Dear friends,
This weekend, North American Icelanders celebrate 'The Day of the Icelanders.' Because of the pandemic, many of the offerings of the Deuce of August, in Mountain, North Dakota, and Íslendingadagurinn in Gimli, Manitoba, have moved to webinars and online events. If you cannot be with us in person, we hope you will 'TRAVEL' this weekend from your computer and celebrate our shared Icelandic heritage with us! See the links below.
The festivals in North America go back to 1874 when the Icelanders in Wisconsin held a special celebration on the same day as their countrymen in Iceland. King Kristján IX sent a decree that the Icelandic Parliament should be called into session for his visit. Then, on Sunday, August 2nd, all churches in the land were to hold a service, because he was bringing a new constitution to Iceland.
The Icelandic emigrants in Wisconsin knew about this celebration in Iceland and decided to also hold a celebration this same day. Ever since, in North America, August the 2nd is known as 'The Day of the Icelanders.'
This weekend in Mountain, North Dakota, is the 2nd of August / Deuce of August Icelandic Heritage celebration and in Gimli, Manitoba is the Íslendingadagurinn.
Icelandic Roots is pleased to be a part of these celebrations through virtual offerings this year. Our Genealogy sessions have been so popular! We want to continue them - but this year it will be online. What would our ancestors think about this fabulous technology so we can do online webinars and discuss with our Cousins Across the Ocean at any time and on so many varied devices???
***Come join us for the following virtual offerings by members of the IR Team. All times are CENTRAL TIME ZONE***
This weekend, the IR Team will host 5 hours of FREE Genealogy seminars for everyone - wherever you live. Please share this email with your friends and family around the world. Besides the Genealogy Seminars, there are also two other online offerings from Icelandic Roots that are listed below.
Virtual Genealogy Center
Friday, July 31
Beginning at 1300 (1:00 pm) until 1600 (4:00 pm), members of the IR team will be online to answer questions, show tips and tricks for using the database, and have some fun with you.
Join the ZOOM Room Friday and Saturday by this link:
Password: Deuce
Virtual Genealogy Center
Saturday, August 1
Beginning at 1100 (11:00 am) Doug Hanson will be online to discuss all the Icelandic Place Names, how to decipher PLACES in Iceland, Canada, and the USA, tricks to looking at Place Names in Census records, locations of Cemeteries, and much more. Learn about the Icelandic Roots hidden, but very powerful, Interactive Map Feature.
Join the ZOOM Room Friday and Saturday by this link:
Password: Deuce
Virtual Genealogy Center
Sunday, August 2
Beginning at 1430 (2:30 pm), Cathy Josephson will be the host. She is the Director of the East Iceland Emigration Center and Icelandic Roots Genealogist. Come hear Cathy discuss Icelandic Genealogy, the IR Database, and her video about how they traveled from Iceland to North America. She will also take your questions about Icelandic Roots and Genealogy.
Join the Sunday FREE Seminar for everyone either in the New Iceland Heritage Museum in Gimli live on the big screen or you can tune in from any internet-capable device from anywhere in the world.
Join the ZOOM Room on Sunday by this link:
Password is: Cousins
Cathy´s video, 'The Journey West: Sails, Rails, Rivers, and Trails' will be offered at the New Iceland Heritage Museum theater at 2 pm on Sunday followed by an online discussion with Cathy at 2:30 pm. Her wonderful video is online and can be viewed anytime:
The Deuce of August Icelandic Heritage Program
Saturday, August 1, beginning at 1400 (2:00 pm) Central time - kl 1900 in Iceland. The ICA
will host Hulda Karen Daníelsdóttir, Dianne O´Konski, Guðmundur Árni Stefánsson, and Bergdís Ellertsdóttir.
The second part of the program will feature short presentations about each of our Icelandic Communities in northeast North Dakota as well as how we are keeping our shared Icelandic Heritage alive.
Come join us as we tell the stories of the past, present, and the future about preserving our Icelandic Heritage and Culture. You might be surprised about what you can learn!
All are invited to join the webinar, which will be broadcast live.
Join the webinar via this link:
The password to the webinar is: Deuce
I hope that all of you have a wonderful weekend and can come to join us for these offerings that are FREE to everyone all across the world.
For more information see the websites: