From August 27th to August 30, 2000, special Icelandic celebrations were held in the Town of Lockeport to remember the 9 Icelandic families (45 souls) who lived there from 1875 to 1882. One family, Erlendur Höskuldsson (Huskilson) and Guðlaug Stefánsdóttir and their three children, Þorrun (Mrs. John Ryan), Sigriður Nikolina (Lena, Mrs. J. Marshall Burgess) and Lewis Churchill remained.

The Islendingur sailed into Lockeport Harbour at 11 a.m. on August 27th. Captain Gunnar Eggertsson and his crew of 8 sailed from Halifax to Lockeport on August 26th. On this trip were Sarah Huskilson, Mayor of Lockeport, and Peter Bjornson, Councilor from the Town of Gimli, Manitoba.

A crowd of people, ranging from 300 to 400, greeted the ship and the crew.

At 2 p.m. a memorial cairn erected by the Icelandic Memorial Society of Nova Scotia and the Republic of Iceland was unveiled on property owned by Harold Huskilson. Erlendur Höskuldsson lived there from 1919 until his death in 1931.

Mayor Sarah Huskilson presented the opening speech. She gave a short history of the Icelandic settlement in Lockeport. She also noted how the local people went out of their way to help the new immigrants. The Locke family, the founding fathers of Lockeport, were especially kind and many of the pioneer settlers named their children after these families (eg. Jane Locke Nordal, Lewis Churchill Huskilson).

An article entitled "The Lockeport Icelandic Settlement" which I wrote was published in the Icelandic Canadian Magazine (Vol. 55, #3-2000) on this particular settlement.

Speeches were given by Senator Wilfred Moore and Gerald Keddy, MP South Shore, on behalf of the Government of Canada. A message was read from the Honourable Herb Grey, Minister Responsible for the Millennium Bureau of Canada. The local MLA, Cecil O'Donnell, and the Honourable Rodney MacDonald, Minister of Tourism and Culture, represented the Province of Nova Scotia.

Attending the ceremony were representatives from the Republic of Iceland. The Honourable Sturla Boðvarsson, Minister of Transportation, Communications and Tourism, was the special guest of honour. He was accompanied by Jakob Falur Garðarsson (Special Assistant to the Minister); Helga Haraldsdóttir (Tourism Counselor); Ragnhildur Hjaltadóttir (Department Manager, Transportation) and Magnús Oddsson (Director of Tourism); Svavar Gestsson (Consul General of Iceland in Canada); and his wife, Guðrún Ágústsdóttir. Hans Indridason and his wife, Erla, from Icelandair, were present.

A delegation from Gimli, Manitoba, led by Mayor William Barlow, joined in the ceremonies. Accompanying him from Gimli were Rick Lair, Darcy Bedard, Kristine Sigurdson, Peter Bjornson, and D. Joe Sigmundson. Dilla Narfason and her 3 sisters, Alda MacKenzie, Emma Wilkinson and Gerdur Harris, were also in attendance.

Descendants of 4 of the 9 families who lived in the Icelandic settlement at East Green Harbour, about 2 miles from present day Town of Lockeport, were present and made speeches. Harold Huskilson (son of Lewis and Sarah Huskilson) and Eleanor Rogers (daughter of J. Marshall Burgess and my amma, Sigriður Nikolina Erlendsdóttir) spoke for the Höskuldsson Family. Johann Claude and Dick Thorsteinsson, from Gimli, spoke on behalf of the Jon Eirikson Family. Lorne and Leslie Sigvaldason sent a message from the Nordal Family. It was in Lockeport that this family (Sigurður Guðmundsson) took the surname of "Nordal" from North River Valley in Iceland. Joyce Grimson sent a message from Elfros, Saskatchewan, from the descendants of the Sigfus Bjarnason Family.

The memorial cairn was then unveiled. The bottom tablet of the cairn is Atlantic Mist Granite found in Nova Scotia. The top tablet of the cairn is a light grey stone (grasteinn eftir samkomulogi) from Iceland. The following verse is inscribed on the cairn in English, French and Icelandic: "The land to which my work is dedicated is where my children's cradle stands."

A historical sign, dedicated in memory of Lewis Malcolm Huskilson (1911-August 10, 2000), was also unveiled. This sign will be placed in East Green Harbour where the Icelandic homes were located. The cairn and sign were blessed by Reverend John Hammond.