January 2012 The Icelandic Club of Greater Seattle Snorri Plus – A ...

January 2012January2012The Icelandic Club of Greater SeattleSnorri Plus – A Major WOW!!! page 8Icelandic Club of Greater Seattle1

January 2012Greetings from Icelandic Club’s new Madam PresidentThose attending the annual meeting on January 14th were welcomed by our new club president Sonna Ghilarducci.Greetings Club Members,My name is Sonna Somerville-Ghilarducci, I have been marriedto Michael Ghilarducci foralmost 26years! Mike’s oldestdaughter is Jessica, she has adaughter Sophia (14yrs), Jessicais engaged to Fabio Desimone.Together we have our son Grant(23yrs), who lives and works as aChef in Garmish-Partenkirchen,Germany. He is making his firsttrip to Iceland for June 17th thisyear and he’s very excited! Manyof you might know our daughter,Stefania (17yrs) she is our currentclub Princess and is a junior atBallard High School. Stefania isvery involved with activities atschool, but she has dreams andambitions of going to school andbecoming an Architect.My mother Stefania Gestsdottir-Somerville was born in Reykjavik;she was the youngest of fivechildren. My father DonaldSomerville met her in Iceland andbrought her back to New Yorkafter they were married. Theymoved around a bit and endedup in Tucson, Arizona, whichis were I was born. At the timeof my birth, I had a 13 year oldbrother Donald Jr. and then I wassoon joined by Douglas and thenErikur. My Aunt Maya and UncleJohn soon moved to Seattle tojoin us, we all lived in Ballard!As the incoming President, I firstand foremost, want to thankHenry Bjornsson for his timeand service to our wonderfulIcelandic Club of Greater Seattle.It is my goal to continue withour traditions, while addingnew opportunities for those whowant to become more involvedin our activities.We are working on the calendarof events, but a few things tokeep in mind ~ANNUAL ÞORRABLÓT ~FEBRUARY 25th, 2012at the Nordic Heritage Museumin BallardPresidents ~ “Princess Tea” ~April 21st, 2012at Saint John Lutheran ChurchThis will be a new event for,current/past Princesses as well ascurrent/past Fjallkona. It is alsoopen to anyone interested inbecoming a Princess or wantinginformation about or to helpwith the program.I look forward to the upcomingyear and to seeing you onthe 25th of February atÞORRABLÓT.Thank you,SonnaIcelandic Club of Greater Seattle5

January 2012List of participants in the photo:Back Row: Dale Johannson, Winnipeg, MB; Lin Floyd, St. George, Utah; Svavar Knutur, Icelandic musicianwho entertained the group; Ferne Gudnason, Lacombe, AB; Garth Lane, St. Alberta, AB; David Johnson, SeattleFront Row: Marilyn Walton, Brandon, MB; Krista Hermanson, Calgary, AB.farm ruins where I know my familylived and worked, hike along sheeptrails up to abandoned cemeterieswhere I know ancestors are buried,visit old churches or squirrel myselfin the archives for days searchingfor old family records. But this tripshowed me that living in the presentis so wonderful and rewarding too.One the highlights for me wasattending a reception that had beenarranged for the seven of us wherecousins of ours still living in Icelandwere invited. Getting hugs andsharing stories with cousins I neverknew I had, and even being invitedto join them in their homes duringfree time to share traditional foods,was so great. Many of these cousinsI continue to stay in contact withand hope to go back and visit orhost here in Seattle someday.During Week #2, we hit the road inour small bus. That’s when we reallygot to know each other! We went onmany beautiful hikes and saw manywaterfalls. Every day brought a newadventure, from horseback ridingaround Lake Mývatn to a boat cruiseout of Stykkishólmar where the crewdredged the ocean floor and we weresoon eating raw scallops and sippingwine while looking at rare birds andsnow-capped mountain views froma blue ocean. Attending the INLConference and dining in HofsósIcelandic Club of Greater Seattlewas also a marvellous day I’ll alwaysremember.Stretching myself and settingaside fears that hold me back issomething I’m trying to weave intomy otherwise content lifestyle. Iencourage you to challenge yourselfand experience your own “dreamcome true” by signing up for theSnorri Program. Please contact meat Dj4Seattle@comcast.net if you’dlike to talk about the programin more detail or find out aboutnext summer’s sessions. SnorriPlus will run Thursday, August16th to Thursday, August 30thThe application is available on thewebsite: www.snorri.is9

