The Icelandic Association of Chicago Newsletter

May 2009

2009-05-21T02:26:00.000-07:00

Icelandic Association of Chicago Volume No. 11 Issue No.6 May 2009

From the President’s desk

Iceland is moving on with a new government

After the “Cutlery Revolution” in Iceland, the government stepped down and we now have a new left wing government. The international media reported on the event but was most interested in our new prime minister being the first gay woman prime minister in the world. You got to hand it to Iceland; somehow we always manage to make it to number one for one thing or another. If everything else fails, we can always calculate our accomplishments per-capita. As for the financial crisis, we don’t have to use that measurement, the economic situation is very bad in Iceland at the moment. Lena and I are visiting the “old country” in July and it will be interesting to compare to our last visit back in November, shortly after all the banks failed and people were just starting to realize the consequences.

The worldwide financial recession also impacted our organization. It was the main reason we scaled down our Þorrablót to a home-style event. We did, however, have a great Þorrablót, some say the best we ever had: Good turnout, excellent food, great music by Bjössi from the band Greifarnir in Iceland, fun singing led by our great Swany, and energetic dancing by everyone. We ended up making a net income of $200 but, unfortunately, got hit by some bad news. Our gracious hosts, Stella and Miguel Solis, discovered the following morning their hard wood floors were severely damaged. Upon reviewing the situation, the board agreed the right thing to do was to share responsibility and take part in the cost of fixing the floors. The board decided our organization will pay 2/3 of the cost, not to exceed $1,000. The damage is estimated at about $1,500. We’ll learn from this experience, move on, and recover as quickly as possible. Few of us have made a small donation and I’m asking any of you who can, to help out, and send a check to Larry. Anything will help: $25, $50, or more if you can. Contributions will be tracked separately on the books and reported at the General Meeting in October.

Moving on to lighter notes: Summer is here and with summer we have Iceland’s Independence Day, which we’ll celebrate by the Lake at “The Point”, Saturday 13th of June. We’re importing Icelandic Hot Dogs and I hope all of you are able to come and enjoy an afternoon, picnic style, in a good company.

See you soon – Gleðilegt Sumar

Einar Steinsson, President

From the Editor

Some things are nearly impossible to shake off. For instance it’s impossible to shake one’s background or roots off. It’s easy to pretend to be someone we’re not but on the inside we are who we are. I, for example, am just a simple girl from a simple little village in Iceland, where everyone knows everyone’s business, and when at the store, it’s certain you’ll personally know at least 99% of the customers. The 1% you don’t know is most likely a tourist. Still, after living 4 ½ years here in Cary, I look around in the store, at the Post Office, and wherever I go, to see if I recognize someone. It rarely happens, but when it does, it makes me happy. What happened few weeks ago though, I could never have imagined. I was working my evening shift at the restaurant when I got a table of ten. After all were seated and I’d taken orders I went to see if anybody needed anything. As I’m walking away from the table I hear one of the teenage girls who belonged to the group, calling out for her AMMA. Hearing this I came to a screeching halt and asked the girl what she’d just said. She answered she’d just called out for her “amma, which in Icelandic means Grandmother”. I said I was aware of the meaning for I was an Icelander.

It turned out the amma in the group was a second generation of Icelandic immigrants who originally moved to Canada in the late 1800’s. The amma and I greeted each other with a handshake and instead of introducing myself as Swany, I gave her my real name-Svanfríður. A loud silence followed. Then the amma looked at me and said: That’s my name too, Svanfríður! To say the least, we were all stunned. This is the first time I meet my namesake and the other Svanfríður hadn’t met a single Icelander for 53 years. To meet an Icelander unexpectedly hardly ever happens, but to meet one at a little restaurant in a little town in Illinois, who bears the same name as you, is probably less likely than winning the lotto. If I hadn’t been this stunned and surprised I’d have recruited her to the IAC. If she comes in again, I definitely will!

Swany

The 17th of June, in the Park, with Icelandic Hot Dogs!

We'll be celebrating Iceland's Independence Day '17di júní', Saturday June 13, in Burnham Park around Promontory Point, known locally as The Point. Please join us for a picnic style festival and a fun afternoon by the Lake. The IAC will offer hotdogs from Iceland, Icelandic style. Otherwise, the event is a BYO so please bring drinks and other food or plate you'd like to share. Also, make sure to bring other picnic gear: blankets, lawn chairs, sunscreen, umbrellas... We'll meet at 3PM and, of course, we'll have a parade with flags and balloons. A beach with a life guard is close by for those who want to bring swim suits and go for a dive. Sign up by emailing einarandlena@ameritech.net or call 773-489-4621. Directions and Parking: The Point is off 55th Street, East of Lake Shore Drive (LSD). Use 5500 S Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60637 for driving directions (mapquest.com; google, etc.). You’ll find a parking lot on 55th street, by Bar Loui, or you can park on the street. The walk to the Point takes about 6 minutes through a tunnel, which passes under Lake Shore Drive at the east end of 55th street. Upon emerging from the tunnel you’ll see a statue and a fountain. Turn right and walk south until you see our flag. We’ll try to find a spot as close to the field house as possible. For more information, photos, and the history of the Promontory Point, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promontory_Point_(Chicago)

The 5th Greater Chicago Icelandic Open August 16th @ 2:30PM

Last year we sold out! We had 32 players representing various countries: Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Australia, US, Thailand, Estonia, Mexico, and Canada. First place winners were Tom Fox and Miguel Solis with the great score of 35. Guðrún Thors won the women’s longest drive; Michael Gallagher took the prize for men. Closest to the pin was won by Brandon Burk, and Tom Fox won the longest putt. No one won the ticket to Iceland for a hole in one. Maybe this year ?

The Greater Chicago Icelandic Open is a 9-hole best ball tournament in teams of two players, with many of the teams being a couple or a parent and a child. We give a trophy for first place, medals for 1st 2nd and 3rd places, plus various prizes for the Longest Drive men/women, Closest to the Pin, Longest Putt, and Hole in One. The tournament is held at Highland Woods golf course in Hoffman Estate. We already have 12 players signed up but we’ll have 32 spots total, the same as last year. If you’re interested email me at einarandlena@amreitech.net or just send your check to Larry. Play well, Einar Steinsson

Þorrablót 2010!

Yes, I know, it's only May, and lot of fun activities the association has organized before we meet again for sheep heads, rotten shark, and other delicacies! The reason I bring up Þorrablót in our spring newsletter is, we want your ideas and help to start planning for a big event, open to everyone, to be held in the city. At our last board meeting we decided to form a Þorrablót committee, which I'll be in charge of. Joni Shaw and John Hofteig already signed up but we'll need two or three more members to join us. At this time, we're most in need of suggestions for a place in the city to host the venue. Thus, if any of you have tips, please send my way. We're somewhat limited in our choice because of restrictions most places have for bringing one's own food and drinks. Another restriction would be cost, as our goal is to keep price of tickets affordable.

Kveðja, Lena

lhallgrimsdottir@languageline.com

News from Vasa Park

MIDSUMMER FEST - June 28th, beginning at 2:00 and on into the evening with a bonfire. Crafts for children will be available from 3:00 - 5:00. Bring a picnic lunch or enjoy the ethnic food by our Scandinavian vendors.

SCANDINAVIAN DAY - Sunday, September 13, 2009 9 AM to 5 PM.

Icelanders have participated in this traditional day for many years. Proudly carrying our flag and singing our beautiful National Anthem in the opening ceremonies, vending some of our traditional foods and displaying our cultural accomplishments. Last year we took charge of the beverage booth, selling Icelandic water and varieties of soft drinks and we made a goodly sum for our newly formed Scholarship fund. We also had a booth in the cultural center.

This year we will "man" the beverage booth once again. We can use lots of help and your cheerful faces representing Iceland, making our booth a fun place to be on, hopefully, a warm fall day. There won't be a cultural center this year, but we can decorate our booth with things Icelandic.

Please contact Joni or Swany and let us know how you can help us. The more the merrier, you know!

Joni Shaw: 1-630-466-5555 or AmmaJoni@msn.com

New Icelandic Ambassadors to the United States & United Nations

In January, 2009, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs [MFA] announced new roles for seasoned career diplomats: Mr. Hjálmar W. Hannessson [born: 5-April-1946 in Reykjavík], Ambassador to the U.S. and Gunnar Pálsson, Ph.D. [born: 25-January-1955, Reykjavík], Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the U. N. Further information is available via links to each Embassy [www.Iceland.org & www.mfa.is] or by Googling each name.

Ambassador Hannesson, a university educator in Reykjavík [1969–1976], has been a career diplomat since 1976. He has Political Science degrees [B.A., 1968 & M.A., 1969] from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. He has had significant postings to NATO and Central Europe. He was Iceland’s first resident Ambassador in China and later in Canada. From 2003 until early 2009 he was Iceland’s Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the U.N. Except for, often concurrent, postings in Europe, the Caribbean, and/or South East Asia, his wife, Anna Birgisdóttir [married: 1966], and he have been resident and/or professionally active in the U.S. and Canada for most of the past forty years. He presented his credentials to our former President George W. Bush and soon thereafter officially represented Iceland at President Barack Obama’s inauguration. He has served various coalition governments; been a witness to dramatic economic, political, and societal changes; and represented Iceland in times both good and difficult. Anna and he are well-known to regular participants in the Icelandic National League of North America [www.INLofNA.org], where they take a keen interest in “Western Icelanders,” the descendants of Icelandic immigrants to Canada and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. He has begun informative monthly newsletters on the Washington Embassy’s home page, with links to very relevant detail. Velkomin Hjálmar og Anna!

Ambassador Pálsson has been a diplomat since 1984. He was a journalist with Morgunblaðið [1979–1983]. His education is truly global: B.A. [1977, Politics & Philosophy] University College, Dublin; graduate study [1978, Philosophy] Karl Eberhardt Universität, Tübingen; M.A. [1979, Philosophy] University College, Dublin; and Ph.D. [1984, Political Science] University at Buffalo, New York. Married to Elín Snorradóttir, his U.N. posting is a “return-engagement,” having similarly served at the U.N. [1994–1998].

He has had postings germane to the global environment, chemical weapons, the EU, NATO, European Security & Cooperation, and Conventional Forces in Europe. Director of the MFA’s Natural & Environmental Affairs [2002–2006], he was also Chairman [2002–2004] of the Senior Arctic Officials [SAO] of the Arctic Council [www.Arctic-Council.org], the liaison between the nations bordering Arctic waters. In 2005, Dr. Pálsson was the Chair and Editor of a definitive MFA-sponsored study, available in English translation: North Meets North: Navigation and the Future of the Arctic, easily found by Googling: North Meets North.

This more recent experience is germane to Iceland’s eventual economic recovery and sustainable vitality. Despite the dire financial and fiscal turmoil with which Iceland has been---and continues to be---beset, Iceland has tremendous economic potential: vast hydroelectric and geothermal energy resources; credible claims to contiguous areas of the North Atlantic seabed in the context of the eventual ratification of the U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty; and the very intriguing, longer-term, prospect of becoming an important Transpolar–Transshipment hub for container ship cargo traffic to/from the East [e.g., the North Siberian Coast] and to/from the Orient via the long-fabled, Northwest Passage. Made feasible by global warming, reduced Arctic ice, and continuing improvements in Arctic navigation and ship building, this would dramatically reduce in-transit time and costs associated with conventional sea routes to/from the Orient and Far East. Dr. Pálsson has a continuing interest in this matter, given Iceland’s Mid-Atlantic location and its most northerly, ice-free [year-round] sea ports. Dr. Pálsson has expertise and well-deserved international recognition germane to this intriguing, longer-term, Icelandic prospect. Velkomin Gunnar og Elín!

John Haldor Hofteig, Ph.D., IAC V.P, Scholarships & Academic Liaison

[Photos and background information courtesy of each Embassy.]

New information for the Vice Consul in Chicago

Vice Consul of Iceland in Chicago

2221 Camden Court, Suite 200, Oak Brook

Tel: 630-560-8008

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS

The Icelandic Association of Chicago cordially invites all Icelanders, descendants of Iceland and friends of Iceland to join our organization. Please forward a copy of this Membership Form to anyone interested in joining, or provide us with that persons name and address.

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Icelandic Association of Chicago

2009 Membership Form

Date_______________________

Full Name of member/s___________________________________________________________

Name of child/children___________________________________________________________

Address_______________________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip-code_________________________________________________________________________

Phone Number_____________________________ E-mail______________________________

New Member__________ Renewal Member___________

Annual Membership fees: Individual/students: $15.00, Family: $25.00

Make payable to: Icelandic Association of Chicago

Please mail your check and completed form to our Treasurer:

Lawrence O. Shaw,

147 N. Buckingham Drive

Sugar Grove, IL 60554

January 2009

2009-01-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

Icelandic Association of Chicago Volume No. 11 Issue No.5 January 2009

From the President’s desk

‘It’s the quality not the quantity”
It would be beating a dead horse talking about the economy and the recession (Kreppuna) in Iceland as it’s all over the news, not only in the Icelandic media but also here in the US. I’d still like to tell you though, of a recent interview with me in the Chicago Tribune, which link you’ll find on our webpage or on the Tribune page.
I’ve been thinking about our organization, our mission and goals, and the quality vs. quantity that comes into play. Our goal isn’t to get as many members as possible, or as many as possible to attend our gatherings – what’s important is the quality of the time we spend together, which comes from those who have similar interests and goals. There are many people interested in Iceland for different reasons, most of whom wanting to travel to this beautiful island someday in their lives. They could be interested in our history, the sagas, nature, the people, and so on. We can not be everything to everyone so we need to focus on what we do best: Build up an organization of Icelanders and people who are of Icelandic descent - people who’re interested in building up a community with strong ties to Iceland and celebrate with multiple gatherings every year. We have a tourist board and officials whose job is marketing of Iceland. That is, however, not the reason we have a small scale Þorrablót this year. We simply ran out of time plus the recession makes us reluctant to do all the work that a big Þorrablót requires. Next year, we aim for a big Þorrabót where all members can attend and bring their guests.
We’ll have a great Þorrablót next month at the home of Stella and Miguel Solis in Bolingbrook who we can’t thank enough for hosting this year’s event. If you can not make it this year I hope to see you at some of the other planned events: 17th of June celebration, Scandinavian Day Festival, The Greater Chicago Icelandic Open, The General Meeting, or Jólaball.
Gleðilegt Ár – Happy New Year
Einar Steinsson
President

From the Editor
There’s a comment I get a lot and I’m sure you, my fellow Icelanders, know well also. The comment, which gets really popular during this cold time of the year: ‘But aren’t you from Iceland-how can you be cold?’ Well, even though I’m a tough Icelandic Viking woman! I still get cold and that isn’t even too hard of a task to complete when the weather is as cold as it is now. I sometimes wonder what I was thinking moving here; I left a wet and moist country to settle in the freezing state of Illinois where people don’t believe me when I tell them that I come from Alabama! But then I remember: LOVE-I came here because of love and then I get warm again. To have love and caring in one’s life is always important because no one is an Island, but today, I think love, caring and compassion are more important than ever. We live in tough times. Granted, times have been more difficult; we’re not standing in line waiting to get soup, for example, but life is hard for many people; both here and in Iceland. The things that help everyone through hard time are love, caring and compassion. I hope all of you who read this, have those three important elements in your life and I hope you’re generous with them as well.
On another note - now that the month of Thorri is coming up, followed by Thorrablót, it’d be fun to collect old and new Thorrablot’s pictures to put on our website and to have on display at the next Thorrablot. Old pictures could be scanned and put on a computerized form or brought in albums to the next Thorrablot. Dig through your old photo albums and see what you can find because, if nothing else, these pictures are of a great value to our Association.
From an icy cold Cary, IL, I send you warm greetings. Swany.

Þorrablót 2009
Þorrablót 2009 will be somewhat different than those you may have attended in the past. Our emphasis this time will be on having a small Blot for members of the association who are in good standing. Furthermore it will be for adults only and members can not bring guests this year. The date is February 21st at 6 p.m. The location is 1839 Marne Rd, Bolingbrook, IL 60490, Stella and Miguel Solis’s home. Price of the ticket is $35* and must be purchased and paid for in advance, along with the membership fee, $25 ($15 for individuals), by February 1st. Due to the size of our facility, we will only be able to sell 36 tickets. Included in the ticket price are a welcome drink, gravlax, hákarl and Brennivín, the Icelandic Þorrafood and sides, pönnukökur, Siggi Skyr, and coffee. For non-Icelandic food we will have a potluck format, please contact Lena, lhallgrimsdottir@languageline.com (773-489-4621) for more information what to bring. The Þorrablót is a BYOB event. We will have our famous and ever popular raffle with prizes such as TWO-plane ticket from Icelandair to the Old Country, hangikjöt, and much more. The great musician Sveinbjörn Grétarsson or better known as Bjössi in Greifarnir (a very popular band in Iceland) will entertain us throughout the evening. Of course, the Þorra Quire will sing, as will everyone else. In short, we are planning a night of real Icelandic fun in USA, a night to be remembered and cherished, until next time.
Skál!
The Þorra Committee
*To February 1st, current Members can pay attendance and membership fee (see form below).
**From February 1st to February 14th, New Members can pay attendance and membership fee if we are not sold out (also see form below).
***Please send in your membership fee regardless if you will be attending Þorrablót or not.
****Remember, no tickets will be sold after February 14th. Please make your check out to The Icelandic Association of Chicago and mail to Larry Shaw 147 N. Buckingham Drive, Sugar Grove, IL 60554

ALREADY SPONSORS:
The following firms already have committed to sponsorship at our 2009 Þorrablót, - We thank them very much.

Siggi’s skyr, The Icelandic Milk and Skyr Corporation, 135 West 26th Street, 2nd floor
New York, NY, 10001 www.skyr.com

Bautinn Restaurant & Catering. Akureyri, Iceland www.bautinn.is

Icelandair – www.icelandair.com

Rembeber to check out our webpage: http://www.icelandchicago.org/

Mark your calendar! The Greater Chicago Icelandic Open 2009 will be held 16th of August this year.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS
All membership dues and Þorrablót’s admissions should be sent to our treasurer

The Icelandic Association of Chicago cordially invites all Icelanders, descendants of Iceland and friends of Iceland to join our organization. Please forward a copy of this Membership Form to anyone interested in joining, or provide us with that persons name and address.

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Icelandic Association of Chicago
2009 Membership Form

Date_______________________

Full Name of member/s____________________________________________

Name of child/children_____________________________________________

Address_________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip-code_______________________________________________

Phone Number_____________________ E-mail_________________________

New Member__________ Renewal Member___________

Annual Membership fees: Individual/students: $15.00, Family: $25.00

Make payable to: Icelandic Association of Chicago
Please mail your check and completed form to our Treasurer:

Lawrence O. Shaw,
147 N. Buckingham Drive
Sugar Grove, IL 60554

25501 Maurepas Lane
Leesburg, FL 34748

June 2008

2008-06-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

^Farsælda Frón

Icelandic Association of Chicago Volume No. 11 Issue No.5, June 2008

From the President's Desk

Kæru vinir og meðlimir Íslendingafélagsins í Chicago:

Dear members and friends of The Icelandic Association of Chicago:

Welcome to this edition of Frón, edited by my fellow board member, Svanfríður Eygló Arnadóttir-Getchell. This is my first Letter from the President's Desk and I have the good fortune of having the examples of leadership to follow from our two most recent prior presidents, Katrin Heiðar and Einar Steinsson, who have served our Association very well in recent years and continue their valued service and wise counsel.

Before sharing my thoughts about our group, past, present, and future, your attention is directed to the more pressing perils, major and minor, which our friends and relatives in Iceland face with the relatively strong [by recent historical Icelandic standards] earthquake and aftershocks in the Southwest of Iceland, which began Thursday, 29-May-2008. Iceland, the proverbial Land of Fire and Ice, is both blessed and cursed with the consequences of sitting astride the Mid-Atlantic Rift, including: earthquakes, volcanoes, and abundant geothermal energy in various regions. Fortunately, unlike the more common experience of California and many other earthquake-prone regions, the Western and Eastern sections of Iceland are literally, over the course of time, very gradually separating as the North American and European tectonic plates diverge, less geologically traumatic then when tectonic plates suddenly lurch towards each other. Graphic examples of this separation, West from East, abound in the natural terrain of Iceland, most especially visible at Thingvellir, the historic original site of Iceland's Parliament, the Althingi. With the principal exception of older rural structures, almost all newer urban construction in Iceland is built to strict codes which anticipate these vagaries of nature. So far, no serious injuries to residents have been reported. Our website, www.IcelandChicago.org has links to current updates, both in Icelandic [Morgunblaðið] and in English [Iceland Review's Daily News From Iceland].

Our Association traces its roots in Chicago back to primarily, then-recent, immigrants from Iceland in the 1920's, who made it their business to preserve their proud Icelandic heritage in the New World and attend to the common needs of the Icelandic-American Community in the Chicago area, especially during the Great Depression, later during World War II, and then to welcome to Chicago successive waves of Icelandic immigrants, their descendants, and friends of Iceland. We are still privileged to be joined by new Icelanders, so-called "Western Icelanders" [the descendants of the first waves of Icelandic immigrants to Canada and the United States], and friends of Iceland who continue to come to the Chicago area or who are being "discovered" already living here in our midst. Please keep an eye out for Icelandic sweaters and listen for the poetic lilt of someone speaking fluent Icelandic! They may very well become our next new members.

Our paid membership continues to wax and wane, as it always has, but in addition to the thirty to forty paid [single- and family-] memberships during each of the last few years, we also value a much larger pool of Icelanders, Western Icelanders, and friends of Iceland whose past, current, and future participation is always most welcome. We are grateful for both new and renewal memberships and invite more of you to join us as current members. A membership form follows in this newsletter and we invite both members and friends to update their current street address, telephone number(s), and/or preferred E-Mail address(es) by using the links on our website. [Also, please E-Mail the undersigned with the correct Icelandic spelling of names that have been incorrectly transcribed in our records.]

At the risk of sounding like a politician telling you how "your tax dollars are at work," I will tell you how your membership dues have been, more recently, put and will be put to good use:

Our webmaster, Marc Johnson, has totally updated our website;

We continue our long-standing tradition of decorating an Icelandic Christmas tree at the Museum of Science and Industry and we will be participating in additional activities commemorating the current seventy-fifth anniversary year of its Christmas Around the World program. Long-time board members, Stella Solis, Lena Hallgrímsdóttir, Joni Shaw, and Katrín Heiðar will be putting newly allocated funds to work to enhance our Christmas tree decorations and welcome your participation in same;

Joni Shaw, our permanent representative, and Larry Shaw [alternate representative] on the Board of the Scandinavian Park Foundation [the old Vasa Park in South Elgin], have encouraged our donation of an Icelandic flag pole, sponsorship of a park bench for the enhanced Vasa Park garden, and our continued participation in the mid-Summer Festival and Family Picnic on Saturday, 21-June-2008 [in lieu of an Icelandic Independence Day picnic] and Scandinavian Day on the Sunday following Labor Day, both at Vasa Park, details of which follow below;

On Sunday, the 27^th of July, 2008, long-time board members, Einar Steinsson and Lena Hallgrímsdóttir, continue their coordination of what is now our fourth annual Greater Icelandic Open Golf Tournament and awards dinner, details of which follow below;

Our tradition of celebrating an annual Þorrablót dinner in February or March, with authentic Icelandic food, continues! This past February, long-time members, Anna Kardal and Ásgeir Ólafsson, graciously hosted an in-home Thorrablot. We enjoyed Icelandic Thorrafood made possible by the cooperation of the Icelandic Society of New York and the New York City Icelandic Trade Consulate, including generous amounts of fresh Skyr donated by The Icelandic Milk and Skyr Company [www.skyr.com] , under the brand name of Siggi's Skyr, now available in many Whole Foods Markets. We gratefully acknowledge the continued generosity of IcelandicGlacial, whose pure imported water is available at both Target and Dominicks, the raffle donations of Icelandic CD's from Skifan [their extensive Icelandic website being: www.skifan.is], and the ever popular, very generous donation of deeply-discounted airline vouchers from Icelandair [www.Icelandair.com].

Your Board is mindful of the tradition of alternating the venue for our Thorrablot between a "central" location in Chicago and a remote location, somewhere in the "boonies." We are committed to finding a suitable, affordable, and convenient venue next Winter within Chicago, proper. With your assistance, with continued and new program initiatives to merit greater rates of renewal and new memberships, and diligent creative outreach to potential personal and corporate sponsors, we are committed to having an in-Chicago Thorrablot worthy of the greatest possible participation, with all the trimmings [e.g., Icelandic food, entertainment, a variety of raffle- and door prize- gifts, and, perhaps, a special honored guest], as we can all afford.

Speaking of potential "new programmatic initiatives," I will invoke "President's prerogative" and communicate the fact that, at various times, your Board has discussed the desirability and possibility of facilitating some sort of modest scholarship support, of one kind or another. No final decisions have been made and I am not at liberty to make any such "official" promises, other than to state my own personal commitment to shepherding that pipedream along its way, eventually to reality. Feedback from the entire community of members and friends is most welcome and I solicit your communication regarding same to our Board and to the undersigned.

We all look forward to your participation in our activities in the coming year. Your Board has made a renewed commitment to communicating, as best we can, to our membership and friends. Our Frón editor, Swany, will be helping us in that regard by announcing upcoming activities farther in advance, perhaps on a quarterly-basis. Again, velkomin! Thank you for your participation, contributions, and for your encouragement so that The Icelandic Association of Chicago will continue to warrant your time and talent, as we strive to maintain and uphold our proud, shared Icelandic heritage and tend to contemporary and relevant matters, Icelandic. We encourage your patronage of the above-mentioned corporate sponsors who have donated to our most recent þorrablót. If you have suggestions for any additional corporate sponsors or if you know of Icelandic vendors whose businesses we should be bringing to the attention of our members and friends, please communicate this to the Board and to the undersigned.

John Haldor Hofteig, President [E-Mail: JohnHaldor@aol.com].

From the editor

It never seizes to surprise me how everything changes for the better when spring takes over from winter. In my heart, all sorts of corny and warm feelings take place and what I really want to do is to burst into song (the musical style with emphasis on the Icelandic Folk music) and embrace everything that is around me.

Summers in Iceland were great. It seemed as one could go on, days on end, with out too much sleep. No darkness only daylight. It never bothered me. For several summers I worked in the travel industry business and if I had a penny for every time some foreigner asked me where he/she could buy dark sunglasses so sleeping wouldn't be a difficult task to solve, I would be a wealthy woman.

Summers are like a chicken soup for the soul, at least mine. Everything gets easier somehow. People are more aware of life, it take 5 minutes instead of 75 minutes to get dressed because layers of clothes aren't necessary, people remember to smile at you, eating is fun because of all the BBQ and "get to gather with friends". But most of all there is the thought of 4-5 good months until the weather turns again. You can't beat that!!!

During the next weeks and months there are miscelanious things that we can do together as members of the IAC. During the midsommar celebration on June 21st , we will celebrate The Icelandic Independence Day. The ever so popular Golf Tournament takes place on July 27th and the Scandinavian Day in September and of course many many more things if we let them happen.

-I also want to emphasis the corrections and updates on your e-mail addresses if they are any. To these addresses I will send out the IAC Newsletter. Our ultimate goal is to cut down on snail mail and only send to those without an e-mail.-

I recomend that you get out there, support our Association and celebrate summer with us.

Take care, yours truly,

Swany.

Let's use this opportunity and celebrate the Independence Day together in a group of fun loving Icelanders!

Iceland's Independence Day, June 17th

We'll have our Annual Icelandic Independence Day celebration June 21st, in Vasa Park, Route 31, South Elgin, IL. Like last year, our celebration will coincide with Vasa Park's Annual Midsommar Festival, which offers various festivities and experiences emphasizing our Scandinavian heritage. The park opens at 2 PM, the entrance fee is $5 for adults with children 12 and under free. We'll meet around 3 PM and will have reserved some picnic tables, and put up the Icelandic flag for identification. You can bring your own picnic basket, or purchase refreshments in the park. The festival goes one until 9 PM - for more information and directions, please visit www.vasaparkil.com

Let's use this opportunity and celebrate the Independence Day together in a group of fun loving Icelanders!

The Greater Chicago Icelandic Open 2008

4th Greater Chicago Icelandic Open 2008 will be at Highland Woods (2775 N. Ela Road, Hoffman Estates) on Sunday the 27th of July at 3PM. The format is the same as before, Texas Scramble, in teams of two players. If you need a partner we will find you one (for the tournament that is ;-) The fee is $35, and includes the golf, bucket of balls, and a cart. There is a trophy for the winners, and medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, plus many other prizes and giveaways. We will award the Longest Drive for women and men, longest putt, closest to the pin, and of course, "hole in one", but no car, maybe next year. The tournament is almost sold out with 10 teams so far, so sign up as soon as possible if you are interested. You can mail your check to our treasurer Larry Shaw and make sure it is payable to the Icelandic Association of Chicago

(Lawrence O. Shaw, Treasurer 147 N. Buckingham Drive Sugar Grove, IL 60554)

Take care,
Einar Steinsson

News from Vasa Park

This year's Scandinavian Day Festival is on Sunday, September 7, 2008. The theme of this celebration is "Honoring Scandinavia's Contributions to the World". We would like to be a presence this year with a booth to sell Icelandic food and another booth to display some of our foremost accomplishments.

We are looking to you for suggestions and help regarding tasty Icelandic treats that we could sell. They ran out of water last year - that's one thing we could possibly provide that would be easy.

The country-specific displays will highlight both past and present day Scandinavian contributions in such areas as science, the arts, economics, manufacturing, etc. At our board meeting we thought of such things as Althingi, Decode Genetics, Ossur Prosthetics Company, Vigdus, first female President, Reagan-Gorbachov Summit, and Geothermal energy. We look to you, once again, for your thoughts and items for display.

The Scandinavian Park Committee is working hard at cleaning up and beautifying the park. One effort is a garden and walkway with flowers native to our countries and an inner walkway with benches. The Icelandic Association has voted to donate a bench and plaque. The garden should be beautiful this fall. More buildings will be gradually added to the park, including a gazebo (a lovely place to have a wedding).

So, mark your calendars for September 7th. Email your suggestions regarding food and Icelandic display items and if you are able to help at either booth, to Joni Shaw - ammajoni@cs.com.

The Opening Ceremony is at 11:00 or 11:30 AM with a procession of the flags with people in National costumes. Are there any of you who have traditional dress who would be willing to be in this procession and carry the flag. One of the Vikings carried our flag last year.

Check out the park website at www.vasaparkil.com for further information about Scandinavian Day and other happenings in the park.

Reminder

Membership Form

The Icelandic Association of Chicago cordially invites all Icelanders, descendants of Iceland and friends of Iceland to join our organization. Please forward a copy of this Membership Form to anyone interested in joining.

Icelandic Association of Chicago

2008 Membership Form

Full Name of member/s____________________________________________

Name of child/children_____________________________________________

Address________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip-code______________________________________________

Phone Number____________________ E-mail_________________________

New Member_____________ Renewal Member_____________

Annual Membership fees: Individual/students: $15.00, Family: $25.00

Send to:

LAWRENCE SHAW

147 N.Buckingham dr.

Sugar Grove,IL

60554

FARSÆLDA FRÓN - THE ICELANDIC ASSOCIATION OF CHICAGO NEWSLETTER. EDITOR: SVANFRÍÐUR EYGLÓ ARNARDÓTTIR-GETCHELL, E-MAIL: SWANYICELAND@COMCAST.NET & WEBSITE: WWW.ICELANDCHICAGO.ORG. CORRESPONDENCE: THE ICELANDIC ASSOCIATION OF CHICAGO, JÓN HOFTEIG PRESIDENT.

December 2007

2007-12-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

From the Editor
It is always good to look back and remember, the good and the bad. Memories are like a wine, some leave a good afterglow for your taste buds while others leave your mouth dry or sour, but still, they are memories and they are a part of us and make us who we are.This year my biggest memory is the birth of my son who on Dec.24th., will turn 8 months old. I can not wait to go into the new year and start making memories all over again. I wish you all good memories and a good afterglow.

As a foreign person in a foreign country, which now I gladly and proudly call home, good memories are even more important because they make new experiences a lot easier to handle. Many of my best memories since moving here are connected to this beautiful Icelandic Association of Chicago, which we are apart of. In full honesty, though, I feel as the association is experiencing fatigue, which shows itself in lack of interest in doing and building things we so well could do and be proud of. How about turning it around? We can, by pulling together, paying our membership, and come together as one when in need. That is how associations make it and that is how memories are built. So how about it, good people? Let us make 2008 a good year for the Icelandic Association of Chicago.I wish you all a Merry and Wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

GLEÐILEG JÓL .

With warm regards on this cold night,

Swany.

Þorrablót 2008
Our Þorrablót 2008 will be somewhat different than those you may have attended in the past. Our emphasis this time will be on having a small Blot for members of the association who are in good standing. Furthermore, it will be for adults only and members may not bring guests this year. The date is February 2, at 6 p.m. The location is a private residence in Naperville. Price of the ticket is $35* and must be purchased and paid for in advance by January 18th. Due to the size of our facility, we will only be able to sell 30 tickets. Included in the ticket price is a welcome drink, gravlax, hákarl and a schnapps of Brennivín, the Icelandic Þorrafood and sides, pönnukökur and coffee. For non-Icelandic food we will have a potluck format, please contact Lena for more information regarding what to bring. The Þorrablót is a BYOB event. We will have our famous and ever popular raffle with prizes such as a plane ticket from Icelandair to the Old Country. We will have a good selection of Icelandic party music and some of our musically inclined members will entertain (we still need someone who plays guitar!). Of course, the Þorra Quire will sing, as will everyone else. In short, we are planning a night of real Icelandic fun in USA, a night to be remembered and cherished, until next time.

Skál!

The Þorra Committee

*Please reserve your tickets and renew your membership with Larry or Joni Shaw. Please remember that no Thorrablot tickets will be sold after January 18th. Make your check out to The Icelandic Association of Chicago and mail to Lawrence Shaw, 147 N. Buckingham Drive, Sugar Grove, IL 60554

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

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS
All dues and Þorrablót admissions should be sent to our treasurer. The Icelandic Association of Chicago cordially invites all Icelanders, descendants of Iceland and friends of Iceland to join our organization. Please forward a copy of this Membership Form to anyone interested in joining (link is a pdf attachment of the form).

October 2007

2007-10-13T05:32:00.000-07:00

From the President’s desk
Hello everyone, I wish you all a wonderful fall and hope you are enjoying the crisp air and beautiful weather.

Looking ahead there are few things I wish to mention. The Icelandic Association of Chicago is holding its Annual General Meeting in Schaumburg, October 20^th at 6pm. All further information about the location et cetera can be seen in this issue of Farsælda Frón. Please remember that this is the opportunity for Board members and all other members of IAC to share their vision, ideas and concerns regarding our association. In addition, I believe this can be a fun night to meet fellow members and enjoy good Japanese food!

We also have the annual Christmas Tree decoration at the Museum of Science and Industry coming up November 11^th at 1 pm. This event has been a lot of fun for everyone who enjoy the spirit of Christmas. I encourage all of you to take the rest of the afternoon off and visit some of the exhibitions within the museum. We are taking down the Christmas tree January 20^th at 1pm.

I hope to see you all soon.

Sincerely,

Katrin Heidar

From the Editor
The summer passed with a great speed and now, it suddenly is Autumn. Nature is getting ready to tuck itself in yet again and sleep soundly until next spring. I have always loved this time of year even though I loved it better when I didn’t have any leaves to rake but Iceland is kind to us when it comes to leave raking. Autumn is the time when one can breathe fresh air into the lungs, everything becomes crisp, windows stay open, the sounds from the A.C stops buzzing and most importantly; the Mosquitoes move on and pester somebody else.

With autumn comes also darkness, romantic candle lights, woolly socks and trick or treating. Children changes into all sorts of creatures who, lo and behold, all love candy.

If we don’t enjoy life we aren’t living it so I’m going to try my best of enjoying myself this Autumn. There are many things one can do and one thing I will be sure of doing; walking hand in hand with my husband in beautiful downtown Chicago and enjoy the Festival of Lights because we never, have enough Festival nor lights in our lives.

Take care and contact me via swanyiceland@comcast.net if you have something you want to contribute.

Swany.

Association Affairs

General Meeting

The IAC General Meeting will be held October 20th 2007 at Daruma Japanese Restaurant, 1823 W.Golf Road, Schaumburg,Illinois. The meeting starts at 6pm. Please join us with all your great ideas and concerns. All non-board members of the association are as well very welcome.

Christmas tree decoration
The time has come again to think about Christmas. We will be putting up our tree at the Museum of Science and Industry, Sunday, November 11th at 1pm and we will be taking it down on Sunday January 20th at 1pm. Mark your calendars and remember; THE MORE, THE MERRIER.

..AND THIS HAPPENED..

The Icelandic Independence Day, June 17th
Instead of celebrating our 63rd Independence Day on June 17th we used the opportunity and met up at Vasa Park on R31 in S-Elgin,on June 16th where our fellow Scandinavians where celebrating Mid Summer. A fair share of fair Icelanders and their families showed up to spend the day, enjoying themselves in each others company. And we did prove that size doesn’t matter and that we can sing and perform, just like the rest of Scandinavia!

Swany Getchell

Review of the Biggest Icelandic Open So Far!
The third Greater Chicago Icelandic Open was held at Indian Boundary golf course Sunday July 29th. This time we almost sold out with 20 players. It was a great day, sunny but not too hot even though some players did get very thirsty at times J First place winners with a score of 32 were Martin Brunback and Adam Jordan. Second place took Goran Aronson and Anders Singdahlsen also with a great score, 34. And, third place a husband and wife team, Natashja and Oskar Berg. The winner of the longest drive was Martin Brunback who got one our golf lesson from a PGA pro. Closest to the pin for a one night stay at the Wyndham hotel down-town Chicago was Marc Smith, and, the longest putt did go to Martin Brunback who won ½ hour lesson from a golf pro. Every player got Callaway Hot X golf balls and a 10% gift certificate to the Golf Galaxy. Last but not least, Joni and Larry Shaw won the “most improved team” award. Everyone was really happy and already signed up for next year. We are looking to change the format to a Best Ball from Texas Scramble but would still play 9 holes. The date for 2008 Greater Chicago Icelandic Open will be announced early next year but any new teams should reserve their spot.

Happy Halloween

Einar Steinsson

Review of the annual Scandinavian Day
It was a perfect weather day for the annual Scandinavian Day event on September 9th along the Fox River at Vasa Park in South Elgin. The beautiful day brought out many guests. The Norwegians, Swedes, Danes and Finns were well represented with traditional costumes and food booths. There were also many rows of vendors.

The Viking Encampment was a big hit again this year. They brought with them a replica of a Viking ship, costumes and great games for the children. They also carried the Icelandic flag in the opening ceremony. There were pony rides for kids as well as games.

The entertainment was really fine. The program included The Nordic Folk Dancers of Chicago(Linnea Johnson, (773)-262-5943 Chicago, IL nordic94@aol.com), Ole and Sven from Wisconsin, Maria Mannesto - the Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year 2007, The Finnish Kantele Players and the Chicago Nordic Choir.

If you have suggestions regarding Icelandic participation for next year please contact Joni Shaw - Ammajoni@cs.com - or any Chicago Icelandic Association board member. We need to be thinking about it now as time passes so quickly and soon the event will be upon us again.

Also, if anyone has the ability/interest to prepare an ad which we can enter, regarding our association, in the Scandinavian Day booklet, please contact Joni. Just generally speaking, it would be good to have an advertisement prepared for many other occasions as well.

I submit this article as the Icelandic representative on the Vasa Park board. I solicit your input and help in this worthwhile venture of keeping the Scandinavian cultures alive. Our heritage is unique and rich in history and deserves representation.

Joni Shaw

Whole Food Market
For the longest time, I have been waiting for Icelandic products to show up at the shelves at the Whole Food Market in Palentine.,IL but nothing ever shows up. Tired of waiting and tired of being told time and time again soon, I called the Regional Office of Whole Food Market in the Mid-West where I was told that it was not on the agenda of putting Icelandic products on the shelves. But if Icelandic products were desired, one would only have to place an order at the customer service desk and desired products would be shipped in.

Swany Getchell

May 2007

2007-06-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

From the President’s desk
The Board met at the IKEA store in Schaumburg earlier this month. We had a good meeting in the Scandinavian café, with some discussion about the past and the future of our Association. We reflected on the winter celebration or Þorrablót, held earlier this year. I believe everyone agreed it was a fun evening. However, because of the financial results of the Þorrablót this year and some other challenges, the Board decided to scale down the Þorrablót 2008 to members only. This results in a more personal event in a smaller space where members can bring only two guests and their own food to share. We will keep you informed in later issues of Farsælda Frón about further decisions regarding the Þorrablót.

Once again, the Board is making an effort to clean up the membership list. This means that only those who have actually paid their membership fees will be considered members in the Association. This sounds obvious but this has not been applied in the past. By doing this we hope that the Association will be more efficient and we can do a better job of serving the Icelandic-Chicago community. Therefore, those who are interested in being members and wish to support the Icelandic Association of Chicago please pay your membership fee now. (Please see a special announcement in the Newsletter regarding the fees et cetera.) Note that the membership form will be posted on the IAC webpage , www.icelandchicago.org, for your convenience within days. In conjunction with this the Board also decided that Farsælda Frón would be a member only Newsletter, with the exception of Icelandic embassies and other organizations that would benefit of receiving the Newsletter. Our aim is to make the Newsletter as much electronic as possible in the future.

Looking ahead there are two main events in the summer:

First, we will celebrate our Independence Day at Vasa Park, June 16th 2007. The park is having their mid-summer festival and we thought it would be fun to participate in that and take the opportunity to celebrate the Icelandic Independence Day at the same time. The IAC website has a link posted where you can see the schedule of events, but we plan to meet there at 4pm. Please see a special announcement about this in the Newsletter.

The third annual golf tournament will take place July 29th 2007. I wish all the participants well and know this will be a fun day together. Please view all the details in the Newsletter and on our website.

At last, I wish to congratulate our new editor, Svanfríður Arnardóttir-Gretchel and her family on her new son who was born April 24th 2007. He is perhaps the current youngest member in the association!

I wish you all a very happy summer and enjoy nature as much as possible.

Katrin Heiðar

From the Editor

Greetings to everyone.

Being that this is the first Newsletter I edit, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Svanfríður E. Arnardóttir aka Swany Getchell. I moved to Cary, Illinois, late in January of 2005 from Höfn Hornafjörður, a small fishing town on the SE coast of Iceland, surrounded by glaciers and mountains. I graduated with a BA in music and worked as a general music teacher for few years before moving out here to be with my husband. We have two boys and I enjoy every moment of my life here.

I have decided not to make any big changes with the layout of this newsletter but if you feel that something is missing or want to send in your thoughts, then feel free to contact me via e-mail; swanyiceland@comcast.net

Until later, Swany.

Association Affairs

Iceland´s Independence Day June 17th
The Annual Icelandic Independence Day celebration will be held on June 16th 2007 at Vasa Park in South Elgin, IL. We’ll celebrate a day early to coincide with mid-summer festival. Our celebration begins at 4 pm but come earlier to enjoy the mid summer festivities which will include pony-rides for the children.

Let’s use this opportunity and celebrate the Independence Day together in a group of fun loving Icelanders!

Gleðilegt sumar.

The Third Annual Greater Chicago Icelandic Open

Third time is a charm. The Greater Chicago Icelandic Open will be held for the third time on Sunday July 29th at 2PM. We plan on making this one the best so far with lots of prizes, giveaways and, most importantly, lots of fun! The tournament will be held at Indian Boundary, 8600 W. Forest Preserve Avenue, just off Cumberland Ave between Belmont and Addison Ave; very centrally located for everyone. It's the same course as last year but this time we'll be using golf carts to help keep the pace up. The good news is that the price is also the same as last year - only $35 per person including green fees and a cart. We've reserved tee-times for 24 players, which will be the maximum number of participants in order to finish the tournament in time to have some food and drinks, and, of course, the award ceremony.

The format of the play will be Texas Scramble or like some people call it Best Ball. Texas Scramble means teams of two players - we'll find you a team mate if you don't have one. Both team members tee up and then choose, which shot to use and both hit the ball from there, until it's in the hole!

We have a traveling trophy for 1st place and medals to keep for 1st, 2nd, and third place. Golf Smith is our proud sponsor donating prizes for the Longest Drive, Closest to the Pin, Longest Putt, and Straightest Drive. We'll also have a one hour lesson from PGA golf pro, a value of $100. We have to give Indian Boundary an exact number of players by July 24th so please sign up as soon as you can. You can send me an email esteinsson@karenzupko.com or call me at 773.489.4621 with any questions and send your check to Larry Shaw our treasurer until we have Pay Pal on the webpage. Make the check out to The Icelandic Association of Chicago and mail it to Larry Shaw 147 N. Buckingham Drive, Sugar Grove, IL 60554

I'm looking forward to see you on the 29th - Have a great summer.

Einar Steinsson

Review of Þorrablót 2007

This year’s Þorrablot was a success. It was held at the Cheshire Clubhouse in Prestbury, Sugar Grove, Aurora. Seventy people attended and enjoyed themselves eating authentic Icelandic food and dancing the night away with the Icelandic band, the Mama’s boys.

Membership and the Newsletter

Dear Reader,
We hope you are enjoying receiving and reading our Newsletter and we would want nothing more that for you to keep doing so. However, after careful discussion at our last Board meeting, we came to the conclusion that moving forward we could only send out the Newsletter to those who have paid their membership fees. As a reminder, the membership for this year - $25 for a family; $15 for an individual – was due last November. So, do not procrastinate, take out the checking book and send in the membership fee today. In short, this could be the last Farsælda Frón you receive, which of course we hope it will not be. Another change we would like to see is to limit the number of hard copies we mail out. Thus, unless you instruct us otherwise and given we have your e-mail address, you will from now on only receive and electronic copy of Farsælda Frón.
Letter to the Association

1000 Years of Icelandic Popular Music

We have recently acquired and released in the US the award winning documentary film about Icelandic music culture - "Screaming Masterpiece: 1000 Years of Icelandic Popular Music".

The film captures all the energy of the world's hottest independent music scene in Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik. It journeys through Iceland's breathtaking landscape and back down the centuries to Viking times in search of an answer to the question: Why is this music so popular?

We are trying to get the word out and create awareness about this wonderful film. It would of course help if you could spread the word by mentioning it in your newsletter, or organizing a screening at your organization. I would be happy to send you a screener of the film. I'm also open to other suggestions, please don't hesitate to send them my way.

With the help of Icelandair and Airwaves, we are also organizing a contest where the winner and one guest will be invited to the Airwaves Music Festival in Reykjavik next October.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Kindest regards,

Stefan Karrer
Acquisitions
Milan Entertainment, Inc.
3500 West Olive Avenue, Suite 750
Burbank, CA 91505
tel: (818) 953-7809
fax: (818) 953-7801
stefan.karrer@milanrecords.com
www.milanrecords.com

Save the Viking

Hello,
I write to you concerning the 1982 Norwegian-built Viking ship, now dry-docked in Geneva, that sailed to Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. I am concerned to learn that its state of repair is now at a critical point and that the ship has been placed on the ten most endangered places list in Illinois.

I have been observing the situation with the Viking for so long and would like to see this ship, with its World heritage values, restored and in a good home. Urgent action is now needed to save the first Viking ship replica in the World, a tradition that has now reached amazing precision in the Roskilde Viking ship replicas in Denmark. Would you like to participate in a campaign to Save the Viking?

I have undertaken research into the story of the Viking and included this in my article, along with a few suggestions on how to help Save the Viking on http://web.mac.com/kim.peart/iWeb/Site/Save_the_Viking.html

I have been wondering if there would be scope for a living aspect to the home of the Viking, such as the building of a new Gokstad Vikingship, to the standard now set at the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum in Denmark. The new Viking ship could then be sailed on the Lakes. Perhaps this might be the key to saving the Viking, making it a more exciting project overall. This approach may also hold more appeal for the younger generations. What do you think?

This link is a recent news film-clip of the Viking:
http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=30441@wbbm.dayport.com&cid=48

I am now making a monster outreach, to find out what is happening with the ship and see who in the World would also like to see the Viking restored and in a good home. Many good-hearted efforts have, amazingly, come to naught to date and the decay clock on the timbers of the ship are ticking away in Chicago's severe weather. Perhaps everything is wrapped up now and if this is the case, great, but I feel we should not take any more chances with the fate of this important ship with World heritage values.

I have $10 sitting in my model of the Gokstad. If a million people would also put $10 on the table, this will be the swiftest way to restore the ship, ensure that it is in a good home and provide funds for interpretation and education, which could include Viking culture and Scandinavian traditions. If a million people are prepared to speak up for the Viking, such numbers will ensure that the ship is safe.

Could this work?

I will be looking for an appropriate organisation that will put up a dedicated website for the campaign to Save the Viking, which can receive donations, including my $10.

