May 8th is VE Day. Victory in Europe. The day that marks an end to that awful war in Europe where millions died, untold millions were wounded and millions more were displace from their homelands. It is a day celebrated around the world. May 8th is also celebrated for other reasons, of course, and for many people, including me, it is their birth day.
 
This story begins in the very early hours of a morning in 1936. After some work, The RCMP had assembled enough Mounties to raid a well-known Gimli drinking ‘spa’ run by a local bootlegger who went by the name of “Angel Face”. My grandfather, Siggie Kristjanson and two of his closest companions, were “found in” the bootlegging establishment when the raid was conducted. A court date was set to hear the evidence and determine the outcome of the charges. The date of the hearing: May 8, 1936.

As I was scheduled to make my appearance in the world on the day of the hearing, my dad was sticking close to home but he decided to run over the court house to check on the proceedings. My parents had rented a small house from Charlie Greenberg on Second Avenue and the old Town Hall that was to be the courthouse for the hearing was just down the street. Not every day your own father is involved in a court case.

The crown attorneys must have thought they could crack the locals quickly. They threatened them with severe penalties as ‘found ins’ and pushed them to admit that they had been drinking illicit liquor. One by one the men calmly maintained their innocence and answered that they were only there for a visit and a cup of coffee. After each polite answer to the Crown (in English), the men repeated their answer for the crowd. In Icelandic. The Icelandic version had several colorful additions, much to the delight of the packed courthouse.

The crown attorneys, exasperated by the found ins, decided to put the main character on the stand. Angel Face was an imposing woman of considerable size and unfortunate visage. Her real name is lost to me – the Icelandic tradition of nicknames replacing given names meant that many of the birth names were forgotten by one generation and never known to the next. In any case, Angel Face was said to have gotten her nickname because she had a face that only an angel could love.

On the stand Angel Face dutifully answered the Crown’s questions and proclaimed her innocence. She also kept up the banter with the crowd. In Ukrainian. With a liberal sprinkling of expletives that kept the crowd in an uproar.

In frustration, the crown attorneys pointed to the found ins and pointedly accused her of selling them illegal liquor.  Angel Face responded first with an almost coquettish look and then with a phrase that would be repeated in hundreds of different ways in Gimli for months to come – “How do you know this? Were you in mine place too?”

The crowd in the courthouse fell about the place laughing. Once the uproarious laughter settled down, Valdi Stefanson, the local justice, called for a recess. This was my father’s cue to check on his wife and on his entry into the little cottage, he witnessed my arrival on the scene. After checking with the little mother, he ran back to the courthouse and whispered in his father’s ear that he had a new grandson who would be named after him.   

Siggie immediately stood up and announced my arrival to the courthouse. The news sparked thunderous applause. The Justice of the Peace, whether out of frustration or an understanding that another recess would not do the trick this time, unconditionally surrendered. He banged his gavel for silence and when he got it he said in a clear voice “Case Dismissed”. The crowd adjourned and went for a …coffee.

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May 2010