MembershipThe new directory has been completed as is beingdistributed starting with 2012 memberships. Aswith any undertaking that large, we anticipatesome errors will need to be corrected and changesmade. Please contact Linda Russo any time withany changes. Changes and information on newmembers will be inserted in the club newsletterNew Geysir periodically.Events are held regularly and members are keptinformed through the New Geysir. Currently wesend email reminders for scheduled events and emailalerts when new events or opportunities that may beof interest come up between quarterly issues. In aneffort to be wise stewards of the Club’s resources, weare planning on reducing paper usage and postagecosts and will send most information, includingthe newsletter, via email. We won’t be filling yourinbox so we encourage you to use an email addressif you have one. To be sure we have your correctemail address, please confirm your email addressby sending an email to letrusso@hotmail.com Youneed only put “Email me” in the subject line. Youmay have more than one email address for yourfamily if you like. If you don’t use email you willcontinue to receive information just as you do now.In our desire to grow and develop as a communitywe want to create some new programs or events andwant your ideas, help and participation. Contactany board member with ideas, to offer help or forinformation. Possibilities include:1. Hiking and bicycling outings2. Club Nights with various programs, places andhosts3. Movie nights4. Genealogy group5. Book discussion group associated with the IcelandicNational League of North America (INL - NA).Read about INL Reads! at http://inlreads.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/thoughts-on-the-first-inl-readslaunch/or other books of interest to the group.6. Does anyone out there have any ideas forchildren’s programs?January 2012The club now has a Snorri representative so we’relooking for an annual fundraiser to help support aclub member to participate in the Snorri Programmuch the same as our annual Golf Tournamentsupports our Scholarship Program. For informationon the Snorri Program see http://www.snorri.is/The success of the club comes from you so I hopeyou pay your membership dues and participate inclub activities. Please complete the membershipapplication completely so we can be sure wehave the most up-to-date information and sendalong with your check. We want your help andparticipation and encourage you to bring a relative,friend, neighbor or co-worker to an event this year.We look forward to seeing you this year!Linda Russo, Membershipletrusso@hotmail.com253-952-6703Thank you to the following members for yourdonations to the club...Eleanor BiliskeDennis BjornsonRev. Norma BorgfordAlana Brandstrom & Barrett MonsaasTheo & Bruce BrownDave BulgerThorir Einarsson & Gudrun AradottirBeverly ForbesFred Freeman & Cathy Burdett-FreemanAslaug Haraldsdottir & Matt BergeFred & Ann HillierSally IngleDavid E JohnsonElizabeth & Gerald JohnstonEmily & Sibbie KristjansonAlene MorisStephen OlasonVidar Palsson & Robin AngeleyJane & Kurt PedersenIngvar & Claudia PeturssonSidney Roswick10IslendingafélagiĐ í Stór-SeattlesvÆĐi

January 2012Icelandic Club of Greater Seattle11

January 2012ANNUAL ÞORRABLÓT - FEBRUARY 25th, 2012at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard3014 N. W. 67th StreetTickets are $65 - order as many as you want to be sent to you.We must receive your check by February 15th in order for you to receive yourtickets back in the mailMail your check to:Icelandic Club Of Greater Seattle - Þorrablót,P. O. Box 70102; Seattle, WA 98127If there are any tickets left, the cost at the door will be $7512DOORS OPEN AT 5 O’CLOCK WITH A WELCOME DRINK6:00 PM - ÞORRABLOT 2012 FORMALLY OPENS6:30 PM - DINNER IS SERVED7:00 PM - ENTERTAINMENTJOIN US FOR FOOD, FELLOWSHIP, RAFFLE, SING-ALONG, DANCINGIslendingafélagiĐ í Stór-SeattlesvÆĐi