I have included a few simple thoughts for the campaign in the article and have many more to offer should a campaign get up and running. I would be prepared to go to Chicago to help drive the campaign, should it come to that.

It would be great to hear your views on the matter and what you think should and can be done to Save the Viking!

Yours sincerely,

Kim Peart ~ Tasmania
kim.peart@mac.com

December 2006

2007-01-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

A Note from The President
I like to take the opportunity to thank my predecessor Einar Steinsson for his dedication and hard work as the former President of the Icelandic Association of Chicago. For the past nine years Einar has been a great advocate for the Association and has shown a tremendous patience and support in his leadership. We are thankful that Einar will continue to be an active board member of the Association as well as the director of the Greater Chicago Icelandic Open, the annual golf tournament open to all members and their guests.

I will do my best to continue to fulfill the Icelandic Association’s mission ensuring the legacy of the Icelandic heritage through cultural events, social gatherings and educational opportunities.

Speaking of which, we have the Þorrablót coming up February 3rd 2007. Please help us make this a successful and fun night. It is only by our members support and their guests, that the Þorrablót can continue. I look forward seeing you all there as we come together to meet friends, enjoy Icelandic delicacy and last but not least dance under the music of our very own Icelandic band “Mömmustrákar” or Mama´s Boys. Details regarding the Þorrablót can be seen in Farsælda Frón and remember last year we sold out so make sure to purchase tickets before its to late!

I also wish to thank Steinar Gudmundsson for his great work and dedicaton as the editor of our newsletter, Farsælda Frón, for the past six years. Steinar gave the newsletter a new name and look, which were welcoming improvements. We welcome Svanfríður Arnardóttir-Gretchell as the new editor of Farsælda Frón.

Thank you again for supporting the IAC and please renew your membership before January 10th 2007.

I wish you all love and happiness and please take time to enjoy family and friends this hectic time of the year.

Gleðilega Hátíð or Happy Holidays to you all!

Sincerely,
Katrin HeidarAssociation Affairs

The Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting was held on November 12th at Piccalo Mondo in Hyde Park and attendees were Einar Steinsson, Lena Hallgrimsdottir, Svanfríður and Bert Getchell, Sonja and Marc Johnson, Katrín Heiðar, Steinar Guðmundsson, Leifur Björnsson, and Andrea Ösp Karlsdóttir.

A new Board was elected and the results are the following:

President: Katrín Heiðar

Secretary: Lena Hallgrímsdóttir

Treasurer: Larry Shaw

Editor of Farsælda Frón: Svanfríður Arnardóttir-Getchell

VP of Membership & Marketing: John Hofteig

VP of Þorrablót: Stella Solis

VP of Greater Chicago Icelandic Open: Einar Steinsson

VP of Scandinavian & Leif Eirikson Day: Joni Shaw

Web Master: Marc Johnson

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. We will take the tree down on January 7 at 2 pm. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Katrin. This is a good opportunity to visit the Museum and look at its many interesting exhibitions for free. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Membership in the Icelandic Association of Chicago:

Annual membership fees are due January 10, 2007. Please write a check to The Icelandic Association of Chicago and send it to Dr. John Hofteig, 1942 Lehigh Centre - Unit C Glenview, IL 60025.
Thank you!

The fees are the same as for previous year: $15 for an individual and $25 for a family. We are actively soliciting new and renewed memberships in our group. If you want to join, re-join, or know people in the Chicago area of Icelandic descent or other interested in Iceland, please contact John H. Hofteig, VP, Membership, [Phone: 847 + 493 – 9065] or our President, Katrín Heiðar, or any of the other Board Members listed on our website: www.IcelandChicago.org

Þorrablót
Annual Icelandic Winter Celebration

Next Þorrablót will be held February, 3, 2007 at Cheshire Clubhouse, 15 Winthrop New Road in Prestbury, the same place as two years ago. We will have Mama´s Boys, the same musicians from Iceland that rocked the Þorrablót last year. Mama´s Boys are well known in Iceland for their talent and lively performance. The band members are Símon Hjaltalín from Stykkishólmur and Stefán Örn Gunnlaugsson from Hafnarfjörður and we all felt they did a very good job last year.

Otherwise the format will be same as before, dinner, our now famous raffle, (among prizes are two airplane tickets to Iceland ) sing-along with the Þorra choir, under the leadership of Svanfríður Arnardóttir-Getchell and dancing in to the night. We will have imported Icelandic þorrafood but members will bring in other food coordinated by the Þorra committee which Stella presides over. Attendees are responsible for bringing their own drinks. A welcome drink, Brennivín, soft drinks and Icelandic water are complimentary.

We will need to know as soon as possible if you plan to attend, so please return the census form ASAP. The price of the entrance ticket purchased in advance will be $35 for members, $40 for guests, $25 for students, $15 for ages 13-16, and $10 for ages 7-9. Admission for children 6 years and younger is free of charge. Please note that we will add a $5 fee on each ticket purchased at the door. The deadline for purchasing advance tickets is January 15, 2006. Please write check to the Icelandic Association of Chicago and mail to Dr. John Hofteig 1942 Lehigh Centre, Unit C, Glenview, IL 60025, tel., 847-493-9065. Remember to visit our web page www.IcelandChicago.org for any new information about the Þorrablót.

Directions: From I-88 west take the Sugar Grove exit (Rte 56 to Rtes 30-47). Once you take that exit you'll turn right on Golfview (Bliss Creek Golf Course). Don't miss this turn - it's soon after you go under the Hankes Road bridge. Golfview dead ends at Hankes. Right on Hankes Road and left on Winthrop New Road. It's just a block away with the clubhouse on the left and tennis courts on the right.

October 2006

2006-11-01T01:58:00.000-08:00

From the President’s Desk
‘Thicker than Water"

A couple of our members went to the recent international film festival in Chicago to see the Icelandic movie ‘Blóðbönd’ or ‘Thicker than Water as its title translates into English (not a direct translation (blood-bands), but that’s another story). It’s a story of a doctor who discovers that “his” son is in fact not HIS son and how the walls start crumbling down around him and everyone connected to him. The movie got some predictable plots but was surprisingly good. The actors did a superb job and so did the young director, Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson, who also wrote the script. ‘Blóðbönd’ is Árni’s first feature film, which, as he told the audience in a Q & A session after the show, he’d be traveling with to several film festivals around the world in the upcoming months. The subject matter of ‘Thicker than Water’ got me thinking about some of the cultural differences between the US and Iceland, or Scandinavia for that matter, and in particular, how complicated many relationships/marriages are in the “Old Country” vs. the culture that we live in now. It is common in Iceland that people have one or two children from previous relationships before settling down (getting married) and starting a family with a “long term” spouse. Divorce rate is high and “children” are sexually active at a relatively young age since the age for consensual sex is 16. I wonder if the hole dating thing and courtship common in America is better or if we create mentally stronger and more independent individuals in Scandinavia, I don’t know. What I know is the Icelandic tradition sometimes makes things complicated and now I’m talking from experience. Is it the social network provided in Scandinavia? Is it promiscuity, alcohol, children growing up faster, or something else, that contributes to the family pattern back home? Whatever it is, it’s definitely different from what we’re experiencing here. It’d be interesting to hear your thoughts on this subject. Please send us an email/letter or soon we can start Blogging on various topics on our new webpage.

Back to business! Our Annual General Meeting is coming up on the 12th of November. We need to elect a new board and, hopefully, a new President. I’ve been at the post for eight years and it’s time for me to step down. Not that I don’t like to be the President… Rather, we need someone to step up to the plate and take us to the next level. If you keep me on for 10 years you’d have to buy me a gold watch and that would be pricy!

See y’all soon,
Einar Steinsson
President
From the Association

From the Editor

This will be the last newsletter I edit and produce. This is the 6th year I do this and is has been fun, interesting and sometimes challenging. I think it is time for other people to take over and bring new force into this. I plan to be an active member in the Icelandic Association of Chicago and maybe I can be of help in other areas. Thank you for your support for the past few years. I will see you at the Annual Board Meeting where I am sure we will find some eager volunteers.

Steinar

Annual Board Meeting

Annual Board Meeting will be held on November 12 at 4 pm at Piccolo Mondo on 1642 E 56th St. Chicago (773-643-1106). Parking is easy and we will dine a la cart, price about $11-20 per person – half for children. Piccolo Mondo is an Italian restaurant located in one corner of the Windermere, an enormous old Hyde Park hotel gone residential, this spacious, sunny room is two-thirds trattoria, one-third Italian deli. D'Amato's bread, meats, and jars of olives and pasta sauces fill the small grocery up front, where carryout patrons can pick up anything from meatball subs to veal scallopine. Opera music and green and white linens on the table set a different tone in the large dining area. The lengthy menu offers interesting pasta dishes like rigatoni alla Carlo (in a spicy tomato sauce with pancetta and fresh mozzarella) and fettuccine Vicenzo (with tomatoes, mushrooms, basil, and garlic in white wine sauce) as well as expected items like carbonara and eggplant parmigiana, several chicken and veal dishes, and half a dozen daily specials. Desserts include cannoli, tiramisu, and various luscious-looking cakes.
The agenda is as usual:

Meeting commencement
Last year’s accounts reviewed
Board election
President election
Accountant election
Association fees
Þorrablót
Website and newsletter
Miscellaneous
Meeting adjourned

Please, RSVP by November 7th, to Einar Steinsson by e-mail esteinsson@karenzupko.com or phone (773.489.4621)

Christmas at the Museum of Science and Industry

This year’s theme of Christmas around the World exhibition is ‘Dashing Through The Snow’. We will decorate our belowed Christmas tree at the MSI on Sunday November the 12th 2 PM. Please contact Lena (847-593-4461 lhallgrimsdottir@languageline.com) if you plan to attend. The tree will be taken down on Sunday January 7th at 2 PM.

New Web-Page

All design for our new web page is now completed and up and running. The final version will be launced soon. The web page will include a guest book. Anyone with ideas/suggestions for material to be on the page should email Marc Johnson our web-master who will edit and post. http://www.icelandchicago.org/

Þorrablót 2007

The Þorrablót will be held on February 3rd at Joni and Larry’s club house as we did two years ago. The format will be finalized at the General Annual Meeting but we are leaning towards a BYOB – pot luck event and musicians from Iceland. A special Þorrablót’s flyer will be sent out shortly.

Letters to the Association

The IceKids Project

Mission
This website is the home for an online school and community, aimed at helping Icelandic kids living abroad to exercise their Icelandic skills online. This is accomplished by courses and by providing a platform where Icelandic kids and parents can communicate in a safe online environment. Since the project started over 1000 Icelandic kids in more then 40 countries have joined the community. Currently the students are living in 46 countries:

History

The IceKids project started in 2001 as a development project at the Icelandic Ministry for Education and the Icelandic Ministry for foreign affairs. In the beginning the Icelandic University of Education was in charge of the project. In 2004, privately owned Netmennt took responsibility of project. The owners of Netmennt are all educated teachers and have also been involved in the project for several years. They are currently living or have lived abroad with children, and thus have a first hand experience of the challenge of maintaining Icelandic in a foreign environment.

Platform
From the beginning Netskolinn, an Icelandic Learning Management System, has been used as a platform for the project. The system has been developed and features added as the needs arose. The system is available in English as well as Icelandic.

Contact
If you would like to receive additional information regarding the IceKids project feel free to send us an e-mail to islenskuskolinn@islenskuskolinn.is or contact us by phone:

May 2006

2006-05-25T02:34:00.000-07:00

From the President’s desk
We are on a roll – Everything is a sell out!

I am not kidding –Thank you for a great Þorrablót and so many of you showing up. It was a sell out and, most importantly, everyone had a great time. If it continues like this we will need to find a bigger venue for our gatherings. Worth mentioning is the boost in interest from members and friends of the organization. To elaborate a little bit and to make a long story short, we are working on writing rules and regulations for our “Scholarship/Travel Fund”, which has started a very interesting discussions among the board members on what our organization stands for and what should be our short and long term goals. The debate stands between a social organization providing gatherings for people of Icelandic origins and their friends OR something more? What does “something more” mean; well we do not know yet but something more than a social club. Do we have the means and energy to set up scholarship fund, organize a film festival, establish a library with books and films, start an art-fair, forming educational groups, having sport outings and competitions? If you would like to state your opinion and/or partake in the debate, please write Steinar, our editor, so we can post your thoughts in the newsletter and on the NEW webpage, which brings me to the future and what is in the pipeline. Work has started on a new webpage under the management of our new Webmaster, Marc Johnson, who has hired a designer to take us into the future. We do not have a launching date but we will have the same URL. Our next “get together” is the 17th of June celebration on the 17th of June. Steinar and Katrín have been so kind to offer their backyard in Belvidere for this party so make sure you take them up on the offer. The Greater Chicago Icelandic Open will be on the 12th of August at Indian Boundary Golf Course playing Texas Scramble in teams of two. If you need a partner we will find you one. We are probably going to sell out again (Maximum 24 players). Then there is Scandinavian Day in September and this time we are not going to sell out of the food?. There is more but I am running out of space. More information on all of this, elsewhere in the newsletter – See you later this summer.

Gleðilegt Sumar
Einar Steinsson, President

Association Affairs

Iceland´s Independence Day June 17'th The Annual Icelandic Independence Day celebration will be held at 2pm on June 17 at Steinar and Katrin’s house. We will have moon jump for the kids, and provide beverages and food. The address is 11966 Old Oak Lane, Belvidere, Illinois. Take 90 west to Riverside exit in Rockford. Take a right on Riverside and follow for about 2-3 miles past a large soccer sports complex. Take left on Olson road and then right on Orth road. Follow Orth road for 2 miles, go past Beloit road and turn right on Old Oak Lane. The house is the first house on the right. In order for us to organize the event, please call 815.547.8857 or e-mail Katrin Heidar if you plan to attend.

Gleðilega Þjóðhátíð!

The Second Annual Greater Chicago Icelandic Open

We'll have our annual golf tournament August 12th, at 2 PM. We encourage you to sign up as soon as possible, since we're predicting a sold out event! Maximum number of players is 24 (we already have 10 committed). The format will be the same as last year, Texas Scramble (Best Ball) without handicap, in teams of two players. What will be different from our first Greater Chicago Icelandic Open is the location. We will play a very nice course: Indian Boundary Golf Course, 8600 W. Forest Preserve Avenue, Chicago, Phone: 773.625.9630. "Redesigned by renowned golf architect Dick Nugent Indian Boundary is a track suited for all levels of golfers. With its heavily-wooded layout and strategically placed water and sand the course is both scenic and challenging. You'll find that golfing at Indian Boundary offers a great golf experience right in your neighborhood." Indian Boundary is an 18-hole course but we'll only play the first 9 holes. We recommend you have "touched" a golf club in your life and you know the white ball is supposed to go into the hole... But we welcome everyone, handicap or "handicapped" :-) The fee is $30 per person; carts are $16, but walking is quite feasible. We'll have prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, longest drive, closest to pin, and maybe, a car for hole in one (if you have a car you like to donate let us know), and lots of free stuff and lots of fun. After playing, we'll have an awards ceremony and some food and drinks. Let's give the current holders of the Greater Chicago Icelandic Open trophy, Tom and Ásgeir, a worthy competition this year, but, most importantly, let's all enjoy each other's company and have a wonderful golf outing.

To sign up send your check to Larry Shaw, 147 N. Buckingham Drive, Prestbury-Aurora, IL 60506, ASAP, deadline July 15, 2006. If you need a partner to play with we'll find you one.

Review of Þorrablót 2006

This year’s Þorrablot was a success. Ninety six people attended and the association broke even. Main reason may have been low ticket price in addition to the location. Þorrablot 2007 will be held on February third in the clubhouse in Prestbury.

Scandinavian Day

We will once again be participating in the Scandinavian Day on September 10 2006. The plan is to stick to the successful rice pudding and other Icelandic delicacies.

Web Page

The Association is currently having a web designer upgrading the webpage, making it more appealing and user-friendly. We look forward to seeing the final outcome.

Letter to the Association

SINE members

We received an e-mail from a travel agent in NY who some of use have used in the past. She is offering lower airfares from the USA for members of SINE. In addition, she can be helpful to help out with travel plans for anybody traveling abroad or domestic.

Thorunn Matthias Bigler (Ms)
TMB Travel in association w/Protravel Int.
10 East 53rd Street, 21st floor
New York, NY 10022
Tel: 212 702 2648
Toll Free 877-702 2600 ext 648
Fax 646 792 4876
e-mail Thorunn@protravelinc.com
VIRTUOSO Agency

News You Can Use

Learn Icelandic Online

It was in the news recently that many are now studying Icelandic online. The program has been developed at the University of Iceland and there seems to be great interest in it. Many have started online and the continued their studies in Iceland. Kolbrún Friðriksdóttir, program director for Icelandic Online, says the program was developed by University of Iceland in collaboration with the Sigurd Nordal Institute, Department of Icelandic at UI and six other Universities around the globe. The program is open to everyone and is free of charge. It is divided in two parts and is the equivalent of two semesters of Icelandic study at the University of Iceland.

Most of the students who use the program are living abroad for instance in Canada where there are many Icelandic descendents.

Icelandic Elections in Chicago (Orland Park)

The Iceland’s Vice Consulate for the Chicago area is located on15750 S. Harlem Ave, Orland Park. You can go there and vote until May 27, 2006 Bring your valid Icelandic passport and then you're responsible for mailing your vote. Many of us are planning to go on May 20th at 10:30 am but you can call 708-429-1126 to arrange for a different time. If you're joining us, you must let me know since the Consulate needs to know how many of us there will be.

Icelandic Blues Player at the Chicago Blues Festival June 10, 2006

Zora Young the famous blues singer has invited Halldór Bragason to accompany her and her band on the big stage on the Chicago Blues Festival on Saturday June 10. 750000 people attend the festival each year and it is estimated that about 100000 people will be at the festival when Halldór plays with the band. The last time he played at the festival was back in 1993 when he and his band Friends of Dori played with Pinetop Perkins on the Veranda.

December 2005

2005-12-25T02:49:00.000-08:00

From the President’s desk

What a year – hurray for us – hurray for the Association.

The year is over for us as it ends at the Annual General Meeting in October. Thus, time to review. We had one of the best years in resent history starting with a beautiful Christmas Tree at the Museum of Science and Industry, followed by a great Þorrablót, which was with a little different format than before. Next came the 17th of June celebration, then the first ever Greater Chicago Icelandic Open, then the Scandinavian Day, a big success, followed by Leif Eriksson Day and, finally, a fruitful ending, the AGM at the Ikea store in Schaumburg. In between all of these activities we had several smaller gatherings and board meetings. I also heard through the grapevine that the Desperate Housewives Club – founded at last Þorrablót – is having a lot of fun, and so are, indeed, all of us, keeping in touch and holding up great communications over the web by emails. Talking about the web, we have a new webpage IcelandChicago.org and a new web-master so make sure to check it out. All in all this was a great year thanks to our members who worked hard and unselfishly and who it would take to long to thank individually plus knowing myself I might forget someone. Instead I will list what the future, or next year, holds for us.

Once the Christmas tree is up we will have a Christmas party at Sonja’s on the 29th of December. We take the tree down at the museum on the 15th of January at 3 PM and everyone is invited. The Þorrablót is our highlight as all of you know and this time it will be at the Swedish American Museum on Clark at the 4th of February 2006. We are again flying in a band from Iceland and it will be a BYO event similar to last Þorrablót. Then we plan to celebrate 17th of June in style as next year’s Independence Day finally falls on a Saturday. The 2nd Great Chicago Icelandic Open will be in July/August with the same format but at a different golf course. Then we will participate in the Scandinavian and Leif Eriksson day. I hope you will have a chance to participate in all or most of our events helping us make 2006 an even greater year than this one.

Another headline would be that the economy is growing at a very fast pace, in part, because of the electrical plant that is being built at Kárahnjúkar but also because of the aluminum plant in Reyðarfjörður. This summer many protesters have camped out there to protest what they claim is ruining unspoiled nature.

Lastly, one more topic I have to cover. The board decided to start a Scholarship fund of $300 dollars. We are in the process of setting up a committee that will evaluate applications and, hopefully, we can give out the first check in 2006. Let me know if you are interested in sitting on the committee writing the rules and regulations and helping us make a little difference for several students in the future. Also, donations are welcome. Have a great and a peaceful Christmas.

Einar Steinsson, President

Association Affairs

The Annual General Meeting at Ikea Cafeteria on October 22, 2005

The board for 2006 is as follows:

Larry Shaw - Treasurer
Lena Hallgrímsdottir - Secretary
Steinar Guðmundsson - Editor of Frón
Katrín Heiðar - Co-Editor of Frón
John Hofteig - VP of Marketing & Membership
Joni Shaw - VP of Scandinavian & Leif Eiriksson Day
Sonja Johnson - VP of Christmas Party
Stella Solis - VP of Þorrablót Committee*
Marc Johnson - Webmaster

*On Þorrablót comitte are Svanfríður, Anna and Lena. Unfilled VP opening isVP of 17 Júní. Miguel Solis was elected an Auditor of the association for the year 2005 - 2006.

The association had a profit of $1070.62 which brings the current balance to $4537.60. The approved accounts are pending for Larry Shaw’s audit.

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. We will take the tree down on January 15 at 3 pm. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Lena.

Þorrablót

Next year's Þorrablót will be held at the Swedish American Museum in Andersonville, 5211 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60640, February 4, 2006 at 6:30 PM. The format will be similar to past years' Blót, we will have musicians from Iceland, Mæðrasynir (Mamas' Boys)*, our famous raffle, sing-along with the Þorra choir, and imported Icelandic þorrafood but members would bring in other food items, which the Þorra committee will coordinate. We tried this at last Þorrablót, with excellent results. Furthermore, attendees would be responsible for bringing their drinks, except for Brennivín! And the Association would offer soft drinks and welcome punch. As always, we need to know as soon as possible if you plan to attend or not, so kindly return the census form in a timely manner. If we do not hear from you we will be calling you :-) The price of the entrance ticket purchased in advance will be $35 for members, $40 for guests, $25 for students, $15 for ages 13-16, and $10 for ages 7-9. Admission for children 6 years and younger is free of charge. Please note that we will add a $5 fee on each ticket purchased at the door. The deadline for purchasing advance tickets is January 15, 2006. Please make checks payable to the Icelandic Association and mail to Dr. John Hofteig 1942 Lehigh Centre, Unit C, Glenview, IL 60025, tel., 847-493-9065. Remember to visit our web page www.IcelandChicago.org for any new information about the Blót.

We are looking forward to seeing ya all at the Þorrablót. Holding out this event needs your participation.

Skál!

*We are especially excited over our musicians this year, Mæðrasynir, but they are well known in Iceland for their talent and lively performance. Their names are Símon Hjaltalín from Stykkishólmur and Stefán Örn Gunnlaugsson from Hafnarfjörður and they both play the guitar and piano and, of course, sing. Stefán is currently the official piano player in Hemmi Gunn’s popular TV show in Iceland, Guess the Song, where musicians of all ages come together and try their luck reckognizing tunes from couple of notes played by Stefán

Membership in the Icelandic Association of Chicago:

Annual membership fees are due January 10, 2006. Please, send to Dr. John Hofteig, 1942 Lehigh Centre - Unit C Glenview, IL 60025, a check made payable to Icelandic Association of Chicago.

The fees are the same as for previous year: $15 for an individual and $25 for a family. We are actively soliciting new and renewed memberships in our group. If you want to join, re-join, or know people in the Chicago area of Icelandic descent or who want to know more about Iceland, please contact John H. Hofteig, VP, Membership, [Phone: 847 + 493 – 9065] our President, Einar Steinsson, or any of the other Board Members listed on our website: www.IcelandChicago.org

Web Page

www.IcelandChicago.org is now the association’s official web page. Our new web-master is Marc Johnson who replaces Orri Hallgrimsson.

Jólabarnaball 2005 (Yulefest 2005)

Sonja Johnson will have the Jólabarnaball at her house on the 29th of December. Please R.S.V.P by the 27th if you would like to attend with your young ones. It will be from 1-4 and those would like to come need to contribute a dessert or appetizer for the table. Please e-mail or call Sonja.

News You Can Use

Extra, extra, read all about it

Iceland wins Miss World again and again

This is something you definitely can use: Iceland’s beauty queen Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir won the Miss World contest that was held in China on December 10th. This does probably not mean anything to you if you did not reside in Iceland in the 1980´s but that is when Iceland really made history in this contest. Naturally we are all very proud of our Unnur. Just as Meastro Megas ones said in a bad translation of an english quote: “Ef þú smælar framan í heiminn þá smælar heimurinn framan í þig” or “smile and the world smiles with you”. (It looses the sarcasm when you translate it back to English).

