The Malad Valley Welsh Society celebrated St. David’s Day on Monday, March 2, this year instead of on March 1, due to the 1st falling on Sunday. Society members and guests met at the Oneida County Library for treats, a review of St. David’s life in Welsh tradition, and a slide show tour of Wales.

The story of St. David was rehearsed at the beginning of the party. He is the patron saint of Wales and is known for founding many monastic settlements and churches in Wales and Brittany. St. David’s Cathedral is located at the site of one of the monasteries he founded.

His most famous miracle occurred when he was preaching in the middle of a large crowd where the village of Llanddewi Brefi now stands.  As he preached to the crowd, most of whom could not see or hear him, the ground on which he stood is said to have risen up to form a small hill.  A white dove, which became his emblem, was seen settling on his shoulder. St. David’s Day is on March 1, the day when St. David died in 589.

St. David’s Day is a national holiday in Wales and was celebrated in Malad Valley by the Welsh pioneers for over 100 years.  In time, the event evolved into St. John Old Folks Day at which each attendee who had reached the milestone 60th birthday received a rocking chair. The tradition of celebrating St. David’s Day was revived in 2005 with the organizing of the Malad Valley Welsh Society.

After reviewing the life of St. David, the slide show tour of Wales began.  Luke and Shayna Waldron and three of their children went to Wales last November so they could experience the many Christmas fairs, markets, and traditions throughout Wales.  With the guidance of Luke’s Welsh cousin, they toured castles, farms, villages, a lovespoon factory, and green countrysides. One highlight was a gigantic slate mine that had been turned into a Christmas light show. Miles of lights led visitors into the heart of the mine where Christmas scenes were displayed on the slate walls.

The tour brought back memories for those who had been to Wales and sparked interest in those planning to go to Wales. They were not deterred even by the Waldrons’ harrowing tales of driving on the wrong side of the very narrow roads throughout Wales and the almost never-ending round-abouts.

To conclude the evening, attendees sang “Land of Our Fathers,” the Welsh national anthem, accompanied by a YouTube rendition provided by Bob Crowther.

It was announced late last year that the Welsh Festival would be undergoing some changes this year.  The Welsh Festival team that had been running the event on a yearly basis had decided it was time to set things in a new direction, and that direction was slightly south and west, to Samaria.  Luke and Shayna Waldron, in fact, will be hosting the Welsh Festival at the Heritage Square site in Samaria in September of this year.  This will constitute a shift in the focus for activities toward the specifically Welsh-heritage related.  The Poetry contest and chairing of the Festival Bard will still take place as in the past, and a full list of event activities is being worked out in the coming months. 

Membership in the Malad Valley Welsh Society is only $10 and goes from one Welsh Festival to the next.  For information about the Welsh Society and its activities, contact Jean Thomas, President, at 208-509-2262 or [email protected].

Welsh Society members will serve as volunteers at the new Malad Valley Welsh Festival at Heritage Square in September.