Jonathan Morgan’s latest book, The Welsh Warrior Through the Ages, was fittingly launched at the Firing Line, the Museum of the Welsh soldier at Cardiff Castle last week.

The NAWF co-hosted the event, subsidising music from three talented young musicians from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.  Part of the evening’s proceeds went to the Foundation.

The book charts the history of the Welsh Warrior from Celtic times, takes in the archers who fought alongside the English Edward I against the Scots and celebrates the proliferation of gallantry awards acquired by Welshmen through the ages.  It includes a foreword by Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC, who describes it as inspirational and long-overdue.

The evening attracted many high profile attendees including Guy Clarke, Secretary of the Cardiff Business Club; Professor Dan Davies, Head of Education at Cardiff Met University;  Professor Brian Morgan of Cardiff Met University;  Dan Clayton-Jones, Prior of St Johns; Hugh Phillips, former High Sheriff of Glamorgan; Chris Williams, Chairman of Crawshays Rugby Club; and Stephen Thomas, Secretary of WEA.

Published by Cambria Books, The Welsh Warrior Through the Ages is available in paperback or eBook form from Amazon and other bookshops.
    

Grenville Thomas accepts 2016 Heritage Medallion from the North America Wales Foundation..
Calgary presented a very different face for those newly returned from the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Abergavenny. At the western end of the Canadian prairie it has the Rockies as a spectacular background. The city manifests the wealth and prosperity derived from the harvest of the oil from Alberta’s tar sand reserves. However, the atmosphere in the Westin, home to NAFOW for four days, was joyfully and entirely Welsh. After the wonderful opening program on Thursday night it was time for the joint banquet of the WNAA and NAWF on Friday evening.

The banqueting hall was full to capacity and everyone was in a festive mood as the evening opened with the traditional procession of the leaders and guests of the two organizations to the strains of Men of Harlech played by Steve Jensen.  After the Canadian and American national anthems were sung the benediction was given by the Reverend Eirian Wyn Lewis the well-known Baptist minister from Mynachlog Ddu in Wales. Hywel Davies, Past President, WNAA in his familiar role as Master of Ceremonies, introduced the members of the top table. A sumptuous dinner was enjoyed by all before we moved on to the main program of the evening.

The event served to bring to the stage two distinguished individuals, both born in Wales. Grenville Thomas came to accept the Heritage Medallion, NAWF’s highest honor for his contributions as a loyal, passionate and generous Welshman. He is our greatest contemporary explorer, prospector, discoverer and entrepreneur. We honor him most of all for so much that he has given back to his Welsh communities both in Canada and in Wales.  Robert Lewis came to sing, almost entirely in Welsh. His prodigious voice has brought him two of the National Eisteddfod’s most prestigious awards; the Osborne Roberts Blue Riband in 2015 and more recently the Towyn Roberts Scholarship at Abergavenny this summer.

Grenville Thomas was introduced by Merlyn Williams, his dear friend from their childhood in Wales and later in Yellowknife. It was an introduction made with flair and humor permeated by the deep sense of admiration and community that they had shared over the years. To commemorate the occasion Grenville then accepted the Heritage Medallion and plaque from NAWF secretary Philip Davies. Earlier in the day Grenville gave a wonderful seminar when he told his life story, from his childhood in Wales with Merlyn and others to his amazing adventures in Canada and elsewhere. He was introduced at the seminar by another good friend Brian Lewis, and then surrounded and prompted by his Yellowknife friends he regaled us with the enormous achievements and contributions that he has made over the years.  A life worthy of a biography and a movie.

Grenville and Robert’s journeys to Canada and to Calgary happened at very different times and for entirely different reasons. Grenville came soon after graduating in 1964 as a mining engineer from Cardiff University to work at a nickel mine in Sudbury Ontario.

Grenville Thomas accepts 2016 Heritage Medallion from the North America Wales Foundation.  Robert Lewis, the 2015 National Eisteddfod of Wales Osborne Roberts Blue Riband Medallist, performs at the Banquet.

Calgary presented a very different face for those newly returned from the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Abergavenny. At the western end of the Canadian prairie it has the Rockies as a spectacular background. The city manifests the wealth and prosperity derived from the harvest of the oil from Alberta’s tar sand reserves. However, the atmosphere in the Westin, home to NAFOW for four days, was joyfully and entirely Welsh. After the wonderful opening program on Thursday night it was time for the joint banquet of the WNAA and NAWF on Friday evening.

The banqueting hall was full to capacity and everyone was in a festive mood as the evening opened with the traditional procession of the leaders and guests of the two organizations to the strains of Men of Harlech played by Steve Jensen.  After the Canadian and American national anthems were sung the benediction was given by the Reverend Eirian Wyn Lewis the well-known Baptist minister from Mynachlog Ddu in Wales. Hywel Davies, Past President, WNAA in his familiar role as Master of Ceremonies, introduced the members of the top table. A sumptuous dinner was enjoyed by all before we moved on to the main program of the evening.

The event served to bring to the stage two distinguished individuals, both born in Wales. Grenville Thomas came to accept the Heritage Medallion, NAWF’s highest honor for his contributions as a loyal, passionate and generous Welshman. He is our greatest contemporary explorer, prospector, discoverer and entrepreneur. We honor him most of all for so much that he has given back to his Welsh communities both in Canada and in Wales.  Robert Lewis came to sing, almost entirely in Welsh. His prodigious voice has brought him two of the National Eisteddfod’s most prestigious awards; the Osborne Roberts Blue Riband in 2015 and more recently the Towyn Roberts Scholarship at Abergavenny this summer.

Grenville Thomas was introduced by Merlyn Williams, his dear friend from their childhood in Wales and later in Yellowknife. It was an introduction made with flair and humor permeated by the deep sense of admiration and community that they had shared over the years. To commemorate the occasion Grenville then accepted the Heritage Medallion and plaque from NAWF secretary Philip Davies. Earlier in the day Grenville gave a wonderful seminar when he told his life story, from his childhood in Wales with Merlyn and others to his amazing adventures in Canada and elsewhere. He was introduced at the seminar by another good friend Brian Lewis, and then surrounded and prompted by his Yellowknife friends he regaled us with the enormous achievements and contributions that he has made over the years.  A life worthy of a biography and a movie.

Grenville and Robert’s journeys to Canada and to Calgary happened at very different times and for entirely different reasons. Grenville came soon after graduating in 1964 as a mining engineer from Cardiff University to work at a nickel mine in Sudbury Ontario.

For Robert 2016 brought the opportunity for his first visit to Canada to share with us his brilliant vocal talents. This, as described in detail elsewhere in this issue by Dafydd Evans, he did in great style accompanied by Steve Jensen. Our story with Robert Lewis begins at the National Eisteddfod in Meifod in 2015 when he won the Osborne Roberts Blue Riband.  For the third year the NAWF offered an opportunity for the winner to come to North America to perform at NAFOW. This allowed Robert to come accompanied by his parents Ian and Ella and girlfriend Charlotte.  Robert received a standing ovation and this was followed by stirring rendering by the audience of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau to bring the formal part of the evening to a close.  Many of us lingered to spend communal time together as seen in the photograph of the friends from Yellowknife. They brought a very special sense of friendship and welcome to the whole Festival.

Both Grenville and Robert left for the United Kingdom shortly after the Festival ended. Grenville travelled on business and Robert to begin his third year of studies at the Guildhall School of Music. We wish them both success in their endeavors, the future of Welsh life wherever they go will be brighter and better for their presence and contributions.

Y Fenni, site of the National Eisteddfod, and Calgary, home to this year’s North American Festival of Wales are separated by seven time zones. They differ physically in many ways. However the bond of Welsh culture and heritage bound them to each other this summer. A number of us were fortunate enough to participate in and enjoy both of these flagships of Welsh cultural activities. 

Nestled on the banks of the Usk river that flows through Abergavenny, the site was a sylvan setting for this year’s Eisteddfod.  For the second year five of our North American Welsh organizations had banded together to give Wales a taste of Welsh North America. Ninnau, Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project, Canolfan Madog, Rio Grande University, National Welsh American Foundation and Welsh North American Association were each represented. We (David and Janet Allen; Philip and Meril Davies) arrived on Friday afternoon to set up the booth for Cymry Gogledd Amerig. To find our booth we looked for the iconic Pink Pavilion, which had been a landmark on the Maes for the past decade only to realize that it was no more.  It had been replaced by an unremarkable box like Pavilion. Named “the Evolution”, it however brought far better interior facilities than its predecessor and by the end of the week was meeting with universal praise.

Bright and early on Saturday morning Berwyn Jones and Martha Davies arrived and it was all go for the next eight days.  The booth was always well staffed as several of us from North America took turns manning the booth.  Among us were Hefina Phillips, Hywel and Mari Davies, Jeanne Jones and Louis  Jindra.  Having Rebecca Roy, the Dafydd Morris award recipient at last year’s NAFOW in Columbus, with us was a particular pleasure as she prepared and competed to great acclaim in the mezzo soprano competition. She tells of her experiences elsewhere in this issue of Ninnau. Special also was the presence of several of our Welsh connections at the booth, Jenny Hubbard Young joining us for several days. Members of the Welsh board of the National Welsh American Foundation; Jonathan Morgan, Frances Jones Davies, Joanna Masters, Jon Roper, Bill Jones, Lynne Wilkins and Jenny Mathers joined us on successive days. This company alone made for a very enjoyable and productive time but of course we were there to welcome the myriad, estimated at 130,000, of visitors who came to the Eisteddfod during the week. We made sure that the booth was easily recognized by the display of large U.S and Cnadian flags.  Visitors were mostly from Wales but a remarkable number turned out to be visiting from North America. Some of them had never heard of Ninnau so we quickly took down their particulars, gave them a free copy, and introduced them to the many Welsh organizations on this side of the pond.

The weather was the usual blend that Wales experiences; a wet day, a windy day and then a couple of beautiful days. Happily one of these coincided with one of our major highlights of the week. This was the induction of Martha Davies into the Gorsedd of the Bards. It was a beautiful warm Friday morning as a large crowd gathered around the Gorsedd circle on the Maes to watch the inductees approach in a procession from the Gorsedd Pavilion. With appropriate ceremony Martha, assuming the Bardic name of Martha Bethania, was accepted in to the Gorsedd by the Archdruid Geraint Lloyd Owen, known as Geraint Llifon. After the ceremony Martha was the center of attention as the only one of thirty one new members of the Gorsedd born and living outside of Wales. Her four years spent in Aberystwyth many years ago allowed her to learn the language and instill in her the passion for all things Welsh which she so richly shares with husband Berwyn.

Building bridges with Wales is one of the primary missions of the National Welsh American Foundation. A successful way of doing this has been the support of the winner at the National Eisteddfod of the Osborne Roberts Blue Riband for the best vocalist under the age of 25 to attend and perform at NAFOW the following year. It was therefore with anticipation and excitement that we went to the Pavilion on Thursday afternoon to listen to the four finalists. The winner was Steffan Lloyd Owen, a baritone from Pentre Berw on the Isle of Anglesey. We look forward to inviting him to perform at NAFOW in Rochester in 2017.
2014’s Osborne Roberts winner Robert Lewis was at the Eisteddfod with his parents, Ian and Ella and friend Charlotte, and visited us in the booth on a number of occasions. He met with Rebecca Roy on one of these visits and a sweet memory is of the two of them deep in conversation – another bridge built!  In between his visits with us Robert competed for the Towyn Roberts Scholarship, a prestigious and much sought after award for vocalists embarking on their professional careers. Robert made it through the preliminaries for this competition and late on Wednesday night he competed in the final with several more seasoned individuals. But at the tender age of 20 he won – and immediately left for the long drive to Salsibury to perform in an opera the next day!

After a wonderful eight days catching up with old friends and making many new ones it was time to close shop and depart for our destinations far and wide – back to North America for many of us to prepare for NAFOW at Calgary. It was a highly successful week, full of culture and memories for the ages.

We are committed to bringing talented Welsh voices to an American audience.  For the third year, weare sponsoring the winner of the prestigious the National Eisteddfod’s Osborne Roberts Blue Riband competition to appear at the North American Festival of Wales.

Robert will be performing at the Foundation’s Gala Awards and Banquet in Calgary, Ontario on Friday 2 September.

Robert is a bright young star among the crowded firmament of promising young Welsh vocalists. In 2016 he became the youngest winner of the Eisteddfod’s Blue Riband at nineteen years of age.

A farmer`s son from Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, Robert is in his second year as an undergraduate in vocal studies culminating at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London studying under the tutelage of Adrian Thompson.

Robert is a familiar face on Welsh television having performed with “Ysgol Theatr Maldwyn” and having competed in eisteddfodau for many years. In 2013 and 2014 he won the under 19 years boys solo at the Urdd National Eisteddfod receiving the Mrs Olwen Phillips Scholarship and the Melbourne Australia Welsh Chapel Scholarship. He has already gained much success in Welsh opera. In 2013 he was a member of the cast of the Welsh National Youth Opera`s production of Paul Bunyan by Benjamin Britten. In 2015 Robert again joined the Welsh National Opera as a member of an eight part ensemble in their production of the Welsh opera “Gair ar Gnawd” by Pwyll ap Sion which was performed at the Ffwrness theatre in Llanelli and televised on S4C.

Many successes came Robert’s way in 2015 as a soloist in Eisteddfodau and open competitions in Wales and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. As Montgomeryshire hosted the National Eisteddfod at Meifod Robert enjoyed performing in the “Noson Lawen” evening concert as one of three tenors.  Later in the week he went on to win the National Eisteddfod’s prestigious Osborne Roberts Blue Riband competition and scholarship.  He also received the David Lloyd and Jean Skidmore prizes for the most outstanding tenor in the 19 to 25 age group.

In September he was one of four finalists in the Morriston Orpheus Coir Supporter’s Association.

A recent charity dinner recital in Brecon raised much needed funds for a number of Welsh charities including the National Welsh American Foundation.

The event at held at The Castle Hotel on Thursday 3 March was attended by one hundred and twenty people including Sir Andrew and Lady Sue Large and Sir Paul and Lady Katherine Silk.

The key feature of the evening was a superb recital by the internationally-renowned harpist Catrin Finch who left everybody astounded by her skill, versatility and musicianship. Pictures by Robert McDonald and Penelope Timmis were also auctioned for the featured charities.