Letters to the Association

The Snorri Program –The Adventure of a Lifetime –

Would you like to...
...travel and learn something new?
...experience something completely different?
...meet new people and make friends?
...stay with Icelandic relatives?
...learn about Icelandic culture and language?
...travel around Iceland’s most exotic spots?

If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, prepare yourself for the biggest adventure of your life – The Snorri Program!

Anyone of Icelandic descent between the ages of 18 and 25+ living in North America can apply for this exciting adventure. The Snorri Program is a unique opportunity for young people to discover the country, culture, nature and language of their ancestors, and to create or strengthen bonds with relatives living in Iceland. The program is six weeks long, running from mid-June to the end of July.

The Snorri program is a cooperative assignment between the Nordic Association and INL Iceland. It has been running since 1999 and all 75 participants highly recommend the program. The Government of Iceland, Icelandair and various municipalities and companies sponsor the program.

For more information, an application form and information on grants, please write to us at info@snorri.is or visit our website at www.snorri.is 15 applicants will be selected to participate in the 2006-program. Deadline: January 16, 2006If you are over 30 years old please visit our website at www.snorri.is and read about The Snorri Plus Program.

Farsælda Frón- The Icelandic Association of Chicago’s Newsletter. Editor: G. Steinar Guðmundsson, E-mail: steinargud@yahoo.com &Associate editor: Katrin Heidar. (Lena and Einar were the editors of this issue as Steinar and Katrín are in Iceland). Website: www.IcelandChicago.org. Correspondence: The Icelandic Association of Chicago, Einar Steinsson, President, 1218 N Rockwell St. Chicago, IL 60647-3004. Tel. 773 – 489 - 4621.

September 2005

2005-09-25T02:52:00.000-07:00

From the President’s desk

Iceland Today

Lena and I often get the question: “What is happening in Iceland these days?” One reason people ask us is that both of us were born and raised in Iceland so we still have very strong ties to the old country. Another reason is that our friends know we read the Icelandic newspapers almost daily and listen or watch the Icelandic news over the computer.

The headlines, in short, are: Owners/executives of one of the biggest company in Iceland have been indicted on 40 counts of misconduct. The firm is Baugur, which controls many markets in Iceland and has many firms in other countries as well, e.g., Britain, Denmark, and more. The growth of this firm has been very fast and the owners/mangers are a constant presence in the news, between jet-setting around the world. It will probably take many months until we know if they are guilty or not, but the accused claim it is all a political persecution.

Another headline would be that the economy is growing at a very fast pace, in part, because of the electrical plant that is being built at Kárahnjúkar but also because of the aluminum plant in Reyðarfjörður. This summer many protesters have camped out there to protest what they claim is ruining unspoiled nature.

Lastly, Icelanders are getting ready for local elections and the party that has controlled Reykjavík for almost three terms is splitting up into four smaller political parties. This, many claim, will result in them losing the city to Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn, which is the biggest political party in Iceland and once controlled Reykjavík for many years.

There you have it, but what is happening with us in Chicago? Well, you can read all about it in these pages of Frón, and I hope to see you soon at our gatherings.

Have a great rest of the summer!

Einar Steinsson, President

Association Affairs

Scandinavian Day

Date: Sunday, September 11, 2005. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m..
Location: Vasa Park (Scandinavian Park), Route 31, South Elgin, Illinois.
(Scandinavian Park, Inc: Phone: 847 – 695 – 6720 & vasaparkil@yahoo.com)

We'll be there and, hopefully, you too! If you want to volunteer with preparations or help out in our booth, please contact Lena 773-489-4621, lhallgrimsdottir@languageline.com

We'll be selling rúgbrauð and rice pudding, and soda and Icelandic water, and giving out brochures and literature about Iceland. The Scandinavian Day is an ideal venue to get in touch with your ethnic roots and spend a day in good company with friends and family. Beside our fantastic booth, there is lot of other vendors selling their specialty products and various entertainments for kids and grown-ups alike. A very special moment of the day is when representatives from all the participating countries present their flag accompanied by each nation's national anthem. We could make that moment even more special if you practice the lyric to the first verse of Ó Guðs vors Lands and join the Ice-Quire on stage! The ultimate special touch would be if you could dress up in the national custom!

Anyhow, in shorts or skotthúfa, we look forward seeing you in Vasa Park

(Our Joni Shaw is a Board Member of the not-for-profit Scandinavian Park, Inc.)

Annual General Membership Meeting

Date: Saturday, October 22rd, 2005, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
The Icelandic Association of Chicago’s Annual General Membership Meeting will be held in Schaumburg in the Schaumburg IKEA Cafeteria, 1800 McConnor Parkway, Schaumburg, IL 60173 (North of Woodfield Mall and visible from the intersection of the Northwest Tollway / I-90 & Route 53 / I-290.) The agenda will be as follows:

Meeting Agenda:

Last year’s accounts review,
Board election,
President Election,
Accountant election,
Association fees,
Þorrablót,
Website and Newsletter,
Miscellaneous,
New Business,
Meeting adjourned

Reservations are not required in the Cafeteria, but please do let Einar or Lena know, preferably before the 15th of October, whether you will be able to attend: Via email (einarandlena@ameritech.net) or phone (773 – 489 - 4621).

New Webmaster

Our great web-master and friend, Orri Hallgrímsson, has landed a dream job with Icelandair in Akureyri, Iceland. He is looking to get out of his duties as a web-master for us so the position is up for grabs! You get to participate in our fun filled board meetings and volunteer your work for the good cause of keeping our association visible and accessible. If you are interested, please contact Einar and Lena at 773.489.4621 or via email: einarandlena@ameritech.net

The Greater Chicago Icelandic Open

The first Greater Chicago Icelandic Open was held at Marquette Park, Chicago, the 6th of August with an awards ceremony immediately following at the Mexican restaurant, Mi Tierra, on Kedzie Ave. Tom Fox and AsgeirÓlafsson walked away with the first prize, a traveling trophy donated by Einar and Lena. Miguel Solis and Frank Burk took second place and Lena Hallgrímsdóttir and Einar Steinsson third place. All of them received a medallion to keep. Tom also won a driver for the longest drive and Ken Hynes, husband of Dísa from Dalvík, won the closest to the pin shot and a brand new putter. And there is more: Joni and Larry Shaw won one hour of a private lesson from Chris Otis, a golf pro at the Diversey Driving Range, 773 - 330 - 5623. It was a beautiful day, everyone had a great time, and we’re looking forward to playing again next year. Our sponsor for this event was ProTacTic Golf Factory, 4701 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago 773 – 728 - 0123. If you like to check them out, please talk to Dan and say Einar sent you! We have pictures from the event at the webpage: http://www.simnet.is/chicago/

Christmas Around the World & Holidays of Light

Yes, it's time to mark your calendar for decorating our Christmas tree at the Museum of Science and Industry. We're putting the tree up Sunday, the 13th of November at 2 PM and taking it down the 15th of January at 3 PM. Meeting at the museum at the beginning of the holiday season has become an enjoyable tradition for many of us, young and younger, and we'd love for you to take part in the action. In addition, it's a great opportunity to explore this great museum, for free! Please call or email Lena to sign up (Phone: 773 – 489 – 4621 & Email: lhallgrimsdottir@languageline.com).

To help you get into the Icelandic Christmas Spirit, you might want to do a Google search under: Jolasveinar and then visit several links to articles with beautiful full-color illustrations about the Jólasveinar, the traditional young Christmas lads who appear and then disappear over the course of several days before and after Christmas:

We look forward seeing you in holiday spirits

Leif Eiriksson Day

Date: Saturday, October 8, 2005. 10 AM to 4 PM
Location: The Des Plaines Public Library, 1501 Ellinwood Avenue, Des Plaines, IL (Phone: 847 – 827 – 5551 & www.dppl.org)

For the past several years, the Nordic community has gathered in various Chicago and suburban venues to celebrate the true discoverer of America, the Icelandic Leifur Eiriksson. This year you'll have an opportunity to take part in and enjoy a day of educational and informative lectures given by various scholars on subjects such as: The Viking Spirit in Modern Scandinavia, Norwegian Sweaters, and Leif Discovers America. Our John H. Hofteig will be among the speakers, and, without doubt, shed a light on the earliest Viking settlements in the New World, drawing on recent research by the Icelandic Sagas scholar, Dr. Jónas Krístjansson, whom our Joni Shaw met in Iceland, earlier this year. Other ethnic activities will include story telling, dancing, singing, and learning how to "krila", which is a form of a finger knitting, taught by our board member, Joni Shaw.

The Leif Eiriksson Committee would very much welcome our display of Icelandic art work, photos, crafts, jewelry, books, maps, etc. Please contact Joni Shaw [Phone: 630 – 466 – 5555 & Email: AmmaJoni@cs.com to let her know what you could add to our display. Complimentary coffee will be available and food items will be available for purchase throughout the day. Donations of food are solicited, but please only bring store-bought, professionally-prepared items. Homemade food will not be permitted. Again, please contact Joni for further info.

News You Can Use

Sigur Rós in Chicago

The world famous Icelandic band, Sigur Rós,will perform at the Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., September 21st at 7:30 PM. Price: $30-$35, Ticket master: 312-559-1212, Box office: 312-462-6300.

Icelandic Frozen Haddock and Cod

You can buy at L. Isaacson & Stein Fish Co.,800 W. Fulton, Chicago. Tel: (312) 421 - 2444 and at Rubino’s Seefood Inc., 735 W. Lake, Chicago Tel: (312) 258 – 0020.

Informative Icelandic Media Resources

There are several informative English-language Web Sites, with information about Iceland, including:

www.IcelandReview.com

This site takes you directly to the very informative, “Daily News From Iceland,” feature.

www.inl.is

This is the web site for the Icelandic National League of Iceland, for which our 2005 Þorrablót guest, Almar Grímsson, was such an articulate ambassador.

www.snorri.is

This is the web site for the Snorri Exchange Programs, which the INL of Iceland and the INL of North America coordinate. Almar invited our group to nominate participants for future Snorri exchange programs.

www.inlofna.org

This is the web site for the Icelandic National League of North America, which works closely with the INL of Iceland and related groups throughout Canada and the United States.

I & I: Issues and Images ICELAND

I & I is an excellent monthly, English-language publication, profiling the diversity of contemporary life in Iceland, everything from the arts to nature to high finance. It is produced by Iceland Review and Heimur Publishing Ltd for the Trade Council of Iceland. It is liberally illustrated with wonderful photography and art work. Complimentary copies are available from major Icelandic Trade Consulates and Embassies. Board member, John H. Hofteig, can provide more information.

Notice Board

Lena Hallgrimsdottir is looking for a job! It’s time to move on – I’ve worked for Online Interpreters-Language Line Services for the past 5 years Head Recruiter, managing a team of assistant recruiters and working with management on developing recruiting strategies. Furthermore, I’m an HR Representative, and a Language Tester. These years of hands-on experience in a fast paced, deadline-oriented, multicultural environment, added to my Master’s degree in Communications from DePaul University, have given me a solid foundation on which I’m ready to build. My goal is to find a challenging job with a stimulating relationship benefiting both the employer and me. I’m open to any interesting opportunities that come my way and I know that my strengths in interpersonal communication, innovative thinking, and getting-things-done-attitude, along with excellent organizational and analytical skills and the help of the Icelandic Association’s network, will get me to a good place. Thanks for any referrals or job leads! einarandlena@ameritech, home phone: 773 – 489 - 4621

January 2005

2005-01-25T02:54:00.000-08:00

Þorrablot

Annual Icelandic Winter Celebration

The Þorrablót will be held on February 12th at the Cheshire Clubhouse, 15 Winthrop New Road in Prestbury. This year´s Blót will be different, placed in a smaller venue which hopefully will make it more intimate and more fun. All members will bring a designated food item and we’ll have our Icelandic dance music played from CDs.

The Blót will begin promptly at 6 pm with gravlax and cocktail. Dinner follows at seven, sing-a-long, open podium, home made desserts and our famous raffle where you could win two airline tickets to Iceland! Other prizes include tickets and parking stickers for a Wolf’s game, Icelandic and other CD’s, smoked lamb, T-shirts, tickets to next year’s Þorrablót and many more surprises. And then, just like Cinderella, we get to dance until midnight…

Price of ticket purchased in advance for members is $25 – non-members $30. Ticket price at the entrance for everyone is $35. Please note that although you plan on purchasing your ticket at the door you must reserve your ticket and commit to bringing a food item. Included in the ticket price is a cocktail, Þorrafood, soft drinks, coffee, Brennivín and any other food provided by members of the Association. Please bring your own beverages other than mentioned above.

Advance purchase/reservation of ticket must be made before February 8th. Please make checks payable to the Icelandic Association and mail to John Hofteig, Dr. John Hofteig, 1942 Lehigh Centre - Unit C Glenview, IL 60025. Please contact Lena Hallgrímsdóttir 773-489-4621 (lhallgrimsdottir@languageline.com) to sign up for a food item to bring. For further information visit our web page www.simnet.is/chicago

On the menu you will find: smoked lamb, ham, herring, gravlax, sweet peas, mashed rutabagas, mashed potatoes, potato salad, boiled potatoes, red cabbage, béchamel sauce, fresh salad, flat-bread, rye-bread, toast points, butter, dried fish, shark, ram's testicle, sheep head pate, pancakes, rice pudding and more.

Directions: From I-88 west take the Sugar Grove exit (Rte 56 to Rtes 30-47). Once you take that exit you'll turn right on Golfview (Bliss Creek Golf Course). Don't miss this turn - it's soon after you go under the Hankes Road bridge. Golfview dead ends at Hankes. Right on Hankes Road and left on Winthrop New Road. It's just a block away with the clubhouse on the left and tennis courts on the right.

November 2004

2004-11-25T02:58:00.000-08:00

From the President’s Desk

Thanksgiving was a blast and wishing you a peaceful Christmas…

I’m writing this the day after we put up the Icelandic Christmas tree at the Museum of Science and Industry. We all did a really good job even though Lena and I messed up! You see, we came late and forgot one of the boxes at home… Oh well, everyone was very patient about it and we ended up having fun decorating one of the most beautiful tree at the Christmas Around the World exhibition. I’m sure you agree if you have a change to take a look at it this holiday season and I promise it’ll get you into the Christmas spirit.

As you can see elsewhere in the newsletter we have elected a new board with some new members and some older more experienced. We’re going to have a great year and we have lots of new ideas for the upcoming year: golf outing, Christmas party, different “only for members” Þorrablót, and much more. Make sure you send in your membership fee now so you’ll not miss out on any upcoming events. We’re “cleaning up” the membership list in January but we’ve also lowered the membership fee.

After evaluating last year’s activities two things, in my opinion, are worth highlighting: the Þorrablót where we made a profit and saw a record attendance with the ambassador and his wife, and the continuing discussions about the purpose of our Association. We’ve had lively debates about the purpose of the organization where questions like ‘do we exist for the members’? ‘Are we to promote Iceland’? ‘Are our events for people other than members who maybe have no connection to Iceland’? And many more are discussed. We have yet to redefine whom we are but we are getting there. If you’d like to take part in this identity process please voice your opinion as soon as possible in the newsletter and in our meetings, which are open to all members.

That’s it for now and I’m sticking to it.

Einar Steinsson

President

Association Affairs

From the Editor

There seems to be a misunderstanding that there is only one Santa Claus and that he lives on the North Pole but as all Icelanders know, all of the THIRTEEN Santas or Jólasveinar (“Christmas Lads”) live in Iceland. Icelanders themselves have different opinions on where in Iceland they live which mostly depends upon where the Icelanders grew up. People from the capitol all claim that the Lads still live at home with their parents, Grýla and Leppalúði, in the mountain Esja. Thirteen nights before Christmas they begin their descent from the mountain one by one until the last one appears in town on Christmas Eve. The first one to appear is Stekkjastaur and the last one is Kertasníkir. The others are Giljagaur, Stúfur, Gáttaþefur, Hurðaskellir, Bjúgnakrækir, Pottasleikir, Kjötkrókur, Skyrgámur (my favorite), Gluggagæir, Þvörusleikir and Askasleikir. They are a bit rough around the edges but all have a heart of gold and bring presents and the Christmas spirit to everyone. But be careful not to leave any food unguarded in your home since, as the names of most of them implies, it will be eaten. Everyone knows that carrying all these presents sure brings out your appetite if you are raised by trolls and only work 1 month out of the year. The day after Christmas they begin going back home until Þrettándann (the Thirteenth) when the last one leaves and Christmas is officially over. This is January 6th and is celebrated with Álfabrennu or Elven bonfires where you dance around the fires accompanied by Elves, goblins witches and sometimes trolls who are all happy this awfully dreadful Yuletide is gone and life can finally go back to normal. That is, until next year when the circle is repeated all over again.

When the first Santa is expected to arrive, children in Iceland put a shoe in the window and every night (if they have been nice) they get a treat from the Santa that comes into town that night. If they are naughty they receive a potato in their shoe which is not cool. And if you are very naughty you will even not get any presents on Christmas Eve and will be eaten by the big, black and scary Yulecat. So, be nice and and have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Annual Board Meeting November 2004 at CozyMel’s

Attendees: Einar Steinsson, President, Lena Hallgrímsdóttir (minute taker), John Hofteig, Anna Kárdal, Ásgeir Ólafsson, Binna Porter, Elva Johnson, Sonja & Marc Johnson, Katrin Heiðar, Steinar Guðmundsson, Joni & Larry Shaw. Kids: Óli Axel, Sigga, Ágústa Erna, Sóley Melkorka, Kristofer Mark, & Anna Katrín. Also, Joni and Larry´s daughter & family, and visiting from Iceland Lena’s brother and fiance Högni & Perla. Anna Kárdal the association’s treasurer presented last year’s numbers, which the meeting discussed and approved. The association had a profit of $701.46, which brings the current balance to $3318.66. The approved accounts are pending for Siggi Birkis’ audit in December.

The elected board for year 2005:
Einar Steinsson President
Anna Kárdal Treasurer
Lena Hallgrímsdottir Secretary
Steinar Guðmundsson Editor of Frón
Katrín Heiðar Assistant Editor of Frón
Binna Porter VP in charge of Þorrablót 2005
Elva Johnson VP
John Hofteig VP Membership
Joni Shaw VP Music & Christmas Party
Sonja Johnson VP
Stella Solis VP
Orri Hallgrímsson Webmaster

Larry Shaw was elected an Auditor of the association for the year 2004 - 2005.

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. We will take the tree down on January 16 at 3 pm. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Lena.

Þorrablót

This year’s Þorrablót will be scaled down as previously discussed and agreed to. We may or may not have a band this year. We have reserved Joni and Larry Shaw’s clubhouse for February 12th. A deadline for reserving/purchasing tickets for the blot will be set up so we would know well in advance the exact head count.

Membership in the Icelandic Association of Chicago:
Annual membership fees are due January 10, 2004. Please, send to Dr. John Hofteig, 1942 Lehigh Centre - Unit C Glenview, IL 60025, a check made payable to Icelandic Association of Chicago. The new lower association fees for 2005 are $15 for an individual and $25 for a family.

We are actively soliciting new and renewed memberships in our group. If you want to join, re-join, or know people in the Chicago area of Icelandic descent or who want to know more about Iceland, please contact John H. Hofteig, VP, Membership, [Phone: 847 + 493 – 9065] our President, Einar Steinsson, or any of the other Board Members listed on our website: www.simnet.is/chicago

Web Page

We will be moving our website to a new domain www.IcelandChicago.org. Larry and Joni have generously offered to sponsor the domain for couple of years. The plan is to update the look of the website. More info to follow.

Yulefest 2004

Larry and Joni would like to host a Christmas party on the 26th of December at 3PM. Let us know if you are interested and have time to attend.

Letters to the Association

Þórrablót 2005, 12-February-2005 (from John Hofteig)

Almar Grímsson, recently re-elected President of the Icelandic National League of Iceland (Þjóðræknisfélag Íslendinga) and his wife, Anna Björk, will be our guests at our Þórrablót 2005. They will also be attending the Minneapolis one, co-sponsored by the Icelandic-American Association of Minnesota and the Icelandic Women’s Hekla Club, the following week, 19-February-2005 (See details below).

Steinþór Guðbjartsson, Managing Editor, The Lögberg-Heimskringla , spent some time with Almar Grímsson in Iceland in early November, 2004. The following excerpts of his interview with Almar is reprinted with the kind permission of The Lögberg-Heimskringla from the 3-December-2004 issue, which began a series of articles under the Rubric of “Destination Iceland.” Subsequent issues will contain additional impressions of contemporary Iceland, including Steinþór’s interview of Paul Sveinbjörn Johnson, long-time member of our Icelandic Association of Chicago and former Honorary Icelandic Consul General in Chicago.

Strengthening contacts and making new ones:

The INL of Iceland, or ÞFÍ, was established 65 years ago…on December 1, 1939 and was very active for a number of years,” Almar says… “It was then revitalized in 1997…. The first project was the Snorri Program [an exchange program between Iceland and North America] and I often refer to it as the single most important activity that we have implemented in recent years. In fact the Snorri Program is a cornerstone in the successful work of INL Iceland.”

The importance of the ties between Iceland and North America:

“…To me this is like reuniting a family,” he says. “Many of us who belong to the third or fourth generation of Icelanders since the mass emigration of 1870 -1914 were only vaguely informed about the history of the emigration and the life, living conditions and culture of the Icelandic descendants in North America. There is now a new wave of interest, thanks to many factors. The most important, in my opinion, is the Hofsós Emigration Centre, which has given fantastic possibilities for getting new insight and information in this respect.”

The Snorri Program started it all:

About seven years ago Almar was formally connected to the collaboration with the descendants of the Icelandic immigrants in North America. “This was through my involvement in designing and promoting the Snorri Program. I frankly admit that I was ignorant and only vaguely knew that the siblings of my great grandmother left Dýrafjörður in the period 1874 - 1890. Now I have found some of my relatives and continue to re-establish family bonds.

“These years are like a new dimension in the lives of myself and my wife, Anna Björk. We instantly fell for the spontaneous friendship and hospitality wherever we have traveled. Actually, it is largely thanks to a coincidence in 1991 when, at an international conference in Washington, D.C., I met my friend and colleague Ernest Stefanson from Gimli. Eventually this led to us coming to the Icelandic Festival in Manitoba in 1998 and since then I have been deeply involved in furthering the collaboration between Iceland and ethnic Icelanders in North America. We have made many new and very dear friends through this and I am filled with gratitude for having had the opportunity to be a part of this great movement…”

“ÞFÍ can and should play a very crucial role in tying the associations of descendants of Icelanders in North America with Iceland,” says Almar. “We are a sister organization of Þjóðræknisfélag Íslendinga í Vesturheimi, INL of North America, and work towards the same goals…We in INL Iceland…want to work directly with any organization and institution that wishes to strengthen the ties between Iceland and people of Icelandic descent in North America.”

Visits becoming more and more popular:

“…We have a very important role in educational and information activities. The last few years, historian Jónas Þór has held two courses every winter on the history of emigration. These courses have been well attended and after the first course activity many participants showed great interest in following up by visiting settlements of the Icelandic emigrants. Such tours, which we call the SAGA Tours, continue, and in addition we have increased our tour activities...”

Almar has been instrumental in breathing new life into the ÞFÍ and he has proposed some plans for the near future. “We have held meetings in the north and east of Iceland…in light of the fact that a great majority of the emigrants were from these areas. We also took the important step to sign a formal agreement between INL Iceland and The Emigration Centre at Hofsós.

“We are also developing a good working relationship with Þjóðmenningarhús — The Culture House, or National Centre of Cultural Heritage. The expansion of the Snorri Program to cover other age groups has also proven to be very successful. The Snorri Plus [for adults and seniors] program will therefore continue and hopefully grow. Then of course the ‘people meet people’ activities in organizing tours to various destinations in the United States and Canada is of major importance. We focus on meeting with people wherever we visit and have a ‘kaffisopi’ together. We are particularly fond of the visits to homes for the elderly and regard those as highlights of the tours.

“Similarly we would like to be increasingly visited by groups from the same areas… [Please see their web site for information on past and future SAGA Tours to and from North America.]

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Additional biographical information about Almar is available at www.al-bas.com the website for his pharmaceutical consulting firm, ALBAS. Almar has graduate degrees in Pharmacy and his career has included extensive international and national contributions affecting public health and pharmaceutical issues. He has served in the public sector as an elected deputy to the Hafnarfjörður City Council [2002] and an alternate member of the Althingi [2003]. He has been married to Anna Björk since 1962. They have three children and four grandchildren. Anna has also worked in the public sector in Iceland, was a co-owner of the Harnarfjarðar Apotek, and is a certified Yoga instructor. In recent years they have been active hosts for the Snorri programs both in Iceland and North America. Further information is available on the excellent web site [both Icelandic and English versions] for the INL of Iceland www.inl.is This website has several useful links to the INL of North America, the Snorri Program, and others sites. Almar will have in hand information concerning Snorri and very much welcomes participation by the Icelandic community in Chicago!

