November/December 1998 Fálkinn, the ICCT Newsletter

Club News

Thank you to the following members for donations:

Valerie (Johnson) Rogers (Kinmount Memorial), E.I. Kristjanson (Kinmount Memorial).

Welcome to new members:

Lori & Richard Nemeth (London), Alison & David Watson (London), Doug Gilmore & Donna Bowie (Toronto), Anthony & Ursula Dymott (Kinmount), Heather Epple (Toronto).

Katrín Jónsdóttir, who has been teaching Icelandic to our Intermediate Class for two years, has decided to return to Iceland. Katrín was also on our Board of Directors. Thanks, Katrín, for all your help and good luck in your return to university in Iceland!

Deaths

Vernon Emil Grenke - (1924-1997)

Vern was born at Hekkla, Muskoka District, Ontario in 1924, the eldest son of Emil Grenke and Jakobina Einarson. He was raised on a farm previously owned by his grandparents, Gustav and Elvina (Schumann) Grenke, who had purchased the property from Asgeir Helgason, one of the early Icelandic settlers there. Asgeir was responsible for establishing the Hekkla post office, and was the first post master, followed by Gustav, and then Emil Grenke.

Vern's mother, Jakobína, was the daughter of Jakob Einarsson, the second son of Maria Magnusdóttir, who came to Hekkla in 1878 with two sons Gisli (29) and Jakob (13) and daughter Arnbjorg (9). Maria was the housekeeper for Bjarni Snæbjörnsson, one of the six Icelanders who founded the hamlet of Hekkla in 1873, and the only one who remained there for his lifetime. In 1887 Pall Snæbjörnsson, brother of Bjarni, came there with three daughters. One of them, Jorunn Palsdóttir, married Jakob Einarsson in 1888. Jakobína (Bena) was the second daughter of six in their family, along with three sons. Upon her husband Emil's death, Bena left the farm, moving to Rosseau for a few months, then to Bracebridge and finally to Milton where Vern attended High School.

At the age of sixteen, Vern began his career with a CIBC branch in Galt. On his eighteenth birthday in 1942, he joined the 8th Canadian RECCE regiment and served in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Upon his return home in 1945 it was discovered that he had contracted TB. He spent the next five years in hospitals before returning to a CIBC branch in Milton.

In 1954 Vern married Jean Wrigglesworth of Milton. He was made bank manager with CIBC and served in the Ontario communities of Brussels, Coniston, and Falconbridge. He made his permanent home in Coniston and took early retirement in 1985 upon the illness of his wife and her subsequent death the following year.

Vern is survived by his children: Kim (Gary Heaney) of Milton, Kevin (Nora) of Ajax, Keith (Karen) of Timmins, Kerry and Kristen, by six grandchildren and four sisters: Eileen Martin of Milton, Audrey Brush of Burlington, Merle Hogan of Rosseau, Dawn (Dennis Crawford) of Hamilton and brother Murray (Donna) of Milton.

Vern was a lifelong member of the Royal Canadian Legion and upon his retirement, a volunteer with the Coniston Police force. After a lengthy illness, he died at Sudbury General Hospital and his wish was to be buried in the United Church cemetery near his parents, four grandparents, four great-grandparents and great uncle Bjarni, who were among the pioneers in Hekkla.

John Kristjan Hjalmarson (1912 - 1998)

News has reached us that Army Major (Retired) John Hjalmarson, MBE (personally bestowed by King George VI), ED,CD, passed away in Ottawa April 28, 1998. He was born July 17, 1912 in Winnipeg to Chris and Margaret (Melsted) Hjalmarson, of Kandahar, Sask. and Winnipeg.

He is survived by his wife, Martha Isobel of Ottawa and two children, John Kristjan (Judy Adams) of Carleton Place, Ontario (with grandson Kristjan Peter), and son Peter John of Elkford, BC.

John visited Iceland at least twice. He was an anecdotal contributor of Icelandic-Canadian news items and was a member of 'Mensa'. During the war he served extensively in the European arena and survived the August 19, 1942 ill-fated invasion of Dieppe. He is buried in the military section of the Beachwood Cemetery in Ottawa.

Condolences to Margaret Simmons and family on the loss of her sister-in-law. Shirley Lee from Ennismore passed away at the age of 71 on Tuesday Sept 8^th.

1999 Annual INL Convention Being Held in Toronto

We're very excited that Toronto will be hosting the Convention. The dates are April 30, May 1 and 2 ... The venue will be the Bond Place Hotel downtown. The official opening will be Friday night, with special entertainment, followed by interesting discussions on Saturday, a special luncheon, and a banquet in the evening, incorporating our Thorrablót. One of those special events will be a Linda Lundström Fashion Show! You can attend it all, or just come to the special events - Friday night, Saturday lunch and Saturday Thorrablót. Rates will be reasonable as well with rooms at $89 and registration $85. Additional details will be in upcoming newsletters.

