Thorrablót 2022 “Together Again”! : Icelandic Canadian Club of Toronto

Thorrablót 2022 “Together Again”!

On a cool day in late March the Icelandic Canadian Club of Toronto gathered for an age old ritual, breaking bread at the midwinter feast of Thorrablót. Thorrablót 2022 was a very special occasion, as we celebrated “Together Again”. Our first in-person Thorrablót in three years was cause to let our hair down. Long periods in isolation, endless virtual meetings, virtual event fatigue, and general pandemic stress led many members to really look forward to this opportunity to connect again, raise a glass and sup on some Icelandic lamb specialties.

This year’s Thorrablót was once again held at the lovely Latvian Centre on Eglinton Ave. E., and the familiar location, familiar faces, familiar routine set in really fast and I think most would agree with me that it seemed like 2019 all over again, only better, somehow. Everyone was so pleased to be together. To be out of isolation. To be with their Club again and among old friends. While the time passed quickly, it also was meaningful. Old faces, familiar routines, (Linda’s auction! the kids table, the lineups of the silent auction checkout…. oh so familiar!)

Of course isolation over the past years has not driven the generous spirit from ICCT members. We had a fantastic silent and live auction, and members showed up with their wallets open to help us raise funds for our youth grants program.

Many many thanks to Sharon and Richard and Peter E. and Elizabeth and Siobhan and Gwen for organizing and setting out such a successful silent auction; to Glen and Gail for gathering so many great donations for our live auction; for Linda for bringing so much energy and theatre to the live auction event; to Rachel and Juli and Gail and Gwen for making the kitchen sing; to Rachel’s crew of young volunteers for being the secret sauce making sure we all actually got to eat dinner!; to Katrine for the event promotion; to Steve and Glen for the photography; to Rob for his unparalleled excellence as an MC; to Lindy and the Sean Stanley Duo for the music; to Jack and Carol for ensuring a smooth check in and check out; to Kieran for his mastery at the art of raffle ticket sales and Alyssa for the fabulous raffle donations; to Elizabeth and Holly for the children’s crafts; to Matthew and Audrey for setting up all the flags; to our valuable supplier partners the Latvian Centre, the Hungarian Restaurant and Arden Jackson; and also to Peter N for hanging around all evening getting in the way, but also balancing the books at the end of the day which turns out to be important.

Also many thanks to all who attended and made it such a great event.

There are so many generous donors of auction items; too many to list off. But they are the lifeblood of our charitable mandate, and we are indebted to your generosity. Thank you.

We were honored to have our new ambassador Hlynur Guðjónsson and his wife Lulu Yee join us for the evening and we thoroughly enjoyed his charming and humorous remarks. Gail Einarson-McCleery also brought greetings to Thorrablót from the Lögberg-Heimskringla.

Thorrablót 2022 was also the occasion for awarding this year’s youth grants, and we were pleased to see this year’s scholarship award go to Thor Goodman and this year’s Snorri Grant go to Elizabeth Handley-Derry, two very deserving candidates. Thanks to Madeline for doing such an exceptional job this year on managing our youth grants program.

Thorrablót 2022 “Together Again” set the pace and tone for the Club’s post-pandemic events and it couldn’t have been a better time!