
downtown Seattle Crowne Plaza, attended by at least 170 delegates and many
guests from Iceland.
An optional day-long tour of the Icelandic-heritage community
of Blaine, WA included an excellent presentation by Ms. Joan Thorsteinsson Linde, a long-time resident of nearby tiny
Point Roberts, WA, a community whose early settlement was augmented by sixty-plus
Icelandic families who re-immigrated from Victoria, BC, beginning circa
1894. Initially, these Icelandic
immigrants were attracted by the prospect of free land per “squatter’s rights,”
exceedingly abundant salmon fishing in adjacent waters, and employment
opportunities at four very large fish canneries then in full production. Point Roberts is a peninsula south of
Vancouver, BC cut-off from contiguous land-access to the rest of Washington
State by the 49th Parallel. Originally
intended as the site of an American military fort, early-on it almost became a
forgotten isolated fragment of remote United States territory. All of this changed early in the presidency
of Theodore Roosevelt when the federal government announced formal plans to
develop this area for permanent settlement.
The residents of Point Roberts, mainly of Icelandic descent but also
including those from Germany, Denmark, and elsewhere, immediately mobilized and
petitioned Washington, DC for the right to remain as landed-immigrants. President Roosevelt’s personal representative
was so impressed with the industry of these early immigrants and the
improvements they had made to a once heavily-forested coastal area that all of
its residents were immediately granted secure homestead rights for the very
first time. So grateful were these new
American citizens that they engaged a local German immigrant and professional
tanner to sacrifice a prized ram and make a rug for the President from its
hide, a gift which President Roosevelt graciously accepted and acknowledged
with a letter still preserved by local Icelanders in the archives of Point
Roberts.
Late-breaking news bulletin:
Þrúdur Helgadóttir [see
below] was so impressed with Joan’s presentation that she arranged for a
television crew from Iceland to come to Point Roberts this past 30-May-2013 for
about five hours, photographing various sites and interviewing several
residents. The resulting documentary
will be aired in Iceland sometime next December, details to follow.
Other notable presentations during the Convention included a
report and video by INL of NA 2nd V.P Sunna Pam Furstenau on her 2012 two-week tour of twelve communities
in Iceland in which she presented vignettes about Icelandic settlements in
North America, all under the auspices of the INL of NA’s International Visits
Program, the same program which brought Icelandic scholar, Viðar Hreinsson, to
Chicago last October.
Ásta Sól
Krístjánsdóttir, Reykjavík, long-time Project Manager for the Snorri
Foundation [www.Snorri.is], reported on its three principal
programs: Snorri for young adults and
Snorri-Plus for mature adults and retirees from North America and Snorri-West,
the program which brings young Icelanders to North America to visit selected
clusters of Western Icelandic-heritage communities in the U. S. and Canada. She gave John a copy of the 30-minute DVD, The Wayfarers: Seeking Identity, which she produced,
profiling three recent North American Snorri participants. Once it is “officially” broadcast, she has
given permission for it to be shown to our membership and posted on the Scholarship
page(s) of our website [www.IcelandChicago.org]
Gail Einarsson-McCleerry,
Honorary Icelandic Consul General, Toronto, ON and the immediate-past president
of the INL of NA, presented long-range planning for Snorri-West tours by young
Icelanders to clusters of Icelandic-heritage settlement sites throughout North
America, which in two or three years may include a clustered visit to the
heritage communities of Mountain, ND, Minneota, MN, Washington Island, WI, and
Chicago, IL. Yes, Chicago does indeed
qualify as an Icelandic-heritage community long before contemporary immigrants
came here for educational and career opportunities!. Our Joni Shaw will be assembling additional relevant historical information to be shared
with IAC members and friends but, for now, suffice it to say that Chicago was,
very early-on, an important disembarkation transfer point for the earliest
immigrants and notable Icelanders in Chicago enthusiastically provided
employment for many Icelandic immigrants, including in the 1920’s the
Icelandic-American founder of Johnson Electric Coil Company, the electrical
transformer manufacturer now based in Antigo, WI, Lawrence Johnson, the father of our long-time IAC member, William L. Johnson, Chairman Emeritus, now
nearly 87-years-young! The company is
now managed by a member of the family’s third generation. [Please see Joni accompanying article for
additional information regarding the celebration of ninety years of Icelandic
heritage here in Chicago.]
Both of Iceland’s Ambassadors to Canada [Þórður Ægir
Óskarsson] and the United States [Guðmundur Stefánsson] reaffirmed
the Government of Iceland’s long-abiding interest in preserving and enhancing
relations between Iceland and Western Icelanders, the descendants of Icelandic
immigrants to North America all the way back to the 1850’s. Such has been a mandate of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in every government since Iceland declared its full sovereignty
in 1944. The presence of both
Ambassadors exemplified the close cooperation between the Government of Iceland
and the INL of NA to preserve and communicate Icelandic heritage.
At the festive Saturday evening banquet, entertainment
featured Icelandic soprano, Guðrún
Íngimarsdóttir, in a repertoire of classic and contemporary Icelandic
songs, light operetta selections, and American classics. She was joined by Seattle-based tenor, Jon Palmson, in lighter fare. The two of them also offered a longer recital
Sunday afternoon in the nearby, downtown Seattle, Pilgrim Congregation. The banquet also afforded an opportunity to
publically recognize and thank retiring long-time Icelandic diplomat and
Winnipeg, MB Consul General, Atlí
Ásmundsson and his wife, Þrúdur
Helgadóttir, who have been friends indeed to Western Icelanders all across
North America.
At the formal Annual General Meeting, our Joni was elected as an INL of NA At-large
Board Member. Joni is well-qualified to
serve in this capacity: She has been our
representative to the INL of NA for the past one-and-a-half years; is our
correspondent to the Lögberg Heimskringla; and together with Larry Shaw, our long-time
IAC Treasurer, has an abiding interest in preserving and sharing Icelandic
heritage, as evidenced by their frequent visits to Mountain, ND [near where her
father was born], attendance at Íslendingadagurinn, Gimli. MB [the largest
annual Icelandic festival in North America], and representing our Association
at the annual Scandinavian Day, Vasa Park.
With Joni’s election, three of the six Directors at-Large
represent INL of NA chapters resident in the United States. Two of the five principal constitutional
officers, 1st V.P. Claire
Eckley [Roseville, MN] and 2nd V.P. Sunna Pam Furstenau [Fargo, ND] represent United States-resident
chapters. According to INL of NA polity,
at the Spring 2014 convention, Claire will automatically ascend to the Presidency
of the INL of NA for two years.
Likewise, two years later, in 2016, Pam will ascend to the Presidency.
Also, John was
appointed to two important INL of NA committees, Scholarships and the
Biographies Project. The Scholarship
Committee will work with INL of NA chapters to promote, facilitate, and make
recommendations regarding the Government of Iceland’s significant renewable
scholarships, one each year for a resident/citizen of Canada and one each year
for a resident/citizen of the United States.
Each scholarship includes tuition-remission and a housing allowance for
study in Iceland. The Biographies
Project is an ambitious undertaking which seeks to identify and document the
personal history of past and present Western Icelanders in a web-accessible
biography database in time for the 100th anniversary of the INL of
NA in 2019. Joni and John are compiling
a list of our own IAC members, past and present, whose biography should be
documented and preserved. Both are
eager to receive recommendations and any background information.
J.H.H.
There is Talent “in Them
Thar Hills,” i.e., talented Icelandic-Americans living and working right here
in the Chicago area!
At our most recent combined AGM and Board Meeting, a
suggestion was discussed to promote local Icelandic-Americans, members and friends
of our Icelandic Association of Chicago, who are artists, musicians, or provide
a variety of services living and working in the greater Chicago area by
featuring them in a special “Talent-Links” section of our website: www.IcelandChicago.org
If you are a artist, author, playwright, dancer, poet, or
musician; or provide a professional service, or are the proprietor or manager
of an enterprise [especially one founded and managed by Icelandic-Americans] and
you would like to be featured in a new “Talent-Link” section of our website,
please submit your full name, title, and email address and/or website, and a
brief narrative.
Your name and your talent, service, or enterprise will be
hyper-linked to your preferred email address and/or webpage. E.g., Agathe
Christe [mystery-writer],
Thomas Alva Edison [inventor], Leonardo di Vinci [pioneering engineer and
sculptor], Maria
Callas [opera singer] will be hyper-linked to a brief
description along with the relevant email address and/or webpage for the reader
to contact with you.. We know there’s
plenty of Icelandic-American talent in the Chicago area. Please help us help the rest of the world find
you!
Please send your requests and suggestions to JohnHaldor@gmail.com
Exciting Icelandic
Association of Chicago
Scholarship Program & Academic Liaison Milestones:
This summer, in early June
and July, respectively, IAC Scholarship awardees, Nicholas Lieber and Krístján
Marc Johnson, embark on their adventures in Iceland , supported, in part, by the
IAC Scholarship Fund.
Nick, whose grandmother settled in the Icelandic-American
immigrant community of Washington Island, just northeast of Door Peninsula in
Wisconsin, will be participating in the six-week total Icelandic-immersion
program in Iceland designed for young adults from the United States and Canada,
sponsored by the Snorri Foundation [www.Snorri.is]. He is a 2011 graduate of the University of
Illinois at Chicago with a B.A. in Political Science and in the coming autumn
will begin a one-year M.A. program in Government, with a specialization in
Diplomacy and Conflict studies, at the interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in
Herzliya, Israel. Prior to applying for
Snorri, he had travelled for approximately ten days in parts of Norway, Sweden,
and Denmark and now looks forward to Snorri to broaden his understanding of
Scandinavia, especially his family’s roots in Iceland. He has also participated in a similar
total-immersion program in Israel
designed for children of Jewish descent.
In addition to receiving USD
$ 750.00 assistance from our program, at the recent [April, 2013] Icelandic
National League of North America [www.INLofNA.org] convention in
Seattle, it was announced that Nick was one of three Americans of
Icelandic descent to receive a USD $ 2,000.00 stipend from the relatively
recently-launched Guttormsson Family Foundation [see accompanying
article] to participate in this same Snorri Foundation program. Also, at the above-mentioned recent INL of NA
convention, both Stefan Guttormsson, M.D. [founder and principal trustee of the
Guttormsson Family Foundation] and Atlí Ásmundsson, the retiring long-time
Icelandic diplomat and Consul General in Winnipeg ,
Manitoba , knew of Nick’s interest
in pursuing a career in diplomacy. Both
of them will make a good-faith effort for Nick to meet with members of the
ambassadorial and consular corps at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs during his
participation in the Snorri program. During that program, Ásta Sól
Krístjánsdóttir, the Snorri Project Manager, will post on their website [www.Snorri.is] updates*
on the current participants and their adventures, which include two weeks of
rigorous education regarding Icelandic history, culture, current events, and
language [which Snorri applicants were required to study on-line before coming
to Iceland], three weeks living with an Icelandic family, and a one-week
adventure tour of Iceland, culminating in a festive graduation ceremony hosted
by President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson at Bessastaður, his official residence. [*If Ásta’s up-dates are in
the form of a blog, members and friends of our Association will be notified of
the exact link to same.]
Krístján Marc Johnson, the ten-year-old son of IAC members, Marc and Sonja
Johnson, received a USD $ 375.00 IAC Scholarship stipend to partially support
his participation in an intensive, three-week resident day program of Icelandic
language instruction at the Tungumálaskólinn [www.Skoli.eu], Reykjavík. In addition to visiting with his Amma,
long-time IAC member, Áslaug Holm Johnson, Krístján will be very busy this
summer conjugating Icelandic verbs, declining Icelandic nouns, and dramatically
increasing his Icelandic vocabulary and fluency!
We wish both Nick and
Krístján Góða Ferð! [Icelandic for Good Travels!] and look forward to
their reports and triumphant return to America after these educational
adventures in Iceland .
Later this summer, our
website [www.IcelandChicago.org],
will be up-dated to include a Scholarship “tab,” which will take the reader to
a new page(s) from which to click-on relevant information, including: A brief history of the program, its
Objectives and Guidelines, awardees to-date, acknowledgments of support,
current open scholarship opportunities, relevant application forms, a link to
inquiries and suggestions, academic institutions with which our Program liases,
and additional scholarship resources beyond our program. Please stay tuned! Once launched, this enhanced feature will be
announced via email to members and friends of the IAC and up-dated periodically.
Further detail will be
separately circulated, but please be advised that there are still two more
open IAC Scholarship opportunities:
One USD $ 375.00 stipend for Icelandic-language instruction [intended
primarily for younger applicants] and up to USD $ 750.00 to partially support
relevant Icelandic studies or participation in either the six-week Snorri
program for young adults or the two-week Snorri-Plus program for mature adults
and retirees, both held in Iceland during the summer.
John H. Hofteig, Chair, The
Icelandic Association of Chicago
Scholarship Program & Academic Liaison
The Guttormsson Family
Foundation:
The relatively recently-launched
Guttormsson Family Foundation, founded by Stefan Guttormsson, M.D, and
his wife, Rosemary, honors the life and legacy of both his father, Bishop
Stefán Thorstein Guttormsson, and his grandfather, the Reverend Guttormur
Guttormsson, both of whom having had an abiding interest in preserving Icelandic
heritage amongst Western Icelanders, the descendents of Icelanders who
immigrated to the United States and Canada, beginning as early as the 1850’s
but beginning in earnest in very large numbers in 1875 and the following
decades. The younger Pastor Guttormsson served parishes in La Crosse , Wisconsin
and other venues and was elected a Bishop in the ELCA [Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America ]. The elder Pastor Guttormsson served for
nearly forty years in the Icelandic Lutheran Synod parishes in and around Minneota , Minnesota ,
a very important Icelandic-heritage community.
Doctor Guttormsson works very
closely with both the Icelandic National League of North America [www.INLofNA.org] and the Snorri
Foundaiton [www.Snorri.is] and is
quite keen to assist both with bringing young people from Iceland to
Icelandic-heritage communities in North America under the auspices of the Snorri-West
program and sending Americans of Icelandic descent to Iceland under the
auspices of either the six-week Snorri total Icelandic-immersion program
for young people or the newer two-week Snorri-Plus program for mature
adults and retirees.
The Foundation’s support this
summer for our IAC-member, Nicholas Lieber [see accompanying article], is most
appreciated and welcome! The Guttormsson
Family Foundation is an IRS-approved 501(c)3 tax-exempt charity and very much
welcomes support from Western Icelanders and friends of Iceland who
share its abiding interest in preserving Icelandic heritage here in North America .
Inquiries should be directed to Stefan Guttormsson, M.D., Principal
Trustee, The Guttormsson Family Foundation, 3715 Greysolon Road , Duluth ,
MN 55804 .