Rural Municipality of Gimli

Gimli, Manitoba is also a town in Manitoba; see Gimli, Manitoba (town). For other uses see Gimli.

Gimli is a rural municipality in south-central Manitoba, Canada. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg, about seventy-five kilometres north of the provincial capital Winnipeg. The town (population 1,657 Statistics Canada 2001 census) and surrounding area constitute an Icelandic ethnic block settlement, and are home to the largest Icelandic population outside of Iceland.

It was founded by settlers originally from Iceland in 1875. It is noted for the large Viking statue, standing fifteen feet tall (4.6 m), which attracts visitors to the region, along with the annual Icelandic Festival held there each summer during the Civic Holiday long weekend (occurs on the first Monday in August). Gimli is famous for being the only location in the world that produces Crown Royal Canadian whisky.

Gimli is the site of a disused Royal Canadian Air Force base, which is now used by the Gimli Gliding Centre and the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. The airbase was the site of a remarkable emergency landing by an Air Canada Boeing 767 on August, 1983 which had run out of fuel in mid-flight, causing its engines to entirely shut down, and forcing the plane to land as a glider. This event became known as the Gimli Glider. The plane was nicknamed the Gimli Glider by the aviation community. The Boeing 767 is still flying with Air Canada, more than 20 years after the accident.

Economy

Large employers in Gimli include Faroex and the Gimli Distillery.

• Faroex Ltd. produces composite components for use in the agricultural, automotive, consumer and military supply industries since 1981. Faroex's first product was POLYGRATE flooring and support framing system, which is made out of advanced plastic and fiberglass and is used in hog production.

• The Gimli Distillery opened in 1968. The plant currently employs 72 people with an annual payroll, including benefits, of almost $4 million. The operation is situated on two quarters of land and is comprised of a production building, barrel filling and dumping, and 46 warehouses to store the maturing whiskies. The plant and its people are responsible for providing the company's global Canadian whisky requirement.

Arts and culture

Festivals

• Gimli Film Festival
• Icelandic Festival of Manitoba, Islendingadagurinn. The first Icelandic festival in Manitoba was held in Winnipeg in 1890; was held there annually until 1931, and since 1932 has been held in Gimli.

Notable people

• David Arnason-Writer and professor born in Gimli.
• Leo Kristjanson - Economist and President of the University of Saskatchewan from 1980-89.
• John MacDonald-Canadian musician who plays the French horn.(He and his family left when he was three years old)
• Vilhjalmur Stefansson-Ethnologist and explorer born in Gimli.
• Eric Stefanson-Manitoba politician born in Gimli.
• W. D. Valgardson - Writer and professor raised in Gimli.

References

• "We are all from Gimli - Jewel of Lake Winnipeg's southwestern" shore by Caelum Vatnsdal, Features Editor of The Manitoban

• In a 2005 episode of "The Simpsons", Homer Simpson, Apu and Grandpa Simpson drive to Winnipeg, passing a highway directional sign for Gimli.

• The first feature film of "Guy Maddin" was "Tales From the Gimli Hospital". Some of the events in the film are loosely related to events that actually occurred in Gimli. However, much of it is fictional.

External links

• Rural Municipality of Gimli, Manitoba Official Website