Cymrodorion BOSTON Welsh
yn gwneud y pethau bychain . . . a mwy!

Thanks to all who attended the meeting last Wednesday in Salem. In attendence were the old 'guard' Rod, Eirug, Dic, Dee, Aled and David, and a few new faces, Nick Lewis and Lloyd Davis. Many thanks to Phil Wyman for hosting and providing some Welsh beer!

We discussed the history of the society, which included a description by Aled of what the word Cymrodorion means - it's not what you think.

We had an interesting and eager discussion on the role and objectives of the society, be it social, cultural or professional. Nick brought up the topic of connecting with organizations in the UK that specialize in social renewal, to help with Salem's current issues. Lloyd shared his history of being the president of the Connecticut valley Welsh society, and how they would have monthly meetings around the history and culture of Wales, with visiting speakers.

Aled and Eirug reminded us of the website, which is a wonderful and powerful resource for us all to keep in touch and talk about what we want.

We discussed our relationship with the Friends of Harvard Celtic studies, especially in relation to our St David's Day celebration, and look forward to sharing the evening with them next year again!

Phil, Eirug, Dic, Rod & others - did I miss anything?

ps We signed a get well card for Carolyn Probert - contact Barbara Nicholson if you'd like to have a current address to contact her.

Indeed - the history and activities of the Cymmrodorion (originally with two 'm's) might be an inspiration to some of us.

Concerning 'going forward' (as they say these days) - I'm always more interested in the literary and cultural than the business side of things, and am more than happy to help organise some small scale events if anybody would be interested. New and old stuff which could be repeated or adapted include:

• Welsh-language film showings
• Poetry readings and discussions
• Introductory discussions concerning the history and current situation of Welsh literature
• Poetry-writing workshops (discovering in English the beauty of Welsh poetics such as cynghanedd)
• Welsh-language conversation hours (now that the Welsh class has come to an end)
• Anything else connected with learning (or improving) the language - how about some refreshers for readers and writers who are just a bit rusty?
• Welsh-American history seminar (Eirug could talk to us about his new book and/or old research).
• etc.

A major consideration for us at the moment, I think, is communication. Ideally we should find a way off this clunky site and onto something smoother, which would allow members to communicate with each other more easily. Any ideas? A Cymrodorion GoogleGroup, for example?

One problem is, that of all the 'Cymrodorion', only 19 are currently members of this site. 

How to reach out to the 'membership' and persuade them to sign up and log in? 

And then - how to keep the online 'community' active? (News, events, announcements, discussion, etc.)