John Hofteig (JH)

The Norwegian National League

The Norwegian National League is beginning plans for a celebration of Leif Erikson Day on the weekend of Oct. 10 & 11, 2005. The year will mark 100 years of independence for Norway, which makes every celebration next year a little more important to the League.

The DesPlaines Public Library has given us the use of their premises as they did in 2001, so we are now contacting organizations and persons who might want to participate.

We would like to know what plans the Icelandic Association might have for this October. There is nothing in Carol Hoidahl’s “Scandinavian Events Calendar” except our own wreath-laying ceremony at the statue in Humboldt Park. Would you like to help us with our plans?

We are holding a seat open on the Board of Directors for an Icelander. The annual membership fee is $20 per member. Surely one Icelander would like to join and be a voting voice in this important organization.

Les Amack

News You Can Use

The Scandinavian Park Board

The governance of the Scandinavian Park, formerly known as Vasa Park, immediately south of Elgin on Route 31, has been recently updated to provide long term prudent management of this valuable community resource. Their Board is holding open a Board Membership for a representative of the Icelandic Community. The newly reorganized Board wants to actively.professionally manage this resource year-round. Please contact Einar Steinsson or John Hofteig if you are interested in representing our community. Their Board looks forward to our continued participation, including a much improved Scandinavian Day next September and a special 2005 observance of Leif Ericksson Day.

JH

A growing Icelandic Christmas Tree Forest in Chicago

Iceland will soon have a second Christmas Tree in Chicago! Elsewhere you will have read about the Icelandic Christmas Tree at the Museum of Science and Industry. The Cook County Treasurer’s Office [in the Cook County/City of ChicagoBuilding] is helping us decorate a smaller Icelandic Christmas Tree, illustrating the Icelandic tradition of the Jólasveinar, the traditional thirteen Christmas lads, elves, who appear and then disappear, one by one, in the days before and after Christmas. Additional information about Icelandic Christmas traditions is available at the Icelandic and English website: www.jolahusid.com

JH

Iceland’s international leadership in geothermal research

Geothermal fields have long been in full production with effluent at the well head of sufficient power to drive electrical turbines producing enormous amounts of electricity. It is one of the primary reasons why aluminum smelting is booming in Iceland and why the Hydrogen Project may provide potentially viable energy alternatives to fossil fuels, as these both require enormous amounts of electricity. The Icelandic Deep Drilling Project, a consortium attracting industrial, academic, and governmental collaborators worldwide, is directing ground-breaking research permitting both on-shore and off-shore geothermal drilling at phenomenal depths. Additional information and relevant links are available on its English and Icelandic website: www.iddp.is

JH

Icelandic Lamb sold in Whole Food Market

Whole Food Market again is offering Icelandic lamb this Holiday season. The lamb is available in the Wheaton store and all over the country. Some of us already have reserved some for the dark winter months. But be aware it is sold out in many places and is also godly expensive.
Lögberg-Heimskringla

The Lögberg-Heimskringla is North America’s oldest newspaper continuously published in both Icelandic and English. It is publishes 24 issues per year. Printed paper copies, delivered via airmail from Winnipeg, Manitoba are available in the United States for an annual subscription of USD $ 60.00 or in an internet-accessible paperless version for CDN $ 45.00 The internet version is an economical alternative because they are in the process of digitizing all 118 years of back issues and will have additional on-line resources. Full subscriptions to the printed version include full internet access, as well. Managing Editor, Steinþór Guðbjartsson, a seasoned Icelandic journalist known to readers of the Morgunblaðið, was recruited by The Lögberg-Heimskringla to increase the breadth of its coverage to include Icelandic communities throughout all of North America. One of his goals is to travel throughout all of North America to meet and interview people of Icelandic descent and to cover matters of interest to the broader Icelandic community. Further information is available on their website: www.logberg.com

Another reason to run, not walk, to the post office to mail in your 2005 membership dues and reservation for our Chicago Þórrablót: Steinþór plans to attend both the Chicago and Minneapolis Thorrablot’s and will want to interview as many of our members as possible. Attending Thorrablot may very well get your picture in both the Lögberg-Heimskringla and the Morgunblaðið! Such a deal!

JH

Minneapolis Þórrablót 2005, 19-February-2005

The Icelandic-American Association of Minnesota and The Icelandic Women’s Hekla Club invite members of our group to join them at their gala dinner, 19-Feb-2005, at the Sheraton Hotel [the old Radisson South], I-494 and Highway 100 in Bloomington. The cost at $ 40.00 per person includes a full array of traditional food from Iceland, American cuisine, and entertainment [local Minneapolis-Norwegian, Leroy Larson and his Scandinavian Player, the Icelandic musician and author, Valgeir Guðjónsson, dancing, and perhaps additional musicians from Iceland]. Optional shots of Brennivin may be purchased for $ 5.00 as a fund-raiser for the Val Björnsson Scholarship Fund. Paid reservations should be sent directly to John & Jana Magnusson, 13425 Gulf Court, Apple Valley, Minnesota 55124, by 5-Feb-2005. The special room rate at the Bloomington Sheraton has been over-subscribed, but interested attendees may contact John H. Hofteig [Phone: 847 + 493 – 9065] for assistance in finding affordable accommodations in the Twin Cities.

JH

September 2004

2004-09-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

From the President’s Desk

Fall is here and the Annual Meeting is coming up.

The organization is growing at a record pace – not only are we finding “new” Icelanders in town and new people moving into town, but members are having babies like never before. Keep it up members, let’s get bigger than the Swedes! Anna and Ásgeir had a baby girl and so did Katrín and Steinar, our editors. Both girls are doing fine keeping their parents up all night.

Going back in time, the last “get together” we had was planned for Humboldt Park but moved at last minute to our backyard. We had a great time with about 20 people attending plus children. I stood by the grill and did hotdogs and burgers and the weather was perfect. This could not have been a better Independence Day except if it would have been in Iceland, but surely then it would have been raining J

Speaking of Iceland, we listen to the news at least once a week and/or watch the news on the computer. The format is really user-friendly and the WebPages are www.ruv.is or www.visir.is If you have any problem understanding the instructions or need help understanding Icelandic then you need to sign up for a class in Icelandic!

Lastly, if you can possibly attend the General Meeting on the 24th of October, please make a note of it because we always have such a good time. All the details are elsewhere in the newsletter and please consider running for any of the positions available on the board. I’m sure we’ll have a great term 2004/2005.

Enjoy the fall weather – the colors and the perfect temperature reminding one of a good summer day in Iceland.

Einar Steinsson, President

From the Editor

Unfortunately, however you look at it, this country has got itself into another Vietnam. Then it was World Communism, now it is World Terrorism. Again just as in the 60’s the war had been going on for few years before the media started to portray a realistic picture of what was truly going on. That was largely due to information being held back but now it seems to be more based on fear. The corporate run media is afraid it will turn away viewers with uncomfortable news and also that the government will shut them out in the cold. Therefore, I recommend listening to the National Public Radio (I do not think I have heard the Laci Peterson trial mentioned there yet!) where you can hear some interesting reports from journalists such as Ivan Watson who have been close to the events in Iraq. Also, I find it most interesting to read the blogs written by the soldiers themselves and their commanding officers. That is probably the best way to find out what is really going on. Few of the blogs have been extremely popular and some have now been shut down by the military and the bloggers have been disciplined since it was thought the blogs contained sensitive information.

Annual Board Meeting

The Icelandic Association of Chicago’s Annual Board Meeting will be held at Cozy Mel's in Wheaton Sunday the 24th of October at 5:30 PM. Cozy Mel’s is off Butterfield Road on Loop Road and can be seen on the right side of Butterfield Road if you are traveling West. The agenda will be as follows:

Meeting commencement
Last year’s accounts reviewed
Board election
President election
Accountant election
Association fees
Þorrablót
Website and newsletter
Miscellaneous
Meeting adjourned

Please, RSVP before the 15th of October whether you are attending. Either contact Einar Steinsson by e-mail or phone (773.489.4621) or Binna Porter (630.231.5951). Let us also know if you need a lift and we can arrange for that. You can also check out Cozy Mel's webpage http://www.cozymels.com/ for further directions and information. We will just order off the menu and average meal is about $15.

Christmas at the Museum of Science and Industry

Our annual Christmas tree decoration at the Museum of Science of Industry is a fun tradition. This year we will decorate the tree on November 14th at 2 pm and take down the decorations January 16 at 3 pm. Everyone interested in participating and helping out is welcome, please sign up with Lena (773-489-4621). The tree will be on display over the Holidays along with trees from other nations.

Letters to the Association

Apartment Swap Chicago – Iceland

We have an apartment in Chicago and are looking for someone to swap apartments with us in Iceland. We plan to be in Iceland from December 21 to the 2nd or 5th of January. We are looking for an apartment or a house in Greater Reykjavik for this time period where its owners would be able to use our place in Chicago. If this suits you please contact me via e-mail: bjokri@laengen.kbhamt.dk

Best regards,
Bjorg

May 2004

2004-05-25T03:05:00.000-07:00

From the President’s Desk

From now on “Members Only”!

The board met at Siggi’s house at the beginning of April. We had a very good meeting with lively debates about the future of the association and evaluating the 2004 Þorrablót. Siggi and Bonny thanks for hosting.

This year’s Þorrablót was a great success with record number of attendees. It was an honor to have the ambassador, Helgi Ágússon and his wife, Hervör Jónasdóttir, attending - they are great representatives of Iceland. They had a very good time and at the end of his speech they both sang for us and many people joined in. They said the food was the best Þorrafood they ever had and keep in mind they’ve attended lot of Þorrablóts. Later in the newsletter we have the financial results of the Þorrablót, but this year we had a record number of guests and non-members attending, which has its pros and cons. Next year we are going to scale down the Þorrablót to members only and have it at someone’s house or a small banquette hall. Everyone is interested in making the Þorrablót a more intimate event with the Icelandic food and the raffle but not importing a band. It is going to be different and hopefully a lot of fun.

The board decided to clean up the membership list to only include those who have paid membership. There is really no point in running an organization for non-members. This will streamline the operation and make it better for everyone. So if you have been receiving the newsletter even if you have not paid the membership fee, sorry, it will not happen again. But at the same time we are orchestrating a membership drive. So, if you have not paid DO IT TODAY. Mail the check to Anna Kardal @ 719 Wildflower Circle Naperville, IL 60540. The fee is $20 for individuals and $30 for family membership.

Lastly, at the meeting we looked into the future and asked ourselves a lot of good questions, such as, what is the purpose of the organization? Were should we go from here? What are our short and long-term goals? Etc. Well, we did not have all the answers so I am contemplating creating a special committee that would work on the statement of purpose for the association, as well as, long and short-term goals. If you are interested in working with us on this let me know.

“Gleðilegt Sumar” or “Happy Summer”

Einar Steinsson, President

Association Affairs

From the Editor

The Third Chicago Major Airport – Chicago West Airport

There has been much talk regarding the proposed South Suburban Airport in Peotone. Even though it has not been as much discussed now during Blagojevich’s term there were hot debates between Governor Ryan and Mayor Daley. After I moved out further West of Chicago to Belvidere I have found out that there actually is a full size airport close to Chicago. It is Rockford Airport which not many people know about. It is about 1.5 hour away from downtown and 45-60 minutes from Schaumburg and the West Suburbs. The airport is the main hub for UPS and other cargo companies for the area. Despite being set up as a complete air terminal for commercial airlines, the only commercial airline that flies there so far is TransMeridian Airlines or TMA which is sort of a daughter company of old TWA. TMA offers very cheap fares to Orlando, Las Vegas and Puerto Rico. Plans are in way to increase the services and other airlines are looking into flying to this airport and PARKING IS FREE.

The Direction of the Association

At the last Association (IAC) meeting it was decided to reduce the size of the Þorrablót next year. The Þorrablót has traditionally been the largest event of the year. The last one was very well attended and a great success where many people outside the IAC showed up and it recieved some publicity in the local newspapers. But the argument is that Þorrablót was never meant to be a tourist attraction but mainly for the members of the IAC. But why not reach out and branch out. The problem is that to set this up takes a lot of volunteer hours and effort and usually the people that arrange everything the do not get to enjoy it since they are busy making sure everything goes smoothly.

This brings me to my next question. What is the purpose of the IAC? It started out as a chess club but has developed into an ethnic association with its own traditions. It was through the IAC that I first learned of other Icelanders and people of Icelandic descent when I first moved into the area. I soon came active within the IAC and became acquainted with other active members. The newsletter has been printed and sent out to 70 families and individual and most of them have only a very loose affiliation if none at all, to the IAC. So, who is it for? There is also a faction of the IAC that wants to branch out and join the Icelandic National League such as Jon Hofteig suggests in his piece. To do so would suggest a different purpose of the IAC that being a resource for Icelanders moving to Chicago, where it would become a vehicle to keep up affiliation with Icelanders in the whole United States.

There was some discussion on the last board meeting on this subject. There are different directions within the IAC and even within the Board and you might have different ideas. I believe we need to have a serious discussion what the purpose of this association and where we need to take it in the future if anywhere.

Hæ, hó, jibbíjei og jibbíjei, það er að koma 17di júní...

This year we're going to celebrate our national holiday in Humboldt Park, Chicago, Saturday June 19, at 3 PM. Our independence picnic will be in the same fashion as before, i.e., bring some food and beverages, lawn chairs, picnic tables, games, etc. If anyone has a portable BBQ please bring it!

Humboldt Park is located between North Avenue (North), Kedzie Avenue (West), California Avenue (East) and Division Street (South). We'll be stationed with our Icelandic flag by the Boat House West of Humboldt Park Blvd. And south of North Avenue but the boulevard runs North and South through the park. There is a small parking lot in front of the Boat House and non-permit street parking on the side streets. Please be advised that this weekend Puerto Ricans will also be celebrating their national holiday, although, in a different part of the park. To avoid traffic congestion and/or closed streets due to their festival, please use North Avenue as your connection route to Humboldt Park Blvd.

Please visit www.chicagoparkdistrict.com for the history of Humboldt Park, which interestingly has a statue of Leifur Eiríksson (Leif the Lucky), who, like we all know is an Icelander and the discoverer of America! Feel free to call Lena and Einar (773-489-4621) for more information.

85th Annual General Meeting of the Icelandic National League of North America [INL of NA]

The 85th AGM of the INL of NA was held from Thursday evening, 22-April-2004, through Sunday noon, 25-April-2004, at the Gull Harbour Resort & Conference Centre on historic Hekla Island, about two-and-a-half hours north of Winnipeg on Lake Winnipeg. Hekla Island and Gimli (about an hour north of Winnipeg), settled by early Icelandic immigrants to Canada beginning in 1875, were among the earliest important fishing ports on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. Hekla Island and the larger community of Gimli were early centers of New Iceland, enjoying considerable political autonomy until this Federal District of the Northwest Territories came under Manitoba provincial governance. Gimli became the North American headquarters for the Old Icelandic Lutheran Synod and is now best known as the venue for the very large annual Íslendingadagurinn, the Icelandic Festival held the weekend of the first Monday in August, and the site of one of the Bethel Retirement Homes. Gimli and Winnipeg, at various times, hosted several Icelandic publishing houses.

John H. Hofteig, a member of our Board, has been attending the past three INL of NA AGM’s [Hekla Island, Edmonton, and Minneapolis] as an unofficial observer from the Icelandic Association of Chicago and as a member of the Minnesota Icelandic Association. This report from Hekla Island is intended to encourage our group, once again, to join the INL in some official capacity. The INL of NA promotes cultural ties between Iceland and Western Icelandic communities in both Canada and the US. It is comprised of about a dozen chapters and a dozen affiliate organizations throughout North America, most of which are based in Canada. It does, indeed, however, have member organization from within the US as well as US-based members on its Board. The INL of NA is also affiliated with the INL of Iceland.

This year’s AGM was hosted by the Bruin Chapter, The Icelandic Association of Selkirk, Manitoba. Their Maxine Ingalls narrated a fascinating history of commercial fishing on Lake Winnipeg, which early on occupied the time, energy, and innovation of several immigrants to New Iceland. Entertainment included the Arborg, MB-based New Iceland Youth Choir and the touring Reykjavík-based adult choirs, The Past Time and Rainbow Choirs. Julíus Hafstein, a member of the Prime Minister’s staff and Director of the Government Office of Special Projects, surveyed the Centenary of Home Rule in Iceland. Begun in 1904, it represented the most dramatic societal changes leading directly to eventual sovereignty, universal suffrage, and considerable opportunities for all Icelanders.

Long-standing programmatic activities of the INL of NA include support of publications [Icelandic Canadian Magazine and Lögberg-Heimskringla], language training, the International Visits Program, the Snorri Exchange Programs, Íslendingadagurinn, a very rich website (www.inlofna.org), and frequent formal and informal contact with Icelandic communities in North America and Iceland --- both the INL of Iceland and the Government of Iceland. Newer, experimental programs include a new database to facilitate house and apartment exchange between North America and Iceland, “Homecoming 2004” Program, a guest house/meeting facility in Gimli owned by the Government of Iceland, managed by the INL of NA, additional new initiatives under the rubric of “New Directions,” and newly formed ad hoc steering committees in both Canada and the US to explore fund raising options to permit the INL to dramatically extend its programmatic outreach throughout all of North America.

The Lögberg-Heimskringla, the oldest continuous North American publication chronicling Western Icelanders, is based in Winnipeg. Its new Managing Editor, Steinþór Guðbjartsson, a seasoned Icelandic journalist, recently on the staff of the Morgunblaðið, was very active at the AGM, making it very well known that he is committed to visiting and interviewing Western Icelanders anywhere in North America, including Chicago!

The International Visits Program, with the assistance of Icelandair, various financial backers, and local participation, brings a variety of artists, musicians, authors, and others either from Iceland to North America or vice-versa. Venues typically are communities that are represented by an official member of the INL of NA willing and able to underwrite some of the local on-site costs and provide in-home accommodations. One of the goals of the proposed targeted fund raising is to enable this program to be extended to almost any Icelandic community in North America willing to brew a fresh pot of strong coffee and make kleinur, vínarterta, and pönnukökur.

The Snorri Program enjoys considerable logistic and financial assistance from the Government of Iceland and the INL’s of Iceland and North America. It is a six week-long program enabling North American youth of Icelandic descent under the age of thirty to visit Iceland, participate in total immersion in all things Icelandic, have a summer job, live with an Icelandic family, meet relatives, and participate in a final week-long group adventure tour of Iceland, capped by a reception hosted by the President of Iceland. More recently, these programs have been expanded to include Snorri West [for younger Icelanders coming to North America], and Snorri Plus [for Western Icelanders over thirty coming to Iceland for a structured two week period adapted to professional and personal interests in Iceland]. Further detail is available on its Website: www.snorri.is. As you might imagine, the program is named after Snorri, the first Icelandic and European child to be born in the New World.

“Homecoming 2004,” the newest program, will afford Snorri-like benefits to any Western Icelander able to participate in the weeklong events planned in Iceland from 22-Aug-2004 to 29-Aug-2004, overlapping with many of the traditional Snorri programs. For a limited time, Icleandair is reserving a block of tickets at favorable rates. Interested would be participants can find further information and an on-line registration application at the Snorri website.

The Government of Iceland is purchasing a condominium in Gimli, to be managed locally by the INL of NA, to be used as a guesthouse for visiting Icelandic artists and scholars, and as a venue for their further outreach to all of North America. It is hoped that this will be the first of many such venues throughout North America.

The “New Directions” is an INL of NA initiative to expand its programmatic outreach throughout all of North America. The recent Hekla Island AGM authorized ad hoc steering committees in both Canada and the United States to negotiate with suitable, established, like-minded organizations which already have tax-exempt charitable status with, respectively, Revenue Canada and the Internal Revenue Service, to use these organizations as “conduits” through which to collect targeted tax-deductible funds raised from individual and corporate donors to strengthen and broaden the programmatic outreach of the INL throughout North America. More news will be forthcoming regarding this new initiative.

While participating in the Hekla Island AGM, several attendees came up to John to offer suggestions for prospective members for our own Icelandic Association of Chicago. It seems as though everybody everywhere knows someone living in Chicago! In this regard, please notify either Einar Steinsson, our President, or John, Membership VP [Cell Phone: 847 + 493 – 9065] if you know of anyone in the Chicago metropolitan area who might be a potential new member. The more, the merrier! The INL of NA will be preparing a guide to “best practices,” compiling examples of initiatives to increase membership and participation that have worked in other INL chapters and affiliates. John will circulate the same to the group.

Another benefit of this year’s AGM was the opportunity to meet again with Almar Grímsson, the recently elected President of The INL of Iceland and a long-time shepherd of the Snorri Program. Almar, personally and with generous financial support from the Government of Iceland, is committed to traveling almost anywhere in North America to meet with and assist Western Icelandic communities and organizations this year and next, regardless of whether they are currently members or affiliates of either The INL of North America or Iceland.

The Board of the Icelandic Association of Chicago and Larry and Joni Shaw have extended an official invitation for Almar and his wife, Anna Björk, to come to Chicago the weekend of August 6th and August 7th, at which time he will bring us greetings from the INL of Iceland and the Government of Iceland. He obviously hopes to encourage us to join either or both the INL of North America and the INL of Iceland. Regardless of any collective decision regarding same, Almar is a dynamic and very effective ambassador for Iceland and you will want to put his visit on your calendar! Stay tuned for further details.

Currently, affiliate membership in the INL of NA entails an annual fee of CDN $ 100.00 and entitles the affiliate organization to have one voting delegate at AGM’s. Full membership is currently based on dues which approximate CDN $ 4.00 per member up to fifty members, and then dramatically scales down, thereafter. Some of the programs of the INL of NA are available directly or indirectly to any Western Icelandic community in North America while official member organizations are given preference to participate in specific programs. Further information regarding any aspect of the INL may be obtained from John [Cell Phone: 847 + 493 – 9065].

Letters to the Association

Icelandic Clubs Special Offer:

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Scandinavian Children's Events

To aid improved use of the Park for teaching Scandinavian culture & traditions to benefit our young folks, some have talked of an event(s) that we could sponsor bringing all five cultures together for a "hands on" learning experience". This would not be a commercial or fund raising event. Suggestions have been for a "brown bag" picnic with pop & juice available at the Park or ethnic foods @ nominal cost.

We ask each of you to consider activities of your culture (crafts, music, dance, literature, etc.) that can contribute to this goal and share with us your ideas & as possible folks who can help make it happen. Realizing all have busy schedules & commitments we ask that on line sharing be used until a meeting becomes necessary. Of course if you wish to start with a sit down meeting that will be arranged.

Thanks for your continued interest in preserving Scandinavian Culture.

Scandinavian Park, Inc. NFP

Jack Grandin, Treasurer

Hello

I am planning to Visit Iceland in September and would love to be able to talk to someone here, about where to stay and visit. While I have looked over the travel books, it seems like there is so much to see - I could stay there for months. I will be on a sheep roundup for part of the time, Reykavík, Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon, but I do have more time. I am looking for information on nice places to stay, swing dance clubs (East and West), where to buy a nice warm coat, restaurants, and helping me with some of the language. (I am trying to learn a few phrases and words) Any help you can provide would be great.

Thank you. Takk

Barbara 773 775 0077

Luxus Trips to Iceland

We are a company in Iceland specializing in Luxury trips to Iceland with limousine service with specially trained chauffeurs and guides. We also run a luxury car rental service. All the cars are new Lexus 430 President, Lincoln Town car and Lincoln Navigator.

We thought the best advertisement would be to appeal to Icelanders living a abroad to bring the word to foreigners interested in our country. Therefore we are contacting a selected group of Icelanders living abroad and offering them to be our ambassadors and receive a percentage of sales that result from referrals from them.

For more information go to our website www.lux.is and see what we have to offer. You can also call +354-897-6195 “ Jón Ólafur “ or e-mail jon@lux.is. You will receive brochures which are available in 11 languages, where all the information regarding trips and services is provided. The target group is people who like to come to Iceland and enjoy all the best it has to offer.

Best regards,

Jón Ólafur Sigurbjörnsson Marketing Manager Lúxus Ævintýrareisur ehf (Luxury Adventure Trips Ltd)Forsalir 1, 201.Kópavogur Iceland Tel: +354 577-11-55/ Cell: +354 897-6195 / Fax: +354 588-0446

Dear Members!

