As I rounded Tergesen's Corner while marching in my 43rd consecutive Festival parade, I admired the crowd of an estimated 30,000 people visiting Gimli for the three day holiday. I said a silent “Thank you” to Terry Tergesen, Brian Jakobson & hundred of other volunteers who made this possible. Please let me explain.

In 1969, after 10 years in the financial services industry and being transferred to 4 provinces,1 state and 9 cities, I was back in Winnipeg and working with Richardson Securities. (Little did I know that was to be my home for the next 29 1/2 years.) Like all kids who grew up in Gimli, I wanted to share the Monday event with my daughters Holly & Carolyn and my wife Eve-Anne. Everyone loved the day and I was immediately hooked again.

The next year I volunteered to help cook pancakes with long time member Marge Alexander, her hard-working family and Art Kilgour. It was a crude affair. We hand-mixed the ingredients with water from the supportive Olson family of Dockside Fish fame. It was fun seeing old friends and neighbours across the grill. This involvement was followed by an invitation for me and my best friend John Kressock to join the Festival as sports committee members.

After the 1971 Festival Terry,  Brian & I had several discussions about the Festival moving to 3 days. The thinking was that unless we could attract more visitors from out of town, the Festival would be just a local event. So, at the year end Board meeting we were going to present this dramatic change. It was my job to sell it to the Board. Not only did we propose the Festival become a 3 day affair, but admission would be free. The Board President Valdi Arnason and most Board members were good friends of our family. Although the idea was revolutionary they agreed. Some, I am sure, had reservations.

Now what? How do we fill the extra 2 days. Remember we were all working full time. Plus the stock market was in free fall. Added to this, the Liberal government in Ottawa decided to close the Gimli RCAF Station, which was a big economic blow to the town and district. Our strength was the dedicated Festival Board, committee members and volunteers and the fact that many facilities were already in place, including the Park, the Harbour and the Base. The closing of the Base and previous closing of BC Packers plant gave us the opportunity to set up a beer garden on the BC Packers dock with Gord Peterson in charge. This venue gave us a splendid view of the harbour. The Yacht Club was very supportive and offered to have a sailing regatta. The Kinsmen Club was also an enthusiastic supporter, offering to host a BBQ in the Park.

As the Saturday would be the first day we wanted to make an impression.  I volunteered my good friend Terry Ashbridge and his lovely wife Susan to run the only time we ever had a Fish Derby at the festival.  I still have the ribbon we gave out to the contestants. It was a huge success with many local merchants giving us prizes. To fill the harbour with a crowd, we wanted to have a Bathtub Race.  To generate interest, we turned my father’s 22-foot fishing skiff into a Viking Ship and entered it in the Charleswood in Motion Days bathtub race on the Assiniboine River in June. Haldor Peterson designed the shields and dragon head, Eve-Anne made the sail and my brother Robert supplied the trailer and gas. With the help of numerous committee members and volunteers, we launched at Headingly and while we didn’t win a prize, pictures of our ship made all the papers  The crew on the oars was Dr Gene Solmundson, Rudy Bristow, Clayton Bristow, Dennis Sigurdson, Dave Solmundson, John Kressock with myself at the helm we sailed down the River. We were all dressed in Viking costumes loaned to us by the Gimli Kinsmen Club. The crew had so much fun that we decided to enter the Red River Exhibition parade later in June. With some additional committee members and the Fjallkona Rosa Johnson with us, we did win a prize! This publicity set the stage for a great inaugural Raft Race in the harbour. The Vikings from the Charleswood voyage agreed to come to Gimli in August although the group that stole the show was a team of three men in babushkas with three bathtubs tied together to support their raft called the Perogy Princess.

At the Charleswood reception after the parade, I met three paratroopers. During the conversation it was agreed they would parachute into the Harbour at the Festival. We just had to supply the plane and boats to pick them up. As our Treasurer Rudy Bristow reminded me constantly, we had no money. So I phoned Gerry Johnson of Gimli Air Service. He immediately endorsed the plan with an added bonus of no charge to the Festival. Brother Robert, Arnold Harper and Hannes Kristjanson offered their boats and crews to pick up the paratroopers. Outside of the Military, I think this is one of the few times civilians ever parachuted into a body of water. The crowd lining the pier was not deterred by the unusually cool, rainy weather and cheered loudly as the ‘jumpers’ floated down to the water.

Also on the list of activities: a pancake breakfast. Fueled by some development money, Carl Christanson and his very able crew built us a walled pancake breakfast enclosure front of the Art Club. Hydro gave us an electric griddle and my neighbour Dave McNabb volunteered to man it. Although we did blow the fuse when we made coffee while the electric griddle was on, electrical magician Zeke Valgardson was on hand to rectify the problem. He, along with Ralph Magnusson and Albert Markuson, gave us numerous hours of willing support. We knew we needed more grill space if we were going to cook fast enough. Bud Hannesson mentioned a Shriner had some grills.  Away I went with Kardy Geirholm and picked them up. These worked great until the wind picked up and kept blowing the flame out. Cousin Eddie came to the rescue with plywood hoarding donated by Allan Goodman at Gimli Lumber. (By the time we cooked pancakes for the President of Iceland a few years later, we had the system down pat.)

The Gimli Park (usually just “The Park”) had always been a great meeting spot. So why not a Sunday morning Ecumenical service?  Ingthor Isfeld of the Lutheran congregation and Father Hoeks of the RC congregation applauded the idea and the outdoor services took place on a beautiful summer morning.

The 1972 program lists a full list of events which were happily greeted by record crowds. In addition to the pancake breakfast, bathtub race, and fishing derby, the events also included the Ten Mile road race, a Fine Arts Display, and at the Park, music and poetry readings followed by a Hootenany. And all capped off with a fireworks display.

Fireworks have always fascinated me but bringing them to the Gimli Festival, brought some significant challenges. First of all, the cost was a staggering $1000.00 and we did not have the money.  We approached my good friend Tom Stefanson and asked him to run a Friday, Saturday and Sunday dance at the Pavilion. This unassuming man put together a superb group. They hired the bands. They collected the money. They were their own security force. For the three nights they never went to bed until after 3 a.m. But we got the fireworks money.

Now we could pay for the fireworks, but we couldn’t set them off - we needed a licensed Fireworks Supervisor. The Gimli Fire Department did not have anyone qualified. So I said to Mr. Richardson, “I need a day off to learn how to blow things up”. “Well, alright”, he said, “but see if you can work in a meeting or two with some investors while you do that.” Before we could set of the fireworks we had to rent the Gimli Harbour from the Federal Government. The cost was a princely $10. Bill Harris, Commodore of the Yacht Club, agreed to be the Wharfinger. He and other Yacht Club members made sure we had no problems. With Dave McNabb, Charlie Mason, Brian Arnason and the Gimli Fire Department, the fireworks show was a huge success. Hundreds of people were on the dock and on the shore enjoying the explosions of light reflected on the water and the loud report of each blast echoing around the bay. Later that evening, Eve-Anne and my sister-in-law Sigurros Kristjanson, made us a beautiful lunch at our cottage. I think Labatt’s threw in some much appreciated refreshments. I am delighted to report the Gimli Fire Department took over this task the next year and it has been a huge success ever since.  

On Monday, the day of the traditional program, we readied the now famous Viking boat (loaded on a trailer), dressed in the borrowed Kinsmen Viking outfits and got into character for the parade. The weather was great and the crowds huge and appreciative.

It was an incredible experience to work with all of these amazing people at the Festival. I am grateful for the terrific memories and the deep friendships forged in the process of working together on something big, loud and lasting.

Under the direction of dedicated Committee members who donate thousands of volunteer hours every year, the three-day Icelandic Festival has increased in popularity every year.  I have listed only a few of the volunteers from my time on the Committee, I wish I could mention everyone. Thankfully the yearly program preserves for all time the names of many of these deserving volunteers. They, along with the Mayor, Council, RCMP and so many others, have made the Festival the place to be on the August long weekend.

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June 20, 2020