Annwyl Gyfeillion/Dear Friends, Many thanks to President Kevin Martinez and our officers who made this year’s St. David’s Day banquet a great success. We all enjoyed good food, a wonderful Dylan Thomas presentation and the pleasure of being together. What better way to usher in this beautiful time of year in Atlanta? Our next meeting will be on Sunday, April 13, at 2:00 pm at Dunwoody United Methodist Church. Fred Jones will give a presentation, titled "Sparks from the Welsh Revivals”, on religious revivals in Wales during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Please plan to attend this important meeting which will include approving next year’s slate of officers! WELSH NEWS Check out this website to learn more about Welsh instruments and dance: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/traditional/index.shtml From Luke Williams: (See the information on Welsh wedding music!) I was wondering if your members would be interested in a new Welsh social network. http://www.Perthyn.com is an exiting new social network like Myspace, facebook, Bebo and others but in the Welsh language. It's a place for Welsh speakers around the world to meet, create profiles, share photos, share videos, chat etc. It is the only Welsh social network in the world. We have been going about 6 months now and have over 1000 members. Most our members are based in Wales but we are trying to drive it to Welsh societies around the world. If you could let your members know about the website in one of your meetings it would be much appreciated. From WHW (Welsh Heritage Week) comes information on a new book by John A. Shaffer (preceded by a review from Amazon): Winifred's Well explores a moment when Britain's oldest continuous pilgrimage site was threatened. A 1917 mining incident suddenly diverted the flow of water from the healing well that predates Lourdes by at least seven centuries. The journey to recover this forgotten story of the well and its protectors draws together the author, the heir of an old Welsh family, and even a contemporary Archdruidess-each seeking in a different way. The journey ends at a rarely seen underground lake that lies beneath a mountain in rural Flintshire. Extensively researched, the book interweaves the story of Lady Anna Maria Mostyn with the author's present-day search for the physical and spiritual sources of St. Winifred's Well. Lady Mostyn's crusade to save the well from powerful mining interests at the turn of the twentieth century has a contemporary ring. And the legend of St. Winifred, mingled with elements from the deep Celtic past, offers ground for exploring the primal fascination with powerful water sources that cuts across time and culture. With the resurgence of interest in Celtic spirituality, it is surprising that no book in print has the remarkable well at Holywell as its focus. Winifred's Well unfolds the evocative power of the place as the author came to experience it-through chance meetings, discoveries, recovered documents, and unexpected connections. The book is illustrated with original photographs and historical images from the author's collection. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the construction of the Milwr Tunnel placed the oldest continuous pilgrimage site in Britain in jeopardy. The confrontation between mining interests and the ancient well's defenders is a prototypical story for the ongoing struggles between progress and tradition that continue today. I hope you'll take a look... Winifred's Well by John A. Shaffer Caerphilly Castle calendar: The Friends of Ysgol Gynradd Y Castell Caerphilly are in the process of producing a calendar for 2009. It will consist of photographs of the castle taken by the children of the school. At this time no other calendar solely of Caerphilly Castle exists. Our project is receiving the full backing of CADW - Welsh Heritage. We are aiming to raise the profile of a wonderful local primary school whilst raising funds to support the work that goes on there. At present we estimate the calendar will sell for approximately £8 and will be available for purchase from September onwards in local stores and via the school web site. We are currently contacting Welsh ex pats groups to gauge what interest there would be in our calendar and give people the opportunity to request further information, and details of how to place orders if they are interested. We are happy to post world wide but obviously any p&p charges would be added to the cost of the calendar. Friends of the school is a group of enthusiastic parents who are working hard to raise funds to support the efforts of the teaching staff and our children. The calendar is being produced by us. All of the proceeds will go directly towards funding projects in the school. No other business or organisation will benefit from sales of the calendar. The children of the school are assisting us with all aspects of this project, not just taking the photographs. It would be a great achievement for them to think that people all over the world are buying their calendars and looking at their photographs. We would appreciate it if you could support us by telling all of your members about the project. They can then contact us via this email address if they are interested in finding out more. We look forward to hearing from our fellow welsh men and woman world wide. Diolch yn fawr, Fiona Fiona Thomas (Friends of Ysgol Y Castell) fionathomas75@hotmail.com Col. Alfred Reese Youth Scholarships for NAFOW, Chicago 2008! With the presence of so many young people in the Cộr Aelwyd CFl choir, the 2008 North American Festival of Wales is sure to have a youthful spirit this year. Steps are being taken, however, to encourage even more young people to participate and share in this celebration of our Welsh heritage and culture. The National Welsh-American Foundation (NWAF) is creating a scholarship this year to support the participation of youth (age 16 to 25) in the 2008 North American Festival of Wales, Chicago. Although the details were still in development at the time of printing, it is understood that scholarship funds will cover the expense of registration and events. For updates and an application, please contact the WNGGA headquarters at wngga@comcast.net or 810 632-7850. The scholarships are named in honor of Col. Alfred Reese, long-time leader and benefactor of the Welsh American community who passed away in 2007. With a military career spanning World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, Col. Reese was a respected and well-decorated veteran. When he retired from the US Army in 1975, Col. Reese returned home to Pennsylvania and took up an active civic life. His primary concern was to foster his Welsh heritage. He provided outstanding service to the Welsh American community as a leader of local groups like the St. David’s societies in Schuylkill and Carbon counties, of regional groups like the Pennsylvania Welsh Federation and national organizations like the National Welsh-American Foundation and the Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu Association. He received many prestigious honors for his work as a Welsh American cultural leader. The new scholarship directed at youth participation in the North American Festival of Wales is indeed a fitting tribute to his memory. E: nwaf@epix.net W: www.wales-usa.org & www.nwaf-cymru.org Dwedodd Dewi Sant/Saint David said "Do the little things" "Gwnewch y pethau bychain" Carwyn Edwards 1109 E Del Rio Street Gilbert Arizona 85295 Tel: 480 560 1577 neu 480 963 1673 neu fax 480 963 1673 carwynedwards993@hotmail.com www.welshleagueofarizona.org And finally from our friends in Alabama, an important petition: The Alabama Welsh Association are calling upon all Welsh Societies [individuals of Welsh heritage and/or those with Welsh history interest] around the world to help us. We are petitioning the Alabama Parks Department to restore the commemorative Prince Madac plaque to it's location on Mobile Bay. It came to our attention a few weeks ago that the plaque was no longer in place but taken down and placed in storage. (more about this on our site at www.alabamawelsh.com) We currently have a online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/AWA0987/petition.html. All we ask is that you take a few moments of your time to sign the above petition in hopes of helping our cause. A little about the plaque. The Madoc story gained recognition in North America when in 1953, Washington D.C.- based Daughters of the American Revolution erected two plaques – one in Rhos-on-Sea, the other in Mobile, Ala. – commemorating Madoc's voyage. The plaques read "In memory of Prince Madoc, a Welsh explorer, who landed on the shores of Mobile Bay in 1170 and left behind, with the Indians, the Welsh language." We have a picture of the plaque on our web site, www.alabamawelsh.com, if you would like to see it. As far as we know the one in Wales is still in place. Thank you for your support and time! Sincerely, Janice Gattis President Alabama Welsh Assoc. WELSH RUGBY: Our society was well represented at Fado’s in Buckhead as Jenny, Gareth and Bill all watched Wales beat France 29-12 to win the Grand Slam. And this after winning the Triple Crown! Gwanwyn Hapus/Happy Spring, Lib

Mis Ebrill/April 2008