A Great Gift Idea

The 1999 Icelandic Heritage Calendars are available now, and the order form is enclosed with this newsletter.

Another great gift idea would be one of the book "Cartoon Charlie", Gene Walz's book on Charles Thorson, a ground-breaking animator of Icelandic descent. The book is beautiful, with illustrations on every single page. Gene's presentation to ICCT members was very enjoyable and highly entertaining!

Adventure Place - a Tribute to Clara Will

It's often been said that doing work which you love keeps you young. That remark certainly applies to Clara Will. I met Clara for the first time in June this year when she was being honoured on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Adventure Place, the school she founded for autistic children. The event was held at Ontario Place on Lake Ontario and as she was the guest of honour, I kept waiting for her to arrive. I knew she was in her sixties and I was looking for someone who looked that age. Suddenly I noticed that a lot of fuss was being made over a lovely, slim young woman and realized that this must be Clara Will. Imagine my surprise when the hostess then introduced Clara's husband of 44 years! Obviously her dedication to helping children has kept her very young.

Clara's parents were Kristín Brynjolfson and Palmi Stefanson of Gimli; she was raised in the Interlake area at Steep Rock. After attending University of Manitoba and Manitoba Teachers' College, she taught primary grades in Winnipeg for 5 years. This was followed by 5 years overseas in Denmark and England; during her final year in London Clara taught emotionally disturbed and autistic children there and his made her realize that she wanted to spend the rest of her life helping children like these. On her return to Canada, she joined the North York School Board, and in 1965 established the first treatment class for children with autism, emotional, social and behavioural problems and was involved with it for seven years.

Based on the success of the North York model, Clara wanted to adapt that program for pre-school kids up to six years. She was convinced that having young children in a program within the public system which would combine treatment and schooling was essential. In 1972, she realized her dream and founded Adventure Place. The major principle behind it was the knowledge that early intervention was the only way that children with special needs could have a chance of success within the regular school system. At Adventure Place, the children and their disabilities are not considered in isolation; every aspect of life is taken into account and incorporated into treatment, and families are encouraged to be part of the learning process.

The program was started on a shoestring and space was at a premium. In the early days, people were interviewed in the laundry room; when the other residents wanted to use it, interviews were moved to under the stairwell! Clara went so far as to have the staff paint the pipes in the laundry room to make it a friendlier place.

The program was very much ahead of its time - it's most significant that recent neurological research on brain development is showing that neurons get hooked up and form pathways of learning between the ages of 0 and 3. Clara has always believed that the earlier you identify and treat children, make use of their strengths and support their families the more successful you will be. The work has evolved in stages; initially, her group worked with children with serious problems; then they started working with younger children; after that they moved more into the community and now they have a new program which works with all children 0 - 6 to give them an equal possibility of developing to their potential. Recently, the federal government pledged $750,000 for the Early Years Action Group, which is a totally community based collaborative group dedicated to making sure that all the needs are filled in the community - pre-school programs, parenting support, etc. This ensures that the child is ready to learn when she enters school. It includes a longitudinal study to see how data collected at birth compares with data at school entry nd what kind of a difference the program has made.

During the presentation on June 16th at Ontario Place, Board President-Elect Rochelle Steiman said that Clara was the "heart and soul" of Adventure Place. She credited her with creating a environment where children can learn and grow and prepare for the world. She thanked Clara for providing a place where children can take part in life.

To illustrate the miracles being performed daily at Adventure Place, Rochelle told her own story. When it became clear that her 4 year old son needed help, she and her husband decided to move to North York to be eligible to enrol him in the program. He was in diapers, he wasn't toilet trained, he barely spoke, he was "acting out" so much that the only way they could keep him in day care was to hire a special helper to be there all the time. About three weeks after he started, they attended a parent's day and as soon as she heard their names, Clara immediately said "you must be Jeffrey's parents" and proceeded to tell them all about Jeffrey's achievements during the short time he'd been there. They were overwhelmed that she was so informed about a child who was so new. Within 3 months, he had begun to speak, to write, control his behaviour and was toilet trained. When it was time for him to leave, his parents expressed resistance. But he had to move on to the next stage of his life, to go to regular school. Today, Jeffrey is a bright 9 year old.

Another highlight of the evening was the presentation of a painting by ICCT member Tom Bjarnason. He has known Clara since she boarded at his home while attending University, and his sister Della came from Winnipeg as a surprise visitor to the function. The painting was a masterful piece, with Clara in the foreground and her family, staff and some of the children included in the background. This is not the first painting which Tom has done for Adventure Place, and he was also honoured with gifts. Being Tom, his response was, "Gee, I'd have gotten my hair cut if I knew this was going to happen".

