By Angela Wallace
Dark clouds and a steady drizzle could have hampered the spirits of hundreds of Spanish Fork residents that gathered for the Iceland Memorial Dedication Saturday afternoon.
But by the time President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of the Republic of Iceland addressed the audience, it was the sunny day everyone had planned on, including many Icelandic descendants who gathered from all over the world.
?At the beginning of this occasion, there was this display of wind and storm and rain and clouds and then sunshine and blue skies, but to us in Iceland, that is no big surprise,? Grimsson said.
On the soil where the first Icelandic settlement was built, crowds gathered to commemorate the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the first Iceland immigrants who settled in Spanish Fork under the direction of Brigham Young.
In fact, President Hinckley suggested it should be named after Iceland?s capital city, especially after missionary work prompted so many to gather to Utah County in the 1850s.
?This is a tremendous story and different in many respects in the expression of others who were converted in various parts of Europe in response to the call to gather to Zion,? President Hinckley said. ?Some men suggested that when they came, they settled in Spanish Fork because there were some Danes here. It seems strange that they would settle in a place with such a name. It might more appropriately be called ?New Reykjavik.??
While the lighthouse monument honoring the first Icelandic settlers has stood since 1938, a huge rock brought over from the shores of Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, where many immigrants were baptized, now completes the memorial site.
?This monument here today pays tribute to those who left Iceland for their strong belief systems and their desire to find a better opportunity,? Lt. Gov. Gary R. Herbert said. ?In coming here, they did not divorce themselves from their heritage, they brought those traditions of hard work, appreciation for beauty and family and importantly, their sense of community. We?ve seen what that has done to enhance their own community to have those traits, and I believe the lighthouse and monument symbolizes those commitments.?
Both President Hinckley and Grimsson added faith, character, willpower, goodness and strength to the traits of the farmers and fishermen who suffered months of treacherous travel before settling the Spanish Fork area.
?They didn?t know any wealth and weren?t familiar with any foreign language and had never left their homes,? Grimsson said. ?They decided to cross the ocean, first to Britain and then to the east coast of the United States, bracing uncertainty without hesitation, and then entering the long journey all the way to Utah. With all due respect to Utah, 150 years ago, this was a dismal place; it was a desert with hardly any housing.?
Because many could not afford housing, the settlers could only afford to dig earth-hole dwellings, which they built in the highest parts of the mountains in order to see the Great Salt Lake that reminded them of the Arctic Ocean back home, Grimsson said.
Before certifying the monument to the Icelandic people, President Hinckley also noted the great opportunities Icelandic people had in coming here, including schools for their children and a place to worship freely.
One of the many Icelandic descendants who gathered Saturday afternoon and enjoyed the freedoms of America was Norma Bearnson Jones, who has lived in Spanish Fork for almost her 77-year life. Both of her parents? families migrated to Spanish Fork and became local farmers.
Although she said the Icelandic people suffered persecution at first, things soon smoothed over while her parents pushed their children to become Americanized and learn English.
?I was born here, and moved away for two years and then moved back,? she said. ?It?s the best place to live.?
Jones came to the celebration along with three of her older sisters and lives only a few feet from the memorial. Although she heard and saw much of the construction work in the last few months, she called today?s festivities exciting.
While the memorial celebration concentrated on events of the past, Kristy Robertson, the president of Icelandic Association of Utah, said these ties will continue into the future.
?There will be ties that last forever,? Robertson said. ?We have a community that has built a bridge with countless hours that have gone into this celebration and to this beautiful monument to honor our ancestors. This bridge that we reinforce today is between generations and for the 400-plus ancestors that made their way here to Spanish Fork, Utah, to find a better life and for a religion they believed in.?