A great apartment downtown Reykjavík is available for rent from August 2. to 31st. It is 80 square meters (800 sqft), bright and lovely, with a South facing balcony and a closed off backyard. The apartment is on the 4th floor with a great view: The Pearl, Hallgrims church and the mountain range around the city. All appliances including a grill, dishwasher, washer and dryer, TV, DVD player, VCR and more. Two bedrooms, on with a king size bed, the other with a sleeper for two or a bed by request. It is also possible to have available two children’s bed and a crib. Rent is negotiable. Please contact me if interested at: hilo@mbl.is

Best regards,

Hildur Loftsdóttir

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Þorrablót 2004

2003-12-25T03:08:00.000-08:00

Þorrablót 2004

AN ICELANDIC TRADITIONAL WINTER CELEBRATION

A unique opportunity to sample Icelandic delicacies such as pickled testicles, sour blood pudding, rotten shark, sheep heads, dried fish, brennivin (black death), and much more. Don't despair, we will offer less exotic food for everyone to enjoy! The Þorrablót will be held on February 28th at the Swedish Museum 5211 N. Clark Street, Chicago (tel. 773-728-8111).

Our guests of Honor are the Icelandic Ambassador from Washington DC, Helgi Ágústsson and his wife Hervör Jónasdóttir.

The Blót will begin promptly at 6.30 PM with hors d'oeuvre and drinks. Followed with dinner, sing-a-long (in Icelandic!), open podium, home made desserts and our famous raffle where prizes include Icelandic music, food, candy baskets, books, airline tickets to Iceland (and back!) and many more surprises. Finally, we dance the night away…

This year the band "Slátrið" will make sure everyone gets to the dance floor. The band members are Júlíus Ólafsson who plays the guitar and sings, and Lárus Grímsson who plays the key board and sings. Júlíus and Lárus live in Reykjavík and have played with various groups in the past.

Price of ticket purchased in advance for members is $50 - non-members $55. Students $40. Ages 13 - 16 $30, 7 - 12 $20. Ticket price at the entrance for members is $55 - non-members $60 and $45 for students. Ages 13 - 16 $35, 7 - 12 $25. Admission for children 6 years and younger is free of charge. Advance purchase of ticket must be made before February 23rd. Please make checks payable to the Icelandic Association and mail to Anna María Kárdal, 719 Wildflower Circle, Naperville, IL 60540.

For further information call Einar and Lena at 773-489-4621

November 2003

2003-11-25T03:10:00.000-08:00

From the President’s Desk

The Icelanders in Chicago are doing well: better jobs, more babies, bigger houses… If you attend the meetings and events we’ve planned throughout the year you can catch up on all the news of the families in the association, which I’m happy to report is good on most, if not all, fronts, knock on wood.

The economy in the US is moving up and in Iceland things are really turning to an upswing. Iceland’s economy is growing faster than most other Western economies mainly because of construction in relation to the new power plant in the eastern part of the country. The construction has been a real boost for the economy, although foreign workers do a lot of the work. This is good news as long as inflation lies low. The minor draw back for us is that it’s expensive to visit Iceland. Looking at specific industries there is some exciting news to report but hardly exciting enough to call for investment opportunities, but you never know. Privatization is on a fast track, banks have been sold and bought and one of the most famous firms in Iceland, Eimskip, recently changed hands in an exciting twist that can only mirror something from daytime TV soap. The short version: about 20 years ago there was a transportation company called Hafskip that was linked to a fraud, which led to the indictment of several executives. One left the country for Russia with an old soda factory in his luggage, which he set up as a beer factory and turned into a multimillion-dollar enterprise in Eastern Europe (he has since sold it to Anhauser Busch). He and his son are now two of the wealthiest Icelanders in the world and the new owners of Landsbankinn and Eimskip the biggest transportation firm on the island. Very interesting story.

At the home front we have the Þorrablót coming up on the 28th of February at the Swedish American Museum. We’ll have a new exciting band from Iceland, Slátrið, and the Icelandic Ambassador from Washington, DC, Helgi Ágústsson and his wife, as guests of honor. I hope all of you can make it.

Merry Christmas!

Einar Steinsson, President

Association Affairs

From the Editor

Re-Inventing the Wheel

Socialized medicine. It is interesting to see how these two words make Americans shudder and tighten up like they are some kind of dirty words. Socialized medicine. When other Western nations such as Britain and Iceland formed their National Health Care services in the early 20th century, a proposal for US National Health Care plan failed to pass through congress. The Clinton administration tried again in the nineties but failed. Health care cost in the US is the highest in the world or about 14% of the GNP while in European countries and Canada it is around 8% on the average. Outcome studies have not shown that this difference makes Americans healthier than other Western societies. In fact, Canadians live on average 1 year longer and the average age in the US has slightly decreased. Medicare reform and prescription drug benefits have been high on the agenda in Washington and Illinois has been in the news for trying to save money by re-importing drugs manufactured in the US from Canada. 40 million Americans are without medical insurance and those who have it typically obtain it through their employer and loose it if they loose their job. Often have I taken care of patients without insurance whose health care cost runs in the tens of thousands of dollars without the patient being able to pay a dime. And where does the bill go? In the end it goes to you, the taxpayer since the government supports the hospitals that take care of these patients.

For someone like me who works in the US health care system and is also used to socialized medicine environment, this struggle has been interesting to watch. For those who grew up in Iceland you would know that there you DO NOT WORRY about health insurance. You are not dependent on your job for benefits and if you need a heart transplant on bypass surgery the National Health Care Plan will provide you with this. There is co-pay that is usually peanuts (even though Icelanders complain about it) compared to what you pay in the US. Most prescription drugs for chronic illnesses are free or heavily subsidized. Usually there are no restrictions on what brand you can use even though there are some guidelines based on cost. Like in other countries with National Health Care plan, certain elective procedures such as hip and even bypass surgeries may have waiting lists but if you need something done right away, it is done right away. Also, if you need to seek special medical care that is not available in Iceland, your trip and medical cost is paid for elsewhere. In the 80’s bypass surgeries were done in England but are now done home in Iceland. Transplants are typically done in Scandinavia and many parents have taken their ill children to Boston Children’s Hospital here in the US. Many adult patients have been taken to the Mayo Clinic for special care (there is an Icelandic interpreter on staff there). This system is far from being perfect but it guarantees health care for every individual regardless of income, social status and place of residence. Of course it costs money and taxation is higher in Europe and Iceland that is a small price to pay when you suddenly need to sell your house because you had a car accident and need to be in the intensive care unit or need chemotherapy.

It is because of this that I always feel that Americans are trying to re-invent the wheel when I listen to their discussion on health care. It is obvious to me that the medical system in this country, with all its resources, technology and knowledge, IS BROKEN, mainly because is it NOT AVAILABLE to the ones that need it the most. The cost of modern medicine is simply too high for an individual or most employers or insurance companies to carry. Therefore, it is my believe that Americans missed the boat in the 1930’s but need to get back and establish a National Health Care Plan that works and is available for everyone. Health care should be taken out as a Union bargaining chip and you should not have to depend on your employer for it. Some feel that national health care would be too restricted and you would loose your autonomy. Actually many countries such as Iceland and Australia have a combination of private and government run health care institutions where doctors can have their own offices and facilities and are not employees of the government but are more like contractors. In such cases, you can have general health care but still maintain patient autonomy where they get to decide where to go for their health.

Annual Board Meeting

The Annual Board meeting was held on October 23 at Satay Restaurant a pan-Asian restaurant in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Attendees were Einar Steinsson, Lena Hallgrímsdóttir, Vilborg Einarsdóttir, Binna Porter, Paul Sturm, Siggi Birkis, Jónas Birkis, Anna Kárdal, Ásgeir Ólafs, Óli Axel and Sigga, Leifur Björns and Rita, Larry and Jonie Shaw, John Hofteig, Undine Johnson, Sonja and Marc Johnson. Participation was what we expected 18 adults and 2 children. We missed some of our loyal members this year but were pleasantly pleased to have couple of “old” ones, who we have not seen for some time.

We reviewed last year’s accounts and had a negative income margin of $327.34, which leaves us with $2,515.60 in assets.

Everyone kept their post, except Stella who is taking a break from any duties this year:

President: Einar Steinsson
Treasurer: Anna Kárdal
Secretary: Lena Hallgrímsdóttir
Editor: G. Steinar Guðmundsson
Vice – Presidents: Binna Porter
John Hofteig (Membership and Marketing)
Siggi Birkis (Auditor)
Sonja Johnson

Membership fees will be the same as last year: $30 for a family, $20 for an individual.

Then we discussed Þorrablót 2004, the web site and newsletter and various other subjects regarding the association.

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. Please contact Lena (773-489-4621) if you want to help.

Remember, Annual Membership Fees are due January 15th.

Annual membership fees are due January 15, 2003. 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. Remember to include the membership survey.

Þorrablót

This year's Þorrablót will take place on February 28, 2004 at The Swedish Museum. Júlíus Ólafsson and Lárus Grímsson who form the band “Slátrið” will visit us from Iceland to take care of the music, which is an indispensable part of the event.

The ticket price will be: for members $50 in advance and $55 at the door, and $60 for non-members. The higher at-the-door price ($55) will be strictly enforced.

Everyone keep an eye out for raffle prizes, especially, those who are travelling to Iceland. More details will be in the next issue of Farsælda Frón.

Jólabarnaball 2003 (Children’s Yulefest 2003)

This new tradition will be at Sonja Johnson´s house on December 27th at 3 pm sharp. Please RSVP to Sonja (847-675-2091) if you would like to attend with your children. We will dance around the Christmas tree and maybe Santa will honor us with a visit.

Letters to the Association

Árni Helgason 16. March 1891 - 11. December 1968

As the years roll on details become obscure and ultimately failing memories) and perhaps interest) place questions marks after names of those distinguished members of the far flung Icelandic community who, not so long ago, brought a degree of recognition to Iceland far exceeding its then importance on the world scene. In that group rests Árni Helgason about whose life details are worth noting. I write of him because I did not know the others.

Árni was born in Hafnarfjörður and joined the throng of immigrants to North America in 1912 settling first in Canada before moving to North Dakota where he completed his undergraduate studies at Farge State College before enlisting in the U.S. army for a year of service in France. A useful foot note on Árni´s attitue toward government authority can be found in the fact that when he enlisted – his first real contact with any kind of government authority – the recruiting officer placen an “e” at the end of his first name which “Árnie” used for the rest of his life in all communications with the U.S. government on the assumption that the government preferred that spelling and should get what it wanted.

After completing his military service, Árni returned to his studies receiving a Masters Degree from the University of Wisconsins 1925 in electrical science. He then joined Thordarsson electrical Manufacturing Company in Chicago. Árni contributed to the filing of many patents relating to automobile electrical systems and after leaving Thordarsson to form his own company, Chicago Standard Transformer Company, became one of the major suppliers to the U.S. automotive industry. Árni himselft quickly became a nationally known figure as a member of various Physics Clubs. National Electrical manufacturers Association, and many others. He received an honorary Doctor´s Degree from North Dakota State University in 1940. None of this, however, interfered with the service he was able to give to his beloved Iceland.

The activities described in broad terms here were essentially a back drop for the overwhelming interest in his native land that was ever present in his life and activities. He was, by any standard, a sucessful American manufacturer and business man yet found time and energy to support local activities enhancing knowledge of Iceland and was also an original shareholder of Eimskip, the Icelandic shipping company which is now an important factor in the international shipping community. In addition he was one of the founders of Rafha which was to become a major factor in the procuction and distribution of electrical energy in Iceland.

Árni´s overwhelming and constructive interest in Iceland coupled with his success as a businessman in American led the Icelandic government, then under Danish control, to award him the Order of the Knights Cross of the Order of the Falcon in 1939, to be augmented in 1944 by designating him a Knight Commander of that Order.

He had the unique ability to concentrate his significant talents on resolving the perceived problem of the moment. He caused Iceland to become an active participating member of the renowned American Scandinavian Society; assisted in creating The Honors Society of Icelandic-Americans; supported formation of the Icelandic Association of Chicago; lectured frequently at The University of Chicago; and was, of course, Iceland’s first Honorary Consul in America. From the degree of industry that he brought to representation of Iceland I would not have been surprised to find that some in Chicago may have thought Iceland and the Soviet Union to be about the same in size.

I remember with particular pleasure a meeting of the Chicago Consular Corps, which I attended as Árni, was out of the city. In the 15 years of Árni´s life that I served as Vice Consul I do not believe he missed a single meeting except when travelling and I can still hear the Consul General of Great Britain commenting to me, “It doesn´t seem like the Consular Corps without Árni.”

Throughout his life he gave support whenever possible to causes in both countries with the emphasis, when appropriate, on Iceland. Icelandic students continue to distignuish themselves at colleges and universtities there while Icelandic busines, particularly that based on high technology, seems to be flourishing. America is now much more to the Icelander that the frozen aspects of North Dakota.

Árni appeared to be in good health to the very end, dying in the last lap of his bi-weekly swim at the Chicago Athletic Association.

I like to think that much of the progress made by Icelanders in America was made possible by men and women who shared Árni´s spirit of dedication and loyality to the homeland as well as to their adopted country.

Árni died leaving his widow, Kristín who had come to America with her parents from Skagafjörður about the time that Árni emigrated. They had no children and Kristín survived Árni by a few years.

P. Sveinbjörn Johnson

November 11, 2003

The Ultimate Icelandic-North American Directory

Christmas Gift Book
Icelandic Organization SPECIAL Compiled and Edited by Mackenzie Kristjon

ISBN 0-9689119-1-9 / 6”x9” / 220 pages / Retail Price: $22.95 CDN/$18.95 US

“A great pioneering work”-Hjalmar Hanneson, former Icelandic Ambassador to Canada

This valuable resource includes listings of Icelandic businesses, organizations, festivals,

museums, libraries, Icelandic educational opportunities, artists, writers & more…

You may view this book and others with Icelandic Content at our website through The Icelandic Embassy at www.Iceland.org/ca , or directly at www.coastline-publishing.com You may also take special note of ‘The Culinary Saga of New Iceland’ by Kristin Olafson-Jenkyns, a double medallist with the Cuisine Canada Awards and endorsed by Astridur Thorarensen of Reykjavik. Also,”Falcons Gold” by Kathleen Arnason a fabulous story about the fabled Icelandic-Canadian Hockey Team from Winnipeg that won the very first OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL!

It is with this intent that we extend this very special offer at this very

special discount: Number of Directories: Price/Book: Cdn US 1 – 10 13.75 11.35, 11 – 100 12.40 10.25, 101 – 250 11.15 9.20, 251 – 500 10.00 8.25, 501+ 9.00 7.45 +GST + applicable tax

Shipping extra Mail, fax or email your order to: COASTLINE PUBLISHING Suite 511,3-304 Stone Road West Guelph ON Canada N1G 4W4 p/f: 905 627 6921 e: postmaster@coastline-publishing.com
WWW.Nordicstore.net

The association has received a letter from www.nordicstore.net, which is a new store on the web that specializes in selling Icelandic goods abroad. They offer good selection and good prices.

News You Can Use

The Christmas gift that keeps on giving – Icelandair Christmas Package

Fly coach to the US. Airfare, tax and service fee 29.900 ISK. Children, 2 - 11 years 24.900 ISK. Business Class to Europe / USA. Airfare, tax and service fee 39.900 If you buy the Icelandair Christmas gift package, you can pick your destination in Europe and USA You can make a reservation for a certain destination as you buy the Christmas package. Reservations have to be made before January 23rd. The package can be used (if used as a gift) as payment for trips that start between January 10 and June 30th, 2004. Minimum stay: Saturday night. Maximum stay is 1 year. Included: Airfare, tax and service fee. Make a reservation as soon as possible since there is limited seating for this gift package.

Icelandic Lamb sold in the US

Whole Food Market in Baltimore has begun selling fresh lamb shipped directly from Iceland from “Norðlenska”. The Icelandic lamb has been available in 55 Whole Foods Market stores around the country in Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado, and this fall 35 new Whole Foods stores be added. The lamb will be available only four months from September until Christmas. No word on when it will be available to us Chicagoians.

September 2003

2003-09-25T03:11:00.000-07:00

From the President’s Desk

The “dog days” of summer or are they over? It is quite puzzling to Icelanders, or at least resent immigrants from Iceland, that the summer ends at the beginning of September when the weather is almost perfect, 75F and sunny. A nice summer day in Iceland is 60F. Anyhow, I hope you are having a great SUMMER.

Let us talk about the association of active, unique, and special Icelanders! We had a great open board meeting at our house in early August; 15 people showed. We had a good meeting and then I cooked up some burgers and hotdogs. It was a very nice day and everyone had a good time. At that meeting we decided not to participate in the Scandinavian Day this year. There was no interest in going to Vasa Park no one was willing to work there for a day. We need to rethink this before next year – maybe, we should form a committee; let me know if you are interested in participating. Secondly, we are working on Þorrablót 2004; the date is 28th of February. We have found a great band in Iceland to entertain us and there is more information about them in this newsletter. Thirdly, we are participating in a Leif Eriksson weekend on the 11th and 12th of October and there is more info elsewhere in this newsletter but we all know he was Icelandic, right. Lastly, we are going to have the General Meeting on the 26th of October at 5 o’clock at a very nice restaurant called Satay. It is BYOB and very good food for only $15 per person, half off for children and the youngest eat for free. I hope to see y’all there.

Einar Steinsson, President

Nói Albínói -An Icelandic Movie

Contrasting in the usual climate, but very promising, Dagur Kári's International Critic's Award-winner, Nói Albínói (Iceland), follows a gifted teen rebel whose youthful wanderlust is frostbitten by dead-end small-fjord life. This debut combines melancholic Kaurismaki-like humor with lyrical romanticism, while delivering its own audacious twists of fate.
This is an excellent movie according to Einar and Lena who saw it in Iceland last June. It’ll be showing in Chicago soon as a part of the Chicago International Film Festival. Form more info visit http://www.chicagofilmfestival.org

From the Association

From the Editor

Due to unusual circumstances and reasons that are beyond my control, the newsletter is now in a slightly different format. It is my hope that after the “slight technical difficulties” that I am facing as an editor of a newsletter have resolved, the newsletter can take back its old form. But we will see, maybe major changes are at hand…

General Meeting

The General Meeting will be held on October 26 at 5 PM at a very nice restaurant Satay.
“Head past the unappetizing sample plates arranged on a table just inside the door and through the bottleneck hallway and you'll find a spacious, stylish back room where chartreuse walls, recessed lights, nicely spaced tables, and soft music create an inviting place to eat. A range of Asian influences shows up in every category on the menu. To drink, there's a range of freshly squeezed juices (orange, carrot, or apple), smoothies, and dairy-free freezes (with or without tapioca "bubbles") in flavors like watermelon, lychee, and green tea.” From Chicago Reader.
It is BYOB and only $15 per person, ½ for children and the youngest eat for free. It is at 936 W Diversey in Chicago, next to the Brown Line Ell stop but parking is a challenge. RVSP to Einar and Lena if you wish to attend. Email einarandlena@ameritech.net or call 773.489.4621 (VM). We hope you can all make it. We will have elections so think about joining the board for next year.

New Secretary

Gunnar and Suzanne have left for Canada. Sóri and Lóa went back home to Iceland. Lena Hallgrímsdóttir is our new secretary. We will encourage new members to join the board.

Þorrablót 2004

A date and place for the Þorrablót was confirmed: February 28, 2004 at the Swedish Museum. Musicians this year are seasoned players from Iceland, Júlíus Ólafsson and Lárus Grímsson, who have played in various bands through the years. Júlíus, an elementary teacher and a soccer guru, played guitar in Silfurtónar which released a much played rock’a’billie record in the 90’s. Lárus is probably best known for his Led Zeppelin like band “Eik”. He is also a music teacher, sings and plays a wide variety of instruments, including the keyboard. We look forward to welcome Júlíus and Lárus to our Þorrablót – Mark your calendar…

Cristmas Tree at the Museum of Science and Industry

Our annual decoration of the Icelandic Christmas Tree at the Museum of Science and Industry will be Saturday November 15, at 1:00 PM. Please confirm your participation with Lena (773-489-4621). We will take the tree down Sunday January 11, at 3:00 PM. We are still looking for ideas for a square for the large ethnic tree skirt.

Letters to the Association

Icelandic Lessons!

I will start a beginner class in Icelandic by the end of September. This will be a two-hour class one night a week for 10 weeks at my house 1218 North Rockwell - limited number of students. The fee is $150 + cost of book (Colloquial Icelandic: The Complete Course for Beginners available at Amazon.com or selected book stores). I will also offer tutoring for more advanced Icelandic speakers. Please call me for further information 773-489-4621.

Icelandic Bibles Wanted

I'm looking for two Icelandic Bibles: an inexpensive Protestant Bible and (preferably) a leather-bound Catholic Bible (containing the Deutero-canonical books such as Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, etc.). The Bibles don't need to be new. I might even prefer used Bibles if it would save some money.

The Protestant Bible probably won't be too expensive. As for the Catholic Bible, I'm willing to pay as much as $50 to $100, but I'm not looking for one of those giant-sized family Bibles that barely fits on a coffee table just an ordinary-sized leather-bound edition.

I'd appreciate any advice you can give me. Perhaps you can put me in touch with a used book dealer who has what I'm looking for.

All good wishes,
Andy

Let Einar (einarandlena@ameritech.net) know if you can help this gentleman – he has his contact information

Leif Eiriksson Day

"For a number of years, a hardy group of true-blue Scandinavians in the greater Chicago area have been observing Leif Eriksson Day on the weekend nearest Columbus Day (the explorer, who visited the New World approximately 492 years AFTER Leif and friends made the FIRST discovery and briefly maintained settlements in and around New-Foundland and other Northeastern Atlantic sea coast locations).

This year, being the 1,000 the anniversary of Leif's original discovery and following the success of the Smithsonian VIKINGS exhibit which toured North America in recent years, the Leif Eriksson Festival Committee, with the financial underwriting of the Norwegian National League and assistance from North Park University's Scandinavian Center, is planning a more extensive program on Saturday, October 11, 2003 and Sunday, October 12, 2003.

Saturday, October 11,2003: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Friendship Park Conservatory Phone: 847 + 676 - 1237
395 Algonquin Road, Des Plaines, IL
(Algonquin Road a few blocks West of Route 83, Elmhurst Road)

The Program on Saturday will feature arts and crafts for children, story-telling, Scandinavian music & dancing entertainment, Scandinavian food for sale, and two formal historical presentations:

11:00 a.m.: Charles Peterson, North Park University: Leif Eriksson
2:30 p.m.: John H. Hofteig, Icelandic Association of Chicago: Early Viking Settlements in North America

Rain or shine, there will be activities inside and outside the Mt. Prospect Park District Friendship Park Conservatory all day long for the whole family!

Sunday, October 12, 2003:

11:00 a.m.: Norwegian Church Service, Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church, 2614 N. Kedzie Boulevard, Chicago. IL Phone: 773 + 252 - 7335

12:30 p.m.: Wreath Laying Ceremony Leif Eriksson Statue in nearby Humboldt Park

Reception immediately following at The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church.
Except for food purchased on Saturday from local Scandinavian vendors, all programs are free.
Additional information: Please call John H. Hofteig (847 + 551 - 4400 Ext 132) or E-Mail: Jhofteig@Firstambank.com"

We look forward to having ICELANDERS represent their early relatives, Leif and Friends!

April 2003

2003-04-25T03:13:00.000-07:00

From the President’s Desk

Once again we are having a hard time to get service from the Vice Consul, Mr. Halikias. The General Consul lives and works in Washington DC so the Vice Consul is supposed to service Icelanders in this area. Well, elections are coming up in Iceland on the 10th of May and many of us would like to exercise our right to vote. The location of the office is in a far South suburb, which is a long commute for most of us and inaccessible by public transportation. Our plan was to vote on a Saturday so everyone interested could do so at the same time. That would save time for the Vice Consul and more people would vote, coming from the North and West suburbs. It looks like this is not going to happen. The Vice Counsel is ignoring us and does not return phone calls. So, if you would like to vote you have to take some time off and go during office hours. This is a back lag from the last elections - then he opened his office on a Saturday. I informed the Embassy of Iceland about the situation on the 2nd of April with an email directly to the Ambassador. They followed up with the Vice Consul who promised he would do everything he could to accommodate us. Well, I have placed five phone calls to his voice mail since then and, sadly, gotten no response.

Since the Vice Consul has no interest in the Icelandic community in Chicago it is my suggestion that he resigns. That would put a pressure on the government to do something for us and might result in a better service for those in need. We have many “horror” stories of people trying to get passport service, voting, etc., not to mention that we have invited him and his counterpart to take part in our activities, to which they have never responded. Finally, it is embarrassing to get questions from the Scandinavian community here about this situation and have to say that the General Consul for Iceland lives and works in Washington. Iceland is never represented officially in anything going on in Chicago. All the work that is done on behalf of the Icelandic Association of Chicago is all voluntary work and even though we try to take part in as many things as possible the Icelandic Consul for Chicago should live in Chicago, or at least near by!
Einar Steinsson, President

Breaking News - Vote in Absentia

Icelandic Parliamentary Elections

The Vice Consul just called us agreeing to open his office one Saturday for us to vote in absentia. We are planning a field trip on the 19th, next Saturday at 11 am. Please call Einar if you would like to join us since we will have to let them know how many are coming (773.489.4621). Elections in Iceland are on May 10. If April 19th does not suit you, you can also make an appointment with the Vice Consul’s office to vote during regular business hours. Vice Consul Halikias office is at 15750 S. Harlem Ave. Suite 28, Orland Park, IL 60611, Tel: 708-429-1126.

Association Affairs

From the Editor

Many of you have now seen Roman Polanski´s film The Pianist which was nominated for and won several Academy Awards last month. It is a powerful tale of a Jewish musician who literally stays alive due to his talent and the film is a great addition to the long list of films, books, music, plays etc based on the Holocaust.

“Tár úr Steini” or “Tears of Stone” is an Icelandic “Holocaust movie” from 1995 which is based on a period in the life of the Icelandic musician Jón Leifs (1899-1968) who lived in Berlin in the 1930. His wife was of Jewish descent which is thought to have been one of the main reason his prosperous career in Germany as a composer and conductor came to a grinding halt in the late 1930´s and early 1940´s. The following is a quote from a movie review by J. Berardinelli “...Like almost every well-constructed Holocaust drama, Tears of Stone is ultimately about sacrifice and loss. No one, not the Jewish Anna or the Aryan Jon, escapes from Hitler's reign unscathed. Jon does what he has to do to save his family, but, ironically, loses them because of his actions. And, while this film lacks the gut-wrenching emotional impact of a Schindler's List (Tears of Stone is more melodramatic than hard-hitting), it forces us once again to confront the blackest era of modern history…”

You can read about Jón Leifs and even listen to his music through the website www.jonleifs.is. I particularly recommend some of the works he wrote after the death of his daughter, Líf: Torrek op. 33a for voice and piano, Requiem op. 33b for mixed chorus, Elegies-In Memoriam op. 35 (all composed 1947), and the string quartet Vita et Mors op. 36 (1948-51).

Finally, from an article on Mr Leifs by Ingolfsson musicologist at Harvard University: “…In recent years Jón Leifs has become recognized as the most important and original composer of Icelandic music in the twentieth century… Leifs´s creation of a national style in the early twenties was a radical departure from convention. The small number of native musicians trained in composition in the early years of the century had for the most part neglected folk music as a source for their works, and they treated Leifs´s ideas with skepticism, if not outright scorn. There is, indeed, much that is primitive in Leifs´s music; although there are moments of great expressive beauty in his works, they often have a harsh, rugged, and austere character. In fact, Leifs occasionally attempted to describe in music the severe and often desolate landscape of his native country, including volcanoes, geysers, icebergs, and waterfalls.”

Þorrablót 2003

Again, great Þorrablót this year. Thanks to everyone who contributed to making it what it was. Fifty four purchased tickets for a total of $2,285. Raffle tickets were sold for $788 with a total income of $3,073. Expenses were roughly $3,600, overall loss of about $500. The musicians were very well received and the food, both the Þorrafood and the catered food was outstanding. Congratulations everyone!

Þorrablót 2004

The date for next year's Þorrablót has been set for Saturday, February 21, 2004. According to the rather new tradition the Þorrablót should be held downtown or closer to the water next year. However, no place has been reserved at this point. We would like to raise the question whether it would be possible to find a location more in-between the suburbs and downtown. This location should be accessible by public transportation since not everyone has the luxury of an automobile. We are looking for a reasonably priced place, which can host about 100 people, has space for some dancing, and, most importantly, will allow us to bring our Icelandic food and the Black Death! We have been paying rent up to $500. Please notify board members if you have ideas, otherwise, we will probably settle for the Swedish-American Museum.

Thanks to Þorrablót Donors!

The Association would like to thank everyone who donated their time and effort to the Þorrablót, helping to make it the success it was. Special thanks to Binna and Bud for donating tickets to the Skybox at the United Center, Stella for the gravlax, it was very good. Thank to the firms, Skífan for CD’s, The Blue Lagoon, Bautinn Restaurant, and Icelandair.

Icelandic Lessons

This January I launched off my pioneered Icelandic language class with 7 enthusiastic students. For 10 weeks we met at my house once a week for two hours and tackled subjects like pronunciation, grammar, declension, vocabulary, writing, etc., and, of course Icelandic culture and customs. We had great fun and as a result I have decided to go ahead and offer classes next fall. If you're interested please contact me by email einarandlena@ameritech.net or phone 773-489-4621

Gleðilega páska!
Lena Hallgrimsdóttir

News You Can Use

Sigurþór Heimisson at Steppenwolf Studio Theatre

An Icelandic Actor, Sigurthor Heimisson is currently performing in Seagull
at Steppenwolf Studio Theatre.

REDMOON THEATER is proud to announce the extension
of SEAGULL THRU MAY 4th!

SEAGULL

Presented by Redmoon Theater in association with Steppenwolf Theatre
Adapted & directed by Jim Lasko

WORLD PREMIERE

Inspired by Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull," Redmoon Theater brings its visionary style to this stage classic about chasing fame, artistic satisfaction and the one person you can not have. This premiere production features mechanically ingenious objects that extend and reveal Chekhov's well-known characters in wholly unexpected ways.

"Gracefully accomplished...full of visual wit."
-Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

"Transfixing and profoundly zany...A work of beautifully unfolding
magic and psychological insight."
-Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

We are delighted to invite you to take advantage of our special offer.
2-for-1 ticket on the following dates: Sunday, April 20, 3:00 pm, Thursday, April 24, 7:30 pm Thursday, May 1, 7:30 pm.

For reservations, call 312-335-1650 and mention promotion code "IO". Limited availability. Tickets must be purchased by noon the day of the performance to receive this discount. Not valid for previously purchased tickets or with any other offer.

Location: Steppenwolf Studio Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted Street, Chicago

Letter to the Association

Our Leif Erikson Day committee was formed by the Norwegian National League but is intended to include members from all Scandinavian organizations. It probably should be under the auspices of the Icelandic groups. We now have Les and Lois Amack (Bjornson Male Chorus), Ted and Judy Torgersen (Skjold Lodge, Sons of Norway), Kirsten Lane (Swedish Consul, Swedish American Museum), and Linda Steffensen (Danish Pioneer) on the committee. We have met only once, at the Friendship Park Conservatory, where we were assured by Karen Blair of the Mt. Prospect Park District that we have Sunday, Oct. 11, for our celebration, and we will have their full cooperation and use of the entire facility.

We have contacted Steve Koivula of the Finnish American Assn and Art Saarinen of the Finnish Chamber of Commerce and we are hoping to soon have a Finn on our committee. But, of course, it would be of extreme importance that we get someone from the Icelandic community to help us. This is, I believe, the one-thousandth anniversary of Icelander Leif Eriksen's discovery and it should be as outstanding as we can make it.

So far we have had time to line up only a couple of participants: Bjornson Male Chorus and the Vesterheim Museum are the main ones. We're having our second meeting this Thursday, March 6, at 11 a.m. for lunch at the restaurant in IKEA in Schaumburg.
We hope you will be able to help us.

Les Amack
leslois@rcn.com

17. júní, Iceland´s Independence Day

"17. júní" Pot-Luck Picnic Party. This year we are celebrating “17. júní” at 12 noon on Saturday, June 14th, 2003 with a picnic/barbeque in Evanston.

We have reserved tables and grills in Elliot Park by the Lake, between Greenleaf and Dempster Street. The location is easy to find, one of three picnic areas just of Hamilton south of a playground and tennis court.

Please bring something for the grill or other food, and beverages of your choice. There is no charge for the picnic, but members should bring food to share.

We look forward to seeing you and would appreciate a phone call or an email to Lóa (847 328 5390/alheims@hotmail.com) or Sonja (847 675 2091) if you plan to come.

Directions:
Lake Shore Drive from south: Take Lake Shore Drive and N. Sheridan Road to Lee Street in Evanston. Turn right towards the Lake, when you get to the lakefront turn left and follow the lakefront park until you see us and/or of find a parking spot.

From I-94: Take Dempster exit East. Keep straight on Dempster to the Lake, then turn right and look for parking.

By train: Take the CTA Red Line North to Howard. Take Purple Line to Dempster (3 stops). When you exit the station at Dempster take a right towards Dempster Street where you take a left towards the Lake (10 minutes). Turn right at the Lake into the park and you can’t miss our tribe with their friends.

Metra train stops on Main Street. You exit the station on Main Street, take a right towards Chicago Avenue, where you head one block North to Lee Street, walk towards the Lake and when you get to the lakefront turn left and head North in the Park. You will find the place before you get to the playground by Dempster (15 minutes).

January 2003

2003-01-25T03:20:00.000-08:00

ÞORRABLÓT

The Þorrablót will be held on February 22nd at the Gray´s Mill on 211 North River Street, Montgomery, Illinois (tel. 630.548.6755).

The Gray’s Mill is an old restored stone gristmill built in 1853, located on the picturesque Fox River in Montgomery. It is one of the most beautiful meeting facilities in the Western Suburbs and is listed on the National Register.

The Blót will begin promptly at 6.00 pm with gravlax, hákarl, brennivín and cocktails.

Traditional Þorra-food and American food from My Chef catering will be served.

Home made desserts and our famous raffle.

The bar will be open; this is not a BYOB event.

Again, the Icelandic music group “Hjónabandið” will be flown in from the Westfjords of Iceland. Hjónabandið consists of Árni and Erna who are diary farmers at Vaðlar in Önundarfjördur. Hjónabandið entertained us at the Þorrablót 2 years ago and their performance was outstanding. Therefore we decided to bring them back.

Tickets purchased in advance are $45 for members, $50 for non-members and $35 for students. Children 6-15 years pay $20 in advance, and children 5 years and younger are free of charge.

Ticket price at the entrance is $50 for members, $55 for non-members, $40 for students, and $25 for children.

Advance purchase of tickets must be made before February 16th. Please make checks payable to the Icelandic Association and mail to Anna María Kárdal 719 Wildflower Circle Naperville, IL 60540. If you have not paid the membership fee, please do so at the same time.

Van rides to and from Gray’s Mill will be available (see page 2).

Directions: I-88 West to Route 31 (West of Route 59 and past toll by Fox River). Exit Route 31 and travel south 1.6 miles to Illinois Avenue. Turn left (East), go over Fox River Bridge to the first stop-light: Broadway/Route 25, turn right (South). travel 3.4 miles to Mill Street, turn right and Grays Mill is the first building to the left.

If lost call Stella 630.788.7475 or Miguel 630.461.5922.

For overnight stay we recommend Comfort Suites (630.896.2800) downtown Aurora. It is next to W. Paytons Round house and about a block away from Hollywood Casino.
Further information regarding Gray´s Mill and My Chef can be found online at www.mychef.com.

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

It is very special to be an Icelander or of an Icelandic heritage and I am not saying that because I am Icelandic but because it is true! Icelanders are different in many ways and the gene pool has been proved to be very special. The island was isolated for so many years that that Icelanders are what is closest to the gene pool of the Vikings. I am not saying that the Vikings had the best genes to survive in modern times but they were definitely different and special. We are bringing the Icelandic culture and the specialty of the Icelandic people to Chicago and the surroundings by running the Icelandic Association. But the successfulness of this work we are doing depends on the activity of its members. And here comes my point: it is useless to put the energy in all these events if the members do not participate. We have had many attendees to all of our events in recent years but with the economy down and people staying home more than previous years we are worried.

The Þorrablót is coming up and it will be the best one to date – and we have had some good ones in previous years. But the cost is enormous since we are flying in musicians from Iceland, Hjónabandið, the farmers from the West fjords who entertained us two years ago. The sound will be great– we’ve made sure of that. We will bring the great Þorrafood – ok some of you do not eat sheep heads and other sheep delicates but we will have great American food also. The rotten shark will be there with Brennivín (The Black Death), and Gravlax (salmon) and all the trimmings. We also have the famous raffle with tickets to Iceland, Skybox seats to Bulls games, Icelandic CDs, products from the Blue Lagoon, and much more.

So bring yourself, your family, your friends and enemies (they will become your friends after the Þorrablót). We are going to have a great time!

I’ll see you there – I’m counting on it.

Einar Steinsson, President

RIDES TO THE ÞORRABLÓT

Rides will be available to and from the Þorrablót, Saturday February 22nd with pick-up and drop-off points to include Evanston and the near Northside of Chicago and Downtown. Additional stops can be arranged. The costs will be equitably shared by all the riders and will be around $12.

PLEASE CONTACT John H. Hofteig to make reservations as soon as possible:

WORK Phone #: 847 + 551 - 4400 Ext 132 (Voice-Mail is also available)

CELL Phone #: 847 + 612 - 0330 (Voice-Mail is also available)

E-Mail: Jhofteig@Firstambank.com

Please provide telephone number(s), e-mail address, and street address for the desired pick-up/drop-off point.

FROM THE EDITOR

The Þorrablót dates back to the 19th century when people began to move to the towns for work. There you could meet your relatives and eat food from home.

When Iceland was a colony of Denmark, it was forbidden to use salt in Iceland (that way Icelanders had no way of preserving the fish and could therefore not make money by exporting fish). Instead, for perservation food was smoked, dried, putrefied or pickled. Most of the Þorrafood is made that way and then kept in a barrel with sour whey which was like the refrigerator of the house. Many Icelanders still eat oat meal with sour or non-sour blóðmör or lifrapylsa for breakfast. Other types of food preserved like that are for example hrútspungar (ram’s testicles), súr hvalur (whale fat) and lundabaggi (puffin roll).

Harðfiskur is fish that is dried and not cooked in any other way. Today it is sold in stores and sometimes cinemas as candy or popcorn. Also, it is often use a snack while traveling especially during long hiking trips since it is light to carry and full of energy. Shark is usually inedible. Buried in the sand on the beach for few months in winter, it rots in a special way which gives it the special taste similar to strong cheese. This is the putrefied shark we get to taste on the Þorrablót usually with Brennivín. Attempts have been made to market fermented shark in Europe as fish cheese (fromage de poisson). The fermented shark has a very strong odor. In the month of Þorra, if you see a plastic bag hanging out the window it is most likely the residence of an Icelander who has a non-Icelandic roommate or spouse that cannot stand the stench of the fermentation.

Svið are sheep heads that are burned to burn the wool and then boiled. The eyes are the favorite of many but most of the meat is in the tongue or the jaw. There is a small bone in the tongue, the málbein or talk bone. If a child has not started talking, it is an old superstition to break the bone; otherwise the child will be mute.

With the food is served rófustappa (mashed rutabaga), kartöflumús (mashed potatoes) and flatbrauð (rye bread). Traditionally, no vegetables are served except for green beans.

Recipe for Icelandic Brennivín: 1 liter of neutral brandy/spirits with 35% alcohol, 40 gm of caraway seed (ca. 30-40 gm of powder sugar. Put the seeds and the sugar into the bottle. Wait for 3 weeks until the sugar has dissolved completely. Sieve the liquid through coffee filter paper into an empty, clean, stylish-green bottle. Serve and “Skál”.

ADDRESS AND PHONE BOOK

This directory is based on your answers on the census form, wether you want to be included and what information you would like to be available. Obviously this is not a complete directory of everyone in the Association, but it is a start. Hopefully, this is useful to someone.

Bieltvedt,Arnor. 633 Elder Lane, Winnetka, IL 60093 - E-mail: arnor1@aol.com

Birkis, Sigurður and Bonnie. 187 A.S.York Road, Elmhurst, IL 60402 - Tel. 630.516.0591. E-mail: air1skb@aol.com

Björnsson, Leifur and Rita Stepnitz. 5445 N. Sheridan Rd. # 2810 Chicago, IL 60640-1941 - Tel. 773 334 1445. E-mail: lb72312@cs.com

Bogner, Hugrún & Nick. 2023 Maple Street, Des Plaines, IL 60018 - Tel. 847 334 1445. E-mail: runik2@aol.com

Clemensen, Guðríður J. 1412 Randall Rd., Independence, MO 64055-1608 - Tel. 816 254 6795

Clendening, Unnur. 612 S. Front Salina, KS 67401 - Tel. 785 827 6465

Dr.Egilsson,Valur and Ólöf. Summer: 11966 Tuliptree Lane, Huntley, IL 60142 Winter: 5380 N. Ocean Blvd., Singer Island, FL 33404. - Tel (summer) 847 515 7094, (winter) 561 881 8644. E-mail: egilssoniv@aol.com

Fulk, Robert. 817 S. Stull Ave, Bloomington, IN 47401- Tel. 812 333 1698. E-mail: fulk@indiana.edu

Gunnarsdóttir,Theodóra and Garðar Gíslason. 2128 Duffers Lane, Evansville, IN 47725 - Tel. 812 867 8589. E-mail: ggislason@aol.com

Hansen,Carl and Christi

Hansson, Gunnar and Suzanne Gessner. 5706 S. Blackstone Ave # 3, Chicago, IL 60637 - Tel. 773 256 0156. E-mail: goh@uchicago.edu

Haraldsson, Jóhann and Gréta Pape. 425 Kedzie Street # 2, Evanston, IL 60202-2363 - Tel. 847 475 2329. E-mail: jha872@casbah.nwu.edu and g-pape@northwestern.edu

Heiðar,Katrín and G. Steinar Guðmundsson. 2923 Portsmith Ct Naperville, IL 60564 - Tel. 630 922 6502. E-mail: steinargud@yahoo.com and kheida@artic.edu

Heimisson, Sigurþór and Ólöf K. Sigurðardóttir. 1006 Hinman Ave # 3,Evanston, IL 60202 - E-mail: sigurthor@mac.com and alheims@hotmail.com

Hofteig, Jón Halldór. P.O.Box 762, Glenview, IL 60025-0762 - Tel. 847 612 0330 (h) and 847 551 4400x132 (w). E-mail: Jhofteig@Firstambank.com

Jóelsdóttir,Anna and Tom Fox. 904 W. Gunnison Str. # 3 E, Chicago, IL 60640 - Tel. 773 271 4599. E-mail: adottir@msn.com

Johnson, Dorothy. 128 E. Van Buren Street, Villa Park, IL 60181 - Tel. 630 832 7679

Johnson, Harald Valdimar. 303 E. Washington, Bensenville, IL 60106-3519 - Tel. 630 238 8054

Krengel, Marjorie T. 6211 S. Maple Street # 302, Marengo, IL 60152 - Tel. 815 568 6761

McCarthy, Jóna & Joe. 821 Gleneagle Lane, Northbrook, IL 60062 - Tel. 847 714 1338

McCarty, Dianne. 328 Coventry Ct, Aurora, IL 60504 - Tel. 630 851 4073

Miller, Phillip M. 2011 W. Welwyn, Des Plaines, IL 60018 - Tel. 773 794 4801

Ólafsson, Ásgeir and Anna María Kárdal

Porter, Binna and Bud. 1350 Tall Oaks Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188 - Tel. 630 231 5951. E-mail: binna@mindspring.com

Shaw,Joanne & Lawrence. 147 N. Buckingham Drive, Prestbury-Aurora, IL 60506 - Tel. 630 466 5555. E-mail: ammajoni@cs.com

Solis, Stella & Miguel. 3211 Hopewell Drive, Aurora, IL 60504-7041 - Tel. 630 236 7475. E-mail: mexice@msn.com

Steinsson, Einar and Lena Hallgrímsdóttir - E-mail: einarandlena@ameritech.net

Steinþórsdóttir,Margret and Rodrigo Caballero. - E-mail: margretsteinthorsdottir@hotmail.com

Sveinsson, Jim & Carol. 1028 Peterson Ave, Park Ridge, IL 60068-5183

Thors,Gunnar and Guðrún Vigdís Jónsdóttir. 200 Hart Hill Rd., Barrington,IL 60010 - Tel. 847 743 0863 gvjonsd@aol.com

Westerman, Lára & Leslie. 1606 20th Street Zion, IL 60099 - Tel. 847 731 3112. E-mail: viking_woman21@hotmail.com

Wiche,Glen N.1415 N. Dearborn Parkway #7B Chicago, IL 60610-1570. - E-mail: pepys1660@aol.com

Wiss,Char

Woodruff, William.414 Pepperidge Ct Aurora, IL 60506-5223 - Tel. 630 897 7173. E-mail: woodruffb@aol.com

Wyrick,Margrét L. 3225 W 300 N Shelbyville, IN 46176 - Tel. 317 398 3176

LETTERS TO THE ASSOCIATION

Gabriele Stich - Coincidentia Oppositorum

Anna Joelsdottir – “I am too far away”

Artists: Gabriele Stich & Anna Joelsdottir
Exhibition Dates: January 24, 2003 – March 4, 2003
Medium: painting
Opening Reception: January 24, 5:30-9:00 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 12:30-5:30 p.m.
Saturday 12:00-5:00 p.m.
E-mail: info@contemporaryartworkshop.org

The Contemporary Art Workshop is proud to present the work of Gabriele Stich and Anna Joelsdottir. New work from these two abstract painters will be presented in this exciting exhibition. Please note: The opening reception will feature “AvantRetro,” performance poetry by Al DeGenova & Charlie Rossiter.

Gabriele Stich’s paintings are both idiosyncratic and universal. They are abstractions, self-referential and conscious of the process of their own making. Her imagery, graphic and gestural, is primarily intuitive in origin, coming from what she describes as a “deep inner well of emotion.” Interspersing layers of paint with sand, pebbles, and dry pigment, she works to create, as she says, “a sense of beauty through texture and color.”

Ms. Stich is for the most part a self-taught artist, who counts among her influences the American painters Johns and Rauschenberg, the Abstract Expressionists, and the painter E. Schumacher, with whom she studied in her native Germany.

Anna Joelsdottir uses abstraction to deal with themes of disconnect, rupture, and separation from the familiar. Her paintings confront the viewer with spaces which are chaotic, turbulent. They use the language of abstraction to create analogous situations to those that we feel when we are separated from our “culture of origin.” Thus they imply a kind of travel, where a “homeless narrative” searches for what the artist calls, “a place, a center.”

Ms. Joelsdottir, a native of Iceland, is a graduate of the MFA program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This year she will be featured in a solo exhibition at Chicago’s Fassbender gallery, and will be an artist-in-residence at the Hafnarborg Art Museum in Harfarfjorour, Iceland.

The Contemporary Art Workshop is a non-profit arts organization founded in 1949 by sculptor John Kearney, among others. The Workshop houses 21 private studios, two galleries, and a large open sculpture work area. To learn more about the C.A.W. visit us online at www.contemporaryartworkshop.org.

FRTHE REYKJAVÍK TRÍÓ IN CHICAGO IN FEBRUARY

Again, we remind you that The Reykjavík Tríó will perform at North Park University on Saturday afternoon, February 8, 2003 at 3 pm in Anderson Chapel. The program will include works by Beethoven, Dvorák and Jón Nordal.

ICELANDIC LESSONS

As advertised in last news letter you can now learn Icelandic! 7 students signed up for the first course, which will run through mid April. We're having lots of fun "wrestling" with the old language: all those cases, different forms of verbs, strange letters and sounds, and the same words meaning lots of different things. If you're interested in brushing up on your Icelandic or learn it from the scratch, please contact me for information on upcoming courses. Lena 773-489-4621.

October 2002

2002-10-25T03:21:00.000-07:00

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
7232 N. Linder Ave.
Skokie, IL 60077
Tel. 847-232-5001/2641
Toll Free 877-269-6646
Fax 847-232-5031

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

May 2002

2002-05-25T03:23:00.000-07:00

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

GLEÐILEGT SUMAR

Many Icelanders think the summer is the best time of the year and there is some truth to that. The summer is a big deal in a country that has so many months of darkness, so many snowstorms, and so many people hit by the winter blues. We really love the sun, the heat, and swimming in warm waters. This we can do in Chicago and to some extent get more sun than needed, more heat we can tolerate, and more Lake than we can take.

We are not going swimming for the 17th of June celebration… but we might get some sun and things might get hot! After all we are going to barbeque!! I hope all of you will join us on the 15th of June for an independence picnic in Cantigny Park.

11th of May the IAC had a board meeting, which turned out to be very successful. Many people showed up and some new members. We reviewed the Þorrablót, set the date for the 2003 Þorrablót, and talked about other things that you can read about in this newsletter. We thanked Sóley Runólfsdóttir for a job well done, but she has served on the board for the last four years. Sóley is a dear friend and we wish her luck in Nebraska. To replace Sóley as our secretary we elected Gunnar Ólaf Hanson – welcome on board Gunnar.

Scandinavian Day will be held in September and we are going to make that the best participation by our organization so far. We have set the wheels in motion - look for more exciting new about this event in the next newsletter.

Have a fantastic summer and please do not hesitate to contact us with ideas, news, and things that can improve our organization – especially, more new members!

Gleðilegt sumar!

Einar Steinsson, President

From the Editor

“Þátttaka” is the Icelandic word for participation, the only word I know with triple t’s (please, e-mail me if you know of any other ones). It is made from the words to “taka þátt” or to “take part”. Whether it is an individual, organization or a nation, it is important to participate, to be seen and not be isolated. That is one of the reasons Iceland, a small nation of 300,000 people participates in the Olympics, for example. They do not expect to win a medal but the act of participating is the main goal, in addition to bringing more competing experience to our athletes. Most of the time, participation enriches the individual or the organization and the participants feel they are contributing to the event. After the Scandinavian Day last fall, I have had mixed feelings, to say the least, regarding our participation in this particular event. I thought we would be representing a distinct group of people in Chicago, introducing our food, our flag and our heritage, at least making us visible. However, my experience was quite on the contrary. At last year’s Scandinavian Day, our association was placed in a booth with some independent entrepreneurs of Swedish descent, whose main goal is to make money from selling Swedish-American pancakes. We had brought some Icelandic food to sell and were able to sign up few people for the association but our main job was to direct people to the pancakes in the other corner of the booth. It was a gloomy day with rain and mud so maybe my view is skewed, but as a proud member of the Icelandic community here in Chicagoland, I felt our participation in the Scandinavian Day to be both humiliating and degrading. Despite being called “Scandinavian Day” this event has evolved into something else than a meeting of Scandinavians but is more like a commercial event where people sell goods and make profit (there was even a Volvo dealership in the park). Now, I do not appose to people earning an honest buck but since the Icelandic Association has not been a for-profit-organization, I am not sure we have been in the park on the right terms. Therefore, I suggest that if we are to continue to participate in this event, we need to make ourselves more visible, put up signs and have more of a presence. We might consider contacting various Icelandic export companies (and their U.S. importing counterparts) to see if they have promotional goods to offer for sale—e.g., fish products, wool products, water, etc. We will need to be in a separate booth maybe with posters of Iceland and various food samples for people to taste. We do not have to sell anything but just be more visible and more distinct. The bottom line is that I do not think this is an event where participation is the key since we are barely visible and nobody cares less whether we are there or not. And if we do not feel we can be there in full force, I don’t think we should be there at all.

Þorrablót 2002 and 2003

This year the attendance was quite good, with 70 people paying admission. Nevertheless, we again lost some money, though somewhat less than in the last two years (see next page). Many were pleased to be back in familiar surroundings, in the Swedish-American Musuem. There were some complaints about how inadequate the sound system was and also the lack of a real dance band. But, Hundur í óskilum were undeniable entertaining.

The date for the next Þorrablót is set for February 22, 2003. Many favor the idea to have it every other year in the suburbs alternating with the Museum downtown. We are currently looking for venue for next year´s Þorrablót and will have final decision regarding location by the end of September.

New Secretary

We were sad to hear that Sóley has moved to Nebraska, leaving her post as secretary vacant. Gunnar Ólafur Hansson, a newcomer to the Chicago society, agreed to take her place on the board as the next secretary. Welcome, Gunnar

Mexican-Icelandic Christmas?

Our decorations for the ‘Christmas Around The World’ exhibition need to be repaired or touched up. A crafts meeting has been scheduled for 11:00 am on Saturday, September. Remember, God loves a volunteer! So, mark the date and get early in on the Christmas spirit. There will be plenty of food, since we plan to have this as a potluck lunch on a Mexican theme. Please, e-mail Stella Solis if you want to participate mexice@msn.com.

Thanks to Þorrablót Donors!

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.

Þorrablót 2002

2001-12-25T03:25:00.000-08:00

The Annual Þorrablót will be held on February 16th at the Swedish Museum on 5211 N. Clark Street, Chicago (tel. 773-728-8111).

The Blót will commence at 6.30 pm with hors d'oeuvre, hákarl, brennivín and cocktails.

Approximately one hour later we will move to the main floor where traditional Þorra Icelandic food from Bautinn, Akureyri and American food from Wickström's catering, will be served.

This year, we will enjoy the company of the Icelandic band and entertainers "Hundur í óskilum" or “Missing Dog”. The band has become increasingly popular for their funny and entertaining performances and is now on it’s first tour overseas.

We will finish with sing along with the Þorra-choir, home made desserts, our famous raffle, welcome the speaker of the night, and then clear the floor for dancing the night away.

Ticket price at the entrance is $50 for members, $55 for non-members, $25 for children 6-15 years, children 5 years and younger are free of charge. Tickets bought in advance are $45 for members and $50 for non-members. Advance purchase of tickets must be made before February 4th. Please, make checks payable to the Icelandic Association and send with the form below, to Sonja Johnson, Treasurer, 6105 N.Glenwood Unit 2, Chicago, Il, 60660. If you have not paid the membership fee, please do so now and send in the census form as well.

We have a special deal with The Chicago Lodge on 920 West Foster, walking distance from the museum (tel.773-334-5600). For the rates, simply tell them you are with the Icelandic Association of Chicago. Parking is at Clark and Foster, on side streets and at the bank one block north of the museum, no permits are needed.
"

Yes, we (I) will attend the Þorrablót 2002

Member (s) Adults Children

Non-member(s) Adults Children

Enclosed: $

December 2001

2001-12-23T03:26:00.000-08:00

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

We have a response from our Ambassador and the Icelandic Government

As you may remember the topic of my last epilog was the “absence” of an active Icelandic Consul General for the Midwest. Well, we did get some response. Our ambassador, Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson in Washington, DC, contacted the government back in Iceland who has agreed to point a new vice council general for the Chicago area. This is great news and we hope to find a good candidate who is devoted to the Icelandic community and its affairs. We will keep you posted.

Following a very good General Meeting we met at the Museum of Science and Industry to decorate our Christmas tree. It was a festive time and the best turnout we have had in years, around 20 people and lots of children. We can proudly say that our tree is beautiful and has a great location right in the center of the museum. The formal opening for the “Christmas Around the World” was held November 20 – A festive reception attended by five members from our organization. We have posted new pictures from these events at our website, www.simnet.is/chicago

Looking to the future, we are planning a Christmas party for the children, which should be a lot of fun and Santa will be there. Our annual Þorrablót will be held on the 16th of February at the Swedish American Museum on Clark Street in Chicago. As always, there will be dancing, Icelandic and American food, Raffle, and Brennivín (Black Death). The Þorrablót is definitely the highlight of the year with usual attendance of 70 to 80 people. This year we hope to see you all and, of course, we welcome new members and guests. Until then, enjoy the holiday season.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Einar Steinsson, President

Association Affairs

From the Editor

Since the tragic events on September 11, the poem September 1 1939 by W.H. Auden has been floating around on the internet. The poem refers to a war in another time but is a powerful message for the destruction and devastation of war in any time:

Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsesssing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.

A translation by the same poet, W.H. Auden, of Völuspá or the Song of the Sybil, the ancient Icelandic rhyme, could be a description of modern terrorism:

Surt with the bane of branches comes
From the south, on his sword the sun of the Valgods,
Crags topple, the crone falls headlong,
Men tread Hel's road, the Heavens split open.

Earth sinks in the sea, the sun turns black,
Cast down from Heaven are the hot stars,
Fumes reek, into flames burst,
The sky itself is scorched with fire.

In addition to being a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, this is the time of reflection, where we rejoice over peace and harmony and the brighter sides of life. Before Christianization, Icelanders had “jól”, a winter solstice feast, after which the days began to become longer again. To this day, “jólin” brings us the hope that better times are ahead where the sun will shine brighter.

This Christmas, our thoughts are with our families and friends as well as those who are going through hardship and do not share our feelings of hope and joy.

Merry Christmas everyone or gleðileg jól.

Annual Board Meeting

The Annual Board meeting was held on October 28th at La Bocca Della Verita, an italian restaurant in Chicago. 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 (see below). we had a negative income margin of $381.63 last year.

2. Board elected:

President: Einar Steinsson
Vice Presidents:
Stella Solis
Jon Hofteig
Sigurþór Heimisson
Treasurer: Sonja Johnson
Editor: G. Steinar Guðmundsson
Secretary: Sóley Runólfsdóttir
Auditor: Miguel Solis

3. Unchanged membership fee

4. Þorrablót, web-site, Christmas ornaments for the Science Museum and the Scandinavian Day were discussed.

Our Christmas tree at the Museum of Science and Industry

Come and see our tree. It is in very good location this year, right in the middle of everything. The tree will be up until January 13 2002 when we will take it down at 1 pm.

Þorrablót

Þorrablót will be held at the Swedish Museum downtown Chicago on February 16th 2002. Preparations are in full swing. Mid-January we will mail a more detailed flier where you will be asked to répondez s´il vous plait.

Letters to the Association

The Iceland Minnesota Alliance

The Iceland Minnesota Alliance is priviledged to announce that we are the host organization for the 202 INL Convention to be held in Minneapolis - St. Paul on April 19-21, 2002.

We are extremely proud to announce that Vigdís Finnbogadóttir has accepted the invitation to speak at the Convention. This convention will be an exciting, fun and informative time. Please visit our website at www.frostbit.com/icelandmn for information about the Convention and an articel about Vigdis when she visited Minneapolis two year ago.

As everyone knows, the planning of an event like this is dependent on the anticipated number that will be attending. To aid in the planning, the Iceland Minnesota Alliance is asking all who receive this to e-mail us back as soon as possible if you or your Chapter - Association are interested in attending the Convention. This interest in attending is not binding but rather is a very important tool for us in planning the Convention. A brochure and formal registration form will be sent in the future.

We are trying hard to notify everyone interested about the Convention. Please fell free to forward this message to others or let us know of anyone who may be interested. If you have a membership list, we would love to have it in our database.

If you have a website, we would like to link to it and ask you to put a link to our website. Watch our website for a major update the first week in November. We will be putting on the website detailed information about the Convention and links to local sponsors.

We would like to hear from you. Contact us regarding this letter at:

Steingrimur Steinolfsson 2901 West 112th St., Bloomington, N, 55431,

phone 952-881-3326, fax 952-888-3392, e-mail: icelander@frostbit.com

“Hvað er svo glatt sem góðra vina fundur” “ There is nothing as good as a get together with good friends”

Letter from Sólarfilma (Sunfilm)

We have just now finished the updating of our Web Store, which we opened/started last winter. Sólarfilma offers more Icelandic souvenirs and postcards than any other company in Iceland. No one else offers color slides with pictures from Iceland, including some spectacular volcanic shots. All our goods are now on the web.

The most exciting articles we offer you NOW are our brand new special Icelandic Yule lads (Jólasveinar) -especially designed for Sólarfilma by Brian Pilkington. Eight of them are ready for delivery. The remaining + Grýla og Leppalúði will become available next year. Text is provided with each of the Yule lads.

For further details (for instance our X-mas mug) please see our site at .

News You Can Use

Icelandic Cinema

In the last issue of Farsælda Frón we mentioned that an Icelandic film “Ikingut” would be featured at the 18th Annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival. The film received two awards on the festival. There are two panels of judges, children´s panel and panel only with adults. The former panel placed Ikingut as the second best foreign film and the adult panel chose the film to be second in the Best film category. This year 270 films from over 40 countries were shown. Ikingut has been featured on many international film festivals and won awards such as the best film on the International Chilcren´s Film Festival in Montreal, Canada.

Icelandic Guest Services in USA

Gúnni og Sóla have a Guesthouse in Colombia Maryland for traveler´s in the Baltimore - Washington D.C area. Transportation to and from the airport is included (12 miles from BWI), as well as evening snack and breakfast. Sightseeing tours are also available.

For details contact: Gúnni og Sóla, Heimilisgisting og AKSTUR, e-mail: solhlid@gisting.com or see more information on the world wide web at: www.gisting.com

Icelandic National League in North America

According to a newspaper article in Morgunblaðið, the 82. annual conference of the Icelandic National League in Vancouver last april was an important milestone in further strengthening the collaboration of all the Icelandic leagues in North-America. Next year the conference will be held for the first time in the United States, in Minneapolis. The conference in Vancouver was attended by 80 representatives from 16 Icelandic leagues from Canada, United States and Iceland. It is expected that more that 200 representatives will attend next year´s meeting in Minnespolis. In the article, Ray Johnson, president of INL disscuses the future of INL where he stresses the importance of introducing the league to all the Icelandic leagues in NA, since many do not even know of its existence. It is the role of the league to find a common ground for all the Icelandic organizations and communities in NA. There are currently approximately 2,000 members in various organizations within the INL and for the past 3 years there increased collaboration between the many organizations has been the main theme of the INL. Ideas such as exchange of students, teachers, and houses as well visits by artists and other members to different sanctions of the INL have been successful and will hopefully continue.

The annual meeting of the National League in Iceland was held in Reykjavík recently where Ray Johnson was the guest of honor. He is born in Manitoba but is of Icelandic descedent which he is proud of. He met with Halldór Ásgrímsson, secretary of state and Björn Bjarnason minister of education during his stay. He invitied Ásgrímsson to the conference in Minneapolis next year. Johnson has been an active member of the INL for the past 7 years, 3 as vice-president and 2 as president. Preparation for the conference in Minneapolis have been ongoing which he sees as a stepping stone to the future for the very much so important organization.

Remember, Annual Membership Fees are due January 6th.

Annual membership fees are due January 6, 2002. Please, send in the enclosed pre-stamped envelope a check made payable to Icelandic Association of Chicago. Annual membership fees are $25 for families and $15 for individuals/students.

September 2001

2001-09-25T03:27:00.000-07:00

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

The Midwest has no active Icelandic Consul General!

For many years Icelanders and people of Icelandic heritage in the Midwest have not had an active representative. The Icelandic Consul General for the Midwest lives in Washington DC! And although the Vice Consul lives closer he could as well live in Timbuktu that is how enthusiastic he is about Iceland and Icelandic affairs. Repeatedly, we hear stories of newcomers or others interested in our country, culture, and heritage, who have difficulties getting information. Even those who manage to get a hold of the Consul or his partner have little luck because neither of them seems to bother to keep track of “Icelandic” activities or know names and phone numbers of the Icelandic Association’s members. More seriously, people run into problems when renewing or obtaining passports and when we visited the Vice Consul couple of years ago to cast a vote we felt like intruders who were disturbing a busy schedule of more important matters. This situation is shameful for Iceland, and many in our community are really unhappy, even mad. The Icelandic Association has been trying to help Icelanders who are traveling to Chicago, studying, or immigrating to the Midwest, but this work is becoming more demanding and more time consuming for Lena and me, as well as other members of the board. We will have to demand that the Foreign Ministry of Iceland does something to fix this situation. Various people have brought this to their attention on several occasions through conversations and a formal letter to the Icelandic Ambassador. We have not received any respond. It appears the matter is somewhat political and the current Consul General, who is Polish, supposedly got his post for helping Iceland lobbying whale fishing.

The Governor of Illinois, the Major of Chicago and other parties have invited me as the President of the Icelandic Association to some gatherings and social events, which Lena and I have attended. Our Scandinavian friends frequently comment that Iceland is being left out in Nordic-US relations and often bring up the absence of the Icelandic Consul General. Maybe, the Midwest is of no interest to the Icelandic government: after all it only hosts 50 million people, thereof 14 million in Illinois and 6 million in Chicago and its suburbs!

In any event, I feel that it is my responsibility to touch on this subject and, hopefully, the members of the Association will voice their opinion in this newsletter, at meetings or directly to the Icelandic Embassy or the Icelandic Government.

With a strong patriotic heart.
Einar Steinsson, President

From the editor

The 2001-2002 season in Chicago is filled with interesting events, whether you are into arts, music or sports. The Lyric Opera has a very impressive program this year, as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Few Icelanders will make their way into the heartlands to contribute to the arts. Bjarni Þór Kristinsson will debut with the Lyric Opera, Björk is coming this fall to perform at the Civic Opera Theatre with an orchestra and choir. A lesser known Icelandic alternative rock band, Sigurrós will play in Chicago late September. Break a leg, everyone!

Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson (b. 1962) has carved out an unusually impressive career as a novelist. Formerly the president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Olafsson is currently Vice Chairman of Time Warner Digital Media. His books have all become bestsellers in Iceland. I recently read “Slóð fiðrildanna”, published in Iceland 1999, which has now been translated and published in the USA as “The Journey Home” by Pantheon Books.

The Journey Home is a powerful and moving story of Icelandic destiny into the turbulent history of Europe in the mid 20th century. The main character, Ásdís Jónsdóttir, has for years run a smart country-house hotel in England. In the novel she must confront her past and return home to the Iceland, which she left 20 years before - in search of the life she turned her back on. I recommend this book for anyone, even if you do not have any ties to Iceland. This is excellent storytelling and a well-crafted story. I have never been a particular fan of Ólaf´s writing but this novel I can truly recommend. I wait in great anticipation what he might carve out for us in the future.

Scandinavian Day

Scandinavian Day was celebrated in Vasa Park in Elgin on the 9th of September. It was a rainy and gloomy day with some thunderstorms to make it even better. We sold our Icelandic flatbread with smoked lamb (flatkökur með hangiketi) with Icelandic Spring water and American Cola. The attendance was not as good as previous years, most likely due to the rain but we had a good time, flagged the Icelandic flag and signed up few more Icelanders and Icelandophiles to the association.

Annual Board Meeting

The Icelandic Association of Chicago’s annual board meeting will be held on October 28th at La Bocca Della Verita, 4618 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago at 5 pm. There is street parking in front of the restaurant and two city lots one block south and north of the place. The agenda will be:

Meeting commencement

Last year’s accounts reviewed

Board election

President election

Accountant election

Association fees

Þorrablót

Website and newsletter

Miscellaneous

Meeting adjourned

Please, RSVP before 10/23/01 by phone (773.489.4621) or e-mail to Einar Steinsson (einar@karenzupko.com) if you will be participating in the meeting.

Christmas at the Museum of Science and Industry

This year, the annual Christmas tree will be decorated November 11 at 1 pm. Everyone interested in participating and helping out is welcome. The tree will be on display over the holidays along with trees from other nations. On January 13 2002 we will take the tree down at 1 pm, and again all help is appreciated.

Icelandic settlers´ churches in North Dakota are crumbling down

According to the Icelandic newspaper, “Morgunblaðið”, more than 400 of the still standing 2,000 19th century settlement churches in North Dakota are condemned and in danger of crumbling down. They have been placed on a list of eleven historical remains in the USA that are thought to be endangered. Icelandic settlers were among the ones who originally erected many of these churches

Letters to the Association

I am grasping at straws. I have been trying to trace my great grandmother Sophia Benson, who was born in Iceland, March of 1869. She married John T. Hurley and had three children, Helen born January 1889, James Bruce (my grandfather) born December 1890, and Benjamin born 1985 all in St. Paul, Minn. They settled in Chicago some time in the early 20th century. The 1920 census lists John T. Hurley and Sophia living at East 50th Place, Apt. 731. My grandmother had divorced James some time around 1917 and we lost track of the family. The census record was difficult to read, but I believe it listed Sophia as a nonresident.

I have a copy of the marriage license of James to his second wife, and he lists his mother as Sophia Benson, birth place Iceland.

I have joined the Iceland Genealogy Society, but the newsletter is in Icelandic!!!! I am planning to come to Chicago in March and go the Newberry to look for city directory and obituaries. Also, I plan to go to Iceland in the latter part of May.

I would appreciate any ideas you might give me to continue my search.

Sincerely,

Barbara J. Brusseau
438 W. Wilmot Street
Chillicothe, IL 61523

Letter from The Great Canadian Travel Company Ltd.

This travel agency sent us a letter and a brochure where they offer tours to Canada, Northwest territories, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Orkney & Shetlands, Spitzbergen, and Scandinavia. Their website is www.greatcanadiantravel.com and to see all of their Iceland Travel Product go to www.iceland-experience.com. Their brochure is quite impressive and many of their tours look intriguing. Check it out!

Lögberg-Heimskringla Subscription

The Lögberg-Heimskringla is North America´s oldest ethnic newspaper, published since 1886. Until 1959, there were two newspapers, the Heimskringla and the Lögberg, both of which were Icelandic language newspapers. The dominance of the Icelandic language in the newspaper continued with the amalgamation, but gradually became an English language newspaper, as the community it served lost its mother tongue. Today, there are bilingual headlines, and a Children´s Corner which always has some Icelandic language content.

The front page features news from North America and Iceland. The inside pages contain news and features from Icelandic communities across Canada and the Unites States, as well as editorials, letters to the editor, opinions, children’s corner, career column, food, travel, literary and the arts, family notices and calendar events.

The newspaper has offered the Icelandic Association of Chicago to sell subscriptions to its members. Subscription costst are in USA, Iceland and other countries: USD $54.00 per year, or CAN $ 81.00 per year. In Manitoba: $51.30 per year (includes PST), other Canadian provinces and territories: % 48.15 per year.

If you are interested in subscribing to the newspaper, please send a check for $54 to Sonja Johnson, treasurer, 6105 N. Glenwood unit 2, Chicago, Il, 60660.

Letter from Gullfiskur Ltd

We received a letter from Gullfiskur Ltd., which is a 10-year-old Icelandic company that specializes in making Icelandic dry fish (harðfiskur). They produce dry haddock and catfish, with and without skin and also produce so-called Gullskífur, whick are dry fish plates made from haddock fillets. The plates have become popular in Iceland. The company exports to Norway. They offer to sell their product to interested association members. Please, contact any of the board members if you are interested.

Icelandic Debut at Lyric Opera

The 2001-2002 Lyric Opera season includes masterpieces such as Otello by Verdi, La Bohéme by Puccini, Parcifal by Wagner and The Magic Flute by Mozart. The season opened up on September 22nd with Otello which will be followed by an original production “Street Scene” bu Kurt Weill. Bjarni Þór Kristinsson, native Icelander, will make his debut with the Lyric Opera in Parsifal which opens on February 2nd, 2002. This is also his first performance in an American opera production.

Björk in America

Following the release of her new CD, “Vespertine”, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, the most famous Icelander, will perform at the Civic Opera House with orchestra and choir on October 14th at 7:30 pm. Her special guest is Matmos. Unfortunately, the performance is currently sold out. She will also perform at the Radio City Music Hall on October 4th and 5th, Paramount Theatre, Oakland, California, on the 17th and at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in LA on the 22nd. Tickets are available for those performances.

Of note, Björk was on Dave Letterman few weeks ago where she performed a song from her new CD, “Pagan Poetry”. At the beginning of the performance Björk wound up a music box, starting the song. On stage with her was a women’s´ choir from Greenland, wearing national costumes, a harp player and two other musicians.

Icelandic Cinema

The 18th Annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival will open on October 25th. This is the largest children’s film festival in North America. The Icelandic film “Ikingut”, directed by Gísli Snær Erlingsson and produced by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, will be one of the films featured at the festival. The story takes place in a remote costal village in Northern Iceland where the fishermen are fighting for their survival as the harsh winter shifts pack ice towards the coast. The priest's son Bóas spots a small creature on a drifting iceberg believing that he's seen an evil spirit or a devil. But when Bóas is saved from an avalanche by the creature, a young boy from Greenland, they immediately become friends. Bóas's family takes him into their home, grateful for the brave rescue of their son. Meanwhile the superstitious local fishermen claiming that the strange boy is the cause to all their hardship demand that he be banished or even killed.

Another Icelandic film “101 Reykjavík” will be at the Music Box cinema this fall. The film is based on novel by Hallgrímur Helgason published few years ago. It was written and directed by Baltasar Kormákur, starring Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Hanna María Karlsdóttir, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Baltasar Kormákur and Victoria Abril. The film is named after the postcode of the Icelandic capital, where the main scenes take place, this is the story of Hlynur (Hilmir Snær Guðnason), the embodiment of geekness who, approaching the grand old age of 30, still lives with his mother, downloads cyberporn and wanders around Reykjavik half-heartedly searching for a job while spending lots of time in Kaffibarinn, the central Reykjavik bar which just happens to be owned by Baltasar Kormakur and his soundtrack composer Damon Albarn, a long-standing Icelandophile.

Sigurrós in VIC Theatre

The new Icelandic musical phenomenon, “Sigurrós” will be at VIC Theatre on September 27. Unfortunately, the performance is sold out.