Currently, the staff at Adventure Place totals 55, including those on part time. Many of those people were also honoured for their contributions. Four of them had been there since the beginning, which certainly shows dedication. A great deal of warmth and affection permeated the festivities, along with a lot of laughter and camaraderie, demonstrating the spirit which has made the school so successful.

In responding to the accolades, Clara made it clear that her roots came from Iceland and how important that was to her. As far as the staff and board of the agency is concerned, she said that it had been a pleasure to work with "a wealth of talent" for the past 25 years. She went on to say, "this is why I am still here - the exciting program and an amazing group of people".

She also talked about how proud she is of her family - Les, her husband of 44 years has always been a supporter, and was one of those people who helped with everything in the early days, including painting pipes and moving furniture. She has two beautiful and successful daughters - Kirsten, a professional technical writer who owns her own business and Karin, who lives in Arborg, Manitoba and who is also very interested in working with children with special needs because of her early experiences working at Adventure Place.

Clara Will's accomplishments are yet another proof that we have a large number of talented, dedicated and successful people within the Icelandic-Canadian community. Congratulations, Clara. Your friends and community are proud of you.

The Icelanders of Kinmount, Ontario

Orders finally came for the Icelanders to leave the sheds in two consignments. The first lot left on October 9th and the second on the 12th, walking about three miles through the night over cobbled streets to the Toronto & Nipissing railway station at the foot of Berkeley St. & The Esplanade. The high buildings and narrow streets on the trek reminded them of narrow ravines back home. A journal entry for the October 9th group reads:

At eight in the morning they were on their way to Coboconk, a thriving community 88 miles north of Toronto at the end of the rail, arriving shortly after mid day. There was barely enough time to have a meal, arrange for burial of an infant who had died on the way and leave a sick one with its mother behind. It succumbed a few days later.

The remaining fourteen mile distance northeast from there to Kinmount had to be breached by foot and horse drawn carts over a bumpy and deplorable stretch of a newly completed road. In many parts, it could only be described as a muddy and rock strewn track through heavy bush. In order to take advantage of as much daylight as possible, the group was quickly assembled for loading. It was expected that all sound and healthy men were to walk, with the women and children being carried on the wagons. However, this was not fully understood as the most fit men reached the wagons first. Valuable time was lost while they were chased off and replaced by women and children. According to another description for the 9th:

This was an uncertain time of year for travelling out in the open. Night temperatures could plunge to near freezing. The first lot which left Toronto on the 9th had good weather with a warm evening. But for the second one of the 12th, it was the coldest day of the month. They suffered terribly from exposure, especially the women and children on the wagons. From here on, particularly for the families, they were thrown into indelible grief which was to last a long time. They would soon have to survive as best they could against all odds - bitterly cold weather, overcrowding, poverty, disease and high infant mortality. Their new home would become popularly known as Hayford, apparently after the General Immigration Agent for Ontario.

Railway work began with the arrival of the second consignment. From now on they were to support themselves but many were too poor to pay for food and supplies and had to register with a Government meal plan. The cost of board at 31½ cents per diem was to be paid from wages. As a start, this system was well intended, but employment proved unreliable. It unfolded that there were more men than jobs. The company took advantage of this over-supply of labour by dropping wages from $1.12½ a day to 90 cents. At first, the men found the days stifling hot and the work very hard - felling trees, grubbing pine stumps, blasting through granite and filling in huge sinkholes. They were in poor shape after their long and arduous journey.

The government sent in ten Conquest boiler stoves, expecting the settlers to buy them at cost price of $24.00 a piece. Most of them were purchased, but two remained unsold, though kept in constant use. At first Jonasson tried to establish a communal table but that system didn't last long. And those who attempted to cook for themselves did not manage well either. There was also a certain amount of pilfering of supplies. It appears that, at least for a while, it was best to depend on an agency kitchen.

Again, according to a further report, when the first group reached their destination, exhausted and ill, after about seven hours of trudging through the bush, they were:

Charles Dudman, a teamster who assisted in bringing them from Coboconk, was astonished that women and children had been sent. It was generally assumed that only men were on their way. Also, it proved so cold on the 12th that a sleigh was sent with the wagons to collect the Icelanders, in the event of snow. Years later, Dudman recalled how these immigrants remarked on the "pitch black" nights - an impression earned coming from a sub-Arctic treeless island where the sun barely set in summer. Besides, dense forest here loomed up from all sides, adding to the darkness.

Four widely spaced but poorly constructed log shanties awaited them in a clearing on a river terrace near Kinmount. They were made of unhewn logs chinked with moss and clay, with plank floors, low ceilings and board roofs. The two largest, measuring 70 ft. X 20 ft. each, had sleeping quarters and a dining area. The others, measuring 35 ft. X 20 ft., were rough bunk houses, more suited to itinerant lumberjacks than families. Up to nine families were allotted to a single building, half the space required for the numbers of people. Conditions were such that:

Under these conditions, children succumbed in unprecedented numbers. Almost every day brought new cases of illness with the greatest impact on the young. After three weeks, upwards to sixteen children and a girl of seventeen had died. There was a doctor in town, but he was of little help as whisky had almost done him in.

