Gimli Icelandic Canadian Society

Photos

About

The Gimli Icelandic Canadian Society was first formed as the Gimli Chapter of the Icelandic National League on November 22, 1943.  In September 2007 the club changed its name to the Gimli Icelandic Canadian Society (GICS).

The GICS is full member organization within the Icelandic National League of North America and participates in its numerous activities such as the   International Visits program and the INL calendar sales.  GICS participates in events with other local groups to display and interpret the Icelandic heritage and to showcase the unique story of New Iceland within the history of Canada.

• The Gimli Icelandic Canadian Society meets four times a year. 

• The annual meeting is held in February, at which time elections are held. 

The GICS hosts, co-ordinates or participates in various cultural activities in the Gimli community.  The Society frequently receives visitors from Iceland, both individually and in groups. 

GICS activities include an annual event at the Betel Seniors’ Home each winter and community Tombola each fall.  From time to time Icelandic language classes are offered and an Icelandic language-speaking group meets weekly.   The GICS is also proud to co-host the “Walk to the Rock” event in conjunction with the New Iceland Heritage Museum each 21st of October.  The walk has been an annual event since 1975, the centennial year of the arrival of the first settlers in the New Iceland colony.

The “Walk to the Rock” commemorates the date in 1875 when the first Icelandic pioneers landed on the beach at Willow Island.  The walk from the New Iceland Heritage Museum follows the shoreline of Lake Winnipeg south for 3.5 km to the “White Rock” commemorative cairn on Willow Island.  It is an opportunity for all participants to honour those first immigrants.  The walk provides a venue for those who take part in the walk to experience, in a very small way, the hardships that the first pioneers overcame in establishing the community of Gimli and how they persevered to ensure the New Iceland settlement would survive and flourish.

Charitable Donations to GICS

Reminder to our friends that GICS has registered charitable status with Canada Revenue Agency.  Monies donated to GICS go to support Icelandic Language Camp, the Snorri and Snorri West programs, scholarship in the Department of Icelandic Language and Literature at the University of Manitoba, Evergreen Festival of the Arts, INL Convention attendance as well as other community cultural and historical preservation activities.
You will receive a tax credit on income tax owing as follows:

• Federal tax credit of 15% on the first $200.00 of all donations you have made and 29% on any donations being claimed over that amount

• Manitoba Provincial tax credit of 10.8% on the first $200.00 and 17.4% on any donations being claimed over that amount.

Tax receipts will be issued for donations over $10.00.