Throughout the night at the 50th Anniversary Gala held September 28, everyone had a chance to place a bid for their favourite Silent Auction item displayed along the far wall. At the end of the evening, bids were closed and the winners declared.
The SGSIS 50th Anniversary Gala was held on September 28, 2024 at the Spruce View Hall and has provided many wonderful memories for everyone who took part. The special Scandinavian appetizer at the start of the three course meal was definitely an exquisite highlight: Rullapylsa on dark rye bread with perfect garnishes.
Appetizer group for the SGSIS 50th Anniversary Gala, back row left to right is Smorgasbord Chef Michele Johannson, Marie Sveinson, Wendy Larsen; and in front Jill Johannson and Charla Kure.
– Photos submitted by Bernice Andersen and Marie Sveinson.
Barry and Vivian Cook with Janet Doll and Bernice Andersen. The Cooks, who reside in Vancouver, are special supporters of the society. They established the Cook Family Scholarship which our society administers.
Descendants of Bjarni and Þorbjorg Johnson gathering at the 50th Anniversary Gala celebration of the Stephan G. Stephansson Icelandic Society. Bjarni and Þorbjorg were part of the original fifty Icelanders that arrived in Markerville in 1888.
50 years! A golden anniversary for the Stephan G. Stephansson Icelandic Society. Grandpa Joe was the first President in 1974 and today they operate six historic sites in Historic Markerville. Thank you to Bernice Andersen, Marlene Linneberg and all the community volunteers for organizing a beautiful evening complete with fine dining by Milly Oak in Lacombe, beautiful music, kind words and many well wishes. It was an honor to MC the evening! – Laurel Andersen Corbiere
KARI FISHER gave an informal presentation during Kaffistofa coffee hour on September 6, 2024 during her residency stay at the BUTTERMAKER’S HOUSE.
After accepting a challenge of incorporating art into her daily life by her son Isaac, Kari has been on a journey exploring her roots by redrawing the floor plans of 42 houses that she has lived in since her birth.
Beginning from playful wax crayon sketches, she then tapped into her architectural background to redraw the floor plans to scale using time-honoured drafting tools. Her goal is to create 11 x 14 blueprints using traditional cyanotype processing.
As she worked, Kari tapped into memories by playing music from the time period that she lived in those spaces, and was amazed by the details of the houses that she would remember, which also included plants, flowers and gardens associated with each place. She has started collecting botanical samples from the various areas she’s lived and then pressing the botany to use as a layer during the cyanotype floor plan development.
Her work is well under way, with 11 more floor plans to draft for that portion of the project. Collecting botanical samples is ongoing and she has several samples already in her press awaiting the next phase.
Kari has loved her stay at the cozy Buttermaker’s House where she has been able to escape the daily routine and focus on this journey. She joked that it hasn’t been all quiet contemplation since several family and friends have happened by throughout the week for quick visits!
Visit a follow-up post of Kari’s completed work
(at the VENUE, Red Deer, April 10, 2025)
Buttermaker’s House Artist Residency is supported by Red Deer County and Alberta Foundation for the Arts. An award is available to qualified applicants, sponsored by INLNA (Icelandic National League of North America).
Claire Butler, a recent resident artist staying at the Buttermaker’s House, held a Music Workshop for Kids at Fensala Hall on August 30th, 2024.
While parents visited outside, inside the hall Claire introduced a mix of song and play to 11 children and helped them relax and have some fun.
After they all took a break to enjoy the playground equipment and play with soap bubble kits they had received, everyone went back inside. The kids then demonstrated some of the sitting games, and the standing/running circle game called “Cut the Cake” to show the parents what they had learned.
Lots of fun and laughter, and a great little adventure on a Friday morning!
The MUSIC WORKSHOP FOR KIDS was a FREE event with no experience required. It was open to kids of all ages 4 years and up. A free fun hour of music games and songs with musician and educator Claire Butler!
For more information on Shine Music Camp in SW Calgary, including program details and pricing, visit https://shinemusiccamp.ca/
Buttermaker’s House Artist Residency is supported by Red Deer County and Alberta Foundation for the Arts. An award is available to qualified applicants, sponsored by INLNA (Icelandic National League of North America).
Clicquot Trio played Thursday night at the Creamery Courtyard for SUPPER AND SONG on August 29th, 2024. It’s worth mentioning that this was directly tied into the BUTTERMAKER’S HOUSE ARTIST RESIDENCY with Claire Butler, and we’re thrilled that Reuben Grendus and Stefano Valdo could join her on stage!