Funeral processions coming out of Hayford were becoming a familiar sight to the local people - tragic events, ending up in unmarked graves along the river bank. Conditions rose to such a magnitude that a doctor was called in from Lindsay by the railway company and government to assess the situation and treat the sick. His report of November 2, 1874 appeared in The Canadian Post of Lindsay:

If you would like to make a donation towards the Kinmount Memorial, please make cheques payable to: Icelandic Canadian Club of Toronto. Mail to: ICCT c/o John Gilmore, 31 Wild Cherry Lane, Thornhill L3T 3T3.

Viking Chatters

The History of the Jólesveinar

Our Christmas Party is November 28^th (details on Page 1).

Jólesveinar first appeared in the 17th century as the sons of Grýla and Leppalúði, who themselves had appeared in the 13th century, and had earned a reputation for stealing and eating naughty children.

The Jólesveinar were counted as numbering either nine or thirteen, but their names are at least 70. Thirteen of the most commonly accepted names of the Jólesveinar are:

As can be seen from the names, the Jólesveinar are thought as of playful imps, whose main interest seems to be to get their hands on some of the seasonal food and other goodies. Or they are lurking about trying to do some minor mischief.

When they first appeared, the Jólesveinar had many of the attributes of their parents, but soon started to seem milder and in the last century gained some of the attributes of their Nordic counterparts. In this century, they have become homegrown versions of St. Nick or Santa Claus.

The Jólesveinar live in the mountains, and start to arrive in town, one each day, for thirteen days before Christmas eve, the last one arriving that morning. They leave little presents for the children in shoes that the children have put on the windowsill the night before. Or, if the children have been naughty, they leave a potato, or some reminder that good behaviour is better. Then they start departing for home again on Christmas day, and the last one departs on Þrettándinn.

At first, the clothing of the Jólesveinar was just they ordinary every day wear of the common Icelander, but in this century they have taken to wearing the traditional red suits of St. Nick or Santa Claus. In the last few years though, there has been a revival of the old style clothing.

We will have more information on our website, and a link to the website mentioned above as Christmas gets closer. Don't forget to check out the new Vikings website: http://welcome.to/vikings

The Snorri Program

Discover Your Roots in Iceland
Do you have Icelandic forefathers?
Are you between 18 and 23?
Would you like to travel, learn and experience something new?
Are you interested in meeting you relatives in Iceland?

If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, you may want to consider an adventure of a lifetime. The Snorri Program is an opportunity for young people of Icelandic origin, living in Canada, and the United States of America, to rediscover the country and culture of their ancestors and to strengthen the bonds with relatives living in Iceland. The Snorri Program offers an opportunity to visit Iceland for a period of six weeks from the beginning of July to the middle of August. The program offers a unique experience of the country, its nations, culture and nature.

This program offers an intensive course in modern Icelandic along with lectures on various themes from Icelandic history & culture. A family tree depicting your past and present relatives is also available upon your arrival. Through this family tree, you may wish to contact your relatives living in Iceland! For four weeks of your stay, you will be set up with a family in the geographical area where your ancestors came from. During this time you will be able to live a typical Icelandic life, perhaps working in the community with many young Icelanders!

Finally, during the last week of the Snorri Program, you will go on an adventurous tour travelling throughout Iceland. You might find yourself mountain climbing, exploring extinct volcanoes, river rafting, camping in the wilderness and relaxing in the warm, outdoor hot springs.

Does this sound exciting? If so, please contact the Snorri Program for further information: The Snorri Program, Brattagata 3B, IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland, Phone +354 562 8295, Fax +354 562 8296, or check out their website at: http://www.norden.is/snorri

Closing date for applications for 1999 is January 16th.

What Does Your Icelandic Heritage Mean to You?

We want to hear from all the young Vikings ages 2-20 years old - Tell us what your Icelandic heritage means to you! Does your family have any special Icelandic traditions that you feel are special? Do you have any cherished memories of past trips to Iceland? How has your Icelandic background enriched your life? You can express your feelings in any way you wish - perhaps you'd like to write a song, or put together a collage, film a video or write a story. It's completely up to you!

The best entry will receive "Rainbow", a Ty Beanie Baby. The contest has been extended to December 1st and the Viking committee will select the best entry by January 5th, 1999. We will publish the winner in the January/February issue of the Fálkinn newsletter.

Please send your entry to:

My Icelandic Heritage
c/o The Vikings
2531 Windjammer Road
Mississauga, ON L5L 1H7
or email your written entries to: oceanroses@yahoo.com.