Welsh Heritage Celebrated
in U.S. Pacific NW Summer Events
By EIFION WILLIAMS
VANCOUVER - Several events of interest to the Welsh community are being held this summer in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
In the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries coal mining was a major industry in Washington State. The industry attracted large numbers of immigrant Welsh coal miners whose descendants still celebrate their Welsh heritage.
The little town of Black Diamond south-east of Seattle is one of several communities founded by Welsh coal miners in the 1880s.
On June 6 Black Diamond celebrated its eighth annual Welsh Heritage Day, when Welsh descendants shared stories, pictures and memorabilia and listened to Welsh music sung by Dinas o Frain (City of Crows), a popular Seattle area duo specializing in Welsh and Irish traditional music.
On July 18 another small town, Wilkeson, WA, will hold centennial celebrations, including the dedication of a monument "to all the coal miners and quarrymen who put our town on the map." The Welsh were one of the largest ethnic groups in the founding of Wilkeson.
Following the dedication of the monument, there will be a parade in which members of the Puget Sound Welsh Association will participate, carrying a Welsh flag and wearing Welsh kilts, rugby shirts or Welsh costumes. Eric Bowen, a PSWA member from Bellingham, will sing at the dedication.
This year also marks the 125th anniversary of Bryn Seion Welsh Church in Beavercreek, Oregon. The church was built by a small Welsh community just outside Oregon City. Its annual Gymanfa Ganu has become a popular attraction for Welsh immigrants and descendants throughout the Pacific Northwest.
On June 28, Bryn Seion will hold its 74th annual Gymanfa Ganu, with morning and afternoon sessions. The director will be Rhiannon Acree, organist Teresa Vosse, and musical guests Bronn and Katherine Journey, who have performed many times in the U.S. and in Vancouver Welsh Society events.
Another highlight this summer will be the first Annual Left Coast Eisteddfod, featuring concerts in Portland, Oregon, on August 21 and 22. This is billed as a celebration of all things Welsh and in particular of the American Welsh heritage which has enriched the nation's history.
The Eisteddfod competition in a variety of categories will be conducted online. Information on the categories and contest rules can be obtained from the website http://americymru.ning.com?
The event is sponsored by the Meriwether Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation. (Welshman Meriwether Lewis was one half of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition.)
During the past week the Vancouver Orpheus Male Choir added to the summer's Welsh flavour with a tour of Washington and Oregon.
The Choir, under director Liana Savard and with accompanist Barry Yamanouchi, presented their varied and entertaining musical presentations in Leavenworth, Seattle and Oak Harbor, Washington, and in Newport, Portland and Astoria, Oregon.
Further information on forthcoming events in the Pacific Northwest can be found on the Puget Sound Welsh Society's website www.pugetsoundwelsh.org.
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