A few years ago, our family started making St David’s Day about doing “the little things” by doing some volunteering, in addition to having a special dinner and/or pub night.  

We did things like spend a couple hours on a walk picking up litter, get something needed by a homeless person (coat, sleeping bag, a meal or lift to a medical clinic), help an elderly person in our neighborhood run errands or do things like change lightbulbs or rake, walk a neighbor’s dog, etc.  

There are probably lots of things we can all find to improve our communities or our immediate environments in small and simple ways to make things better, like even just picking up litter. We can do something alone or organize an activity with friends and family.  

If you like animals, see if a rescue or shelter or even a zoo near you could use some help.  A school or library may have a program to help refugees or other people in the community learn the language or customs or a group to provide company and conversation to the elderly. A local school may need help with a project.  

If you’d like to find organized volunteer opportunities, Volunteer Match lists all kinds of organizations that need help around the world, including in Wales and the rest of the UK, in Canada, in the US, in Argentina and other countries. Check whether your city or country has a site like this with local volunteer opportunities.

If you’re in Canada, Volunteer Canada may list opportunities with organizations looking for help.

In the US, try Volunteers of America

This year, for us, St David’s Day is on a school day and we’ve got two students in our house, so we’re looking for things to do after school, before going out to get some sausage rolls for all and beer for the adults!

In our city, Portland, Oregon USA, Hands On Greater Portland is looking for volunteers to help the elderly and disabled do grocery shopping in the morning.

Also in Portland, Kindred Hospice is looking for volunteers who can play an instrument or sing to share music with hospice residents at the end of their lives.

Of course, we can also all just look out our windows or walk out our doors and think about what we might want to do.

Whatever you do, Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!

PRESS RELEASE: January 2018 In May/June of 2019, NOVA Center for the Performing Arts, in a co-production with Rimrock Opera Foundation in Billings, Montana, USA, will perform Joseph Parry’s Blodwen (the first Welsh opera) – yn Gymraeg! [in Welsh], with English supertitles. Tickets will go on sale in September 2018 – seating is limited so the early bird … http://www.novabillings.org

This will be the first complete stage production of Blodwen in America and will use Dulais Rhys’s 2015 chamber version of the orchestration. For more information: http://dulaisrhysmusicservices.com/blodwen.htm  

 DATGANIAD I’R WASG a GALWAD I GANTORION: Ionawr 2018 Yn ystod Mai/Mehefin 2019, bydd NOVA Center for the Performing Arts, mewn cyd-gynhrychiad gyda Rimrock Opera Foundation yn Billings, Montana, UDA yn perfformio Blodwen Joseph Parry (yr opera Gymraeg gyntaf) – yn Gymraeg! - gydag uwchdeitlau Saesneg. Bydd tocynnau ar werth o fis Medi 2018 – mae nifer y seddau’n gyfyng, felly’r cyntaf i’r felin …

http://www.novabillings.org Dyma fydd y cynhyrchiad llwyfan cyfan cyntaf o Blodwen yn America, gan ddefnyddio fersiwn siambr 2015 Dulais Rhys o’r gerddorfaeth. Am fwy o wybodaeth: http://dulaisrhysmusicservices.com/blodwen.htm GALWAD I GANTORION: mae Rimrock yn gwahodd cantorion proffesiynol o Gymru sydd â diddordeb mewn ymgeisio am Brif Ran* i anfon portffolio proffesiynol at y Llywydd: Ms Lucinda Butler, 4964 Nez Perce Lookout, Billings, Montana 59106, UDA neu operapresident@hotmail.com Disgwylir i’r unawdwyr gynorthwyo cantorion Rimrock gyda chanu yn Gymraeg  * http://dulaisrhysmusicservices.com/assets/DRAMATIS%20PERSONAEC.pdf Mae croeso i chi anfon y wybodaeth hon ymlaen at unrhyw un fyddai â diddordeb.

Letters Home from Jaye L Swift on Vimeo .

AmeriCymru: How did it feel to win the Cardiff International Film Festival?

Jonah: It was a surprise to be honest. The various criticisms we’d had up to that point varied from reasonable to downright mean-minded but we’d had a couple of minor hits with some festivals – best foreign film, best war film and a commended or two. Neither Jaye (the writer/producer) nor I had even thought about what to say when we got to the stage. She chickened out and I said something or other but I can’t remember what. I still hardly believe it.

AmeriCymru: How would you describe the film?

Jonah: It’s an intense snapshot of what it must be like to face such numb horror as the slaughter of WW1. We tried to give each of the soldiers a loving and hope-filled home-life, against which we set the stark claustrophobia they experienced in the trench before going over the top.

AmeriCymru: How did the project begin and what was your role in it?

Jonah: Jaye and I were part of a writer’s group based in Bridgend, South Wales and we had often whinged about not being able to sell our work. In the past I had some success with stage and radio plays and she had some more recent success with stage plays – one of which was Letters Home. She had started to put together a team to make the play as a film and asked me to direct it. We took her original script and changed it to make it more filmic – adding the three women and the baby – real name Josh, who behaved immaculately throughout his scenes. I thought of using Suo Gan as a theme throughout and a well-behaved baby gave me the perfect excuse. Jaye found Andy Edwards, a WW1 enthusiast who had built a trench at Morfa Bay Adventure Park near Pendine in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. Some of the uniforms and weapons came from The Barry at War Museum , South Wales, some from the Tin Shed, Laugharne , West Wales and the rest we hired.

AmeriCymru: How easy was it working with a small crew and budget?

Jonah: If we’d known what we were doing we would have costed the whole project very differently but we ragged and tagged our way through it. Cast and crew did the whole thing for expenses only. That’s how persuasive Jaye can be. We used kickstarter - crowd funding site to get the money for hiring locations and equipment.