Since 2017 Clicquot Trio has been playing in Calgary with performances of classical/jazz fusion repertoire. Members Claire Butler, Stefano Valdo and Reuben Grendus are all professionally trained classical musicians and as a trio explore a variety of genres.
Past performances include ‘Bach to Brubeck’, Latin and Love Songs’ and ‘An Evening with Cole Porter’ at the Engineered Air Theatre. They have been guest performers in two of Heritage Park’s ‘Music in the Plaza’ concert series and are regularly invited to perform at private events. Come and enjoy a mix of jazz/classical fusion including music from Oscar Peterson’s Canadiana Suite.
From Claire’s artist bio: My name is Claire Butler and I am from Yorkshire, UK. I am a music specialist at Montessori School of Calgary and I am also a professional musician. I studied piano and violin at the Royal College of Music 1993-97. Since then, I have enjoyed a varied career as director, educator and musician living in London, Greece and Bermuda.
I have lived in Calgary since 2012 with my husband Jamie Parkinson who is a teacher and my daughter Nathalie who is now 12 years old.
As a musician I love how my life is always full of new people and experiences. I love to share my music and am excited to explore the historic hamlet of Markerville while bringing my love of music to it’s community.
Clicquot Trio also entertained at the SGSIS 50th Anniversary Gala September 2024
Buttermaker’s House Artist Residency is supported by Red Deer County and Alberta Foundation for the Arts. An award is available to qualified applicants, sponsored by INLNA (Icelandic National League of North America).
Saturday, August 24th, 2024 was the last day of Tomas Jonsson’s residency stay at the Buttermaker’s House. He was heading to Calgary next but made time to have another visit with the locals and visitors during morning coffee, and to share a little bit on his project and his process.
Tomas had a box of items beside him on a small table. It contained his grandfather’s audio cassettes of family conversations, old photos of a family property in Sweden, along with legal documents and other items. “Following the passing of my father, in whose name the land is held, our relationship has adopted a different role as we untangle the personal and financial ties that bind us to the space.”
Tomas had written a letter just yesterday to a new acquaintance and decided to read it out to us, to hopefully provide insight into the unravelling of history and understanding he is working through. Here is a portion of that letter:
“I had a lot of help from my grandfather who recorded all our conversations over the phone, sometimes surreptitiously. That’s what I’ve been doing while I’ve been here is going through these materials and also reading books that are here in the community.
“I’ve had the pleasure of joining in on the daily coffee gatherings in the community. I’ve enjoyed listening to the stories and conversations while also being a bit apprehensive of what I should contribute. Most of my time here I’ve been absorbing, being in the Buttermaker’s House, occasional walks in the town and campground, and reading.
“I knew about the work of Stephan G. Stephenson and was pleased to encounter other writers such as his daughter Rosa and his grandson Stephan Benediktson. I was also glad to meet and read the accounts of Frank Sigurdson. At the same time I was digitizing and listening to the cassette archive which my family received from my grandfather.
“A few weeks ago my partner Jesse and I were on a road trip and started talking about the pending residency. Somehow it occurred to me to record the conversation and the seed of an idea to use it as a method to bring this work into some sort of shape. I started to make short videos mostly in and around the house and using the recorded tapes as soundtracks.
“This was intuitive but a system started to appear. I also channeled my grandfather and recorded, with permission, people here and friends which became soundtracks to other videos. I sent these around to get feedback and the general consensus is that I’m on a good path.”
Inside the Kaffistofa, Tomas had set up a presentation of videos he’d created so far, “In Whose Name the Land is Held.” Here is the link to his video presentation on Vimeo
Some photos from August 24th presentation and coffee gathering:
Here is a link to a blog post which was the result of his chance encounter and conversation with a couple visitors to Markerville on August 23, which had also inspired him to write the letter he read to us.
Tomas Jonsson is an artist, curator, and writer. He has curated, presented, and performed work in Canada and internationally. Tomas’ family came to Montreal from Denmark in 1969, living and travelling west until eventually deciding to stay in Calgary, where he was born in 1975. A large part of Tomas’ practice has been unraveling and understanding this trajectory, and his relation to a place he now also knows as Mohkinstsis, among other names. Tomas is currently living in oskana ka-asasteki, also known as Regina.
Buttermaker’s House Artist Residency is supported by Red Deer County and Alberta Foundation for the Arts. An award is available to qualified applicants, sponsored by INLNA (Icelandic National League of North America).