The actors were professionals, working for Fluellen Theatre in Swansea and Pontardawe, South Wales but most of whom had never performed on film. AJ (sound) and Matt (camera) were both starting their careers in this field. I had directed stage and radio but this was my first attempt at film.

Because we were a small crew, we were flexible and willing to learn as we went. There were no what we call jobs-worths in the gang. This was very much a team effort. Whatever needed doing got done by whoever was standing nearest.

Filming began on October 11th 2015.

We used a farmhouse owned by a friend of mine for the several “home” locations and filmed the whole project over three days. Problems along the way were circumnavigated as best we could. When the actress playing Tomos’ mother pulled out, Jaye and I looked at each other and decided that of the two of us, she would stand a better chance of playing the role. After that, she was muddying up the soldiers in between takes and dishing out the food while Mark (runner, armourer and smoke-machine operator) was helping them put on their puttees every morning. How they did it during the war is beyond me. It seemed to take forever.

Having shot the “home” sequences in one day, we all stayed at Morfa Bay for two further days to shoot the rest of the film. One consideration was the weather. Jaye had an alternative script for if the weather was wet, changing the location to Passchendaele. Fortunately, the weather remained dry and so we were able to stick to the original idea.

Editing and sound mixing was completed by the team during spare weekends either side of Christmas and we were able to show it to all the people who had supported us at Barry at War museum on 21st of May 2016.

The premiere proper was at Pontardawe Arts Centre (where most of the actors were based) on July 1st 2016 – the centenary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

AmeriCymru: You funded some (or all?) of the making of “Letters Home” with a kickstarter campaign, how hard was that to make happen? Did it make getting to make the film easier? Do you think crowdfunding opens more opportunities to independent artists?

Jonah: Because we needed specific locations and costumes, the project would have been too expensive for us to fund from our bank-balances, even though we cut it down to the bare minimum. Thank goodness there are people out there who want to fund films for very little reward. In the case of Letters Home all they got was a private showing and a signed DVD. Our crowdfunding experience was entirely positive and much easier than I had been led to believe. If you have a project and you need crowdfunding, my advice is to treat all the sponsors as members of the team, as we did. Keep them in the information loop, tell them about the disasters and the triumphs of the process, show them the out-takes and the team is stronger for it. The film wouldn’t have been made without them.

The kickstarter page; Letters Home

AmeriCymru: Have you had a chance to watch the film as part of an audience? What effect do think it’s had on the people who’ve seen it and was it what you hoped or expected?

Jonah: We’ve seen it a few times and in various locations: Barry at War Museum, Pontardawe Arts Centre, a hotel in Llanelli, Brecon Cathedral (on Armistice Day 2016 – very moving) and most recently in the Vue Cinema in Cardiff as part of the Cardiff Independent Film Festival. Each one of those locations had something special and emotional about it. On three occasions, Trenchfoot – Andy Edwards’ band played. Great band – check them out.

Technically our favourite was the Vue Cinema because the sound of the mine (synthesised by AJ) came up through your feet when you had professional loudspeakers of that size.

Jaye is a very skilful writer and people responded strongly to the suppressed emotions in the film. Most people talked to me about how sad and hopeless thoughts were mixed with heroism and flashes of love, for a real knot of emotions. That pleased me most; that we managed to get across that range of emotions in such a short piece.

AmeriCymru: What was the most challenging thing about making “Letters Home”?

Jonah: Trying to show the size of this horror with such limited resources. We chose to focus on the three men and get inside their heads, rather than try to show the battle. We couldn’t advance across no man’s land, because there were houses surrounding the one in Morfa Bay, therefore we had the soldiers passing camera as they began the assault. Ok – I sort of stole that from All Quiet on the Western Front. I was determined not to show them dying, so that we could all believe that they might have survived.

AmeriCymru: Where can people see “Letters Home”?

Jonah: https://vimeo.com/172583931

We’d be very happy for any feed-back from AmeriCymru readers.

The review in Wales Arts Review

AmeriCymru: You worked at the BBC for many years, what was your career there and had you had prior experience as a film or video director?

Jonah: I worked at the BBC in Cardiff as a sound engineer but the way that the BBC was organised in my day meant that if you fancied a go at something different, they would often let you do it. Along the way, I presented, wrote and presented, directed (radio) and produced. I never directed TV – now you’ve made me feel a bit of a charlatan – but worked on big network productions, so was able to watch the process from the side-lines. Before I joined the BBC however, I was a peg-bar animator, making films that I had written. That meant that I had a good sense of pre-editing (you don’t want to draw stuff that won’t end up in the film).

AmeriCymru: You have another film, “The Caterer’s Reckoning,” which you direct and also wrote, what can you tell us about it?

Jonah: Once Letters Home was done and dusted, Jaye and I thought about the next project. Keep it cheap and make it very different. What can we film in my house? I looked at the creative mess in my computer and came up with a black comedy which had been performed in the New Venture Theatre, Brighton a few years before. Jaye laughed at the script and so I set about turning it into a film. This time we paid everyone – except Jaye and me. If you’re going to this business, do it for love, not money.

The plot? Too many possibilities for spoilers. Suffice it to say; a ghastly married couple who can’t stand each other, wake up after a party in their house to discover something unexpected behind the sofa. We’re just gluing on the music and the effects as I write. Once we have draft one, we’ll show it to people at an arts centre in Cardiff and collect their thoughts before possibly a final tweak or two. Hopefully we’ll start on the festivals circuit with it before Christmas.

AmeriCymru: What’s next for you? What else would you like to do?

Jonah: Two possible films (one written by Jaye) on the subject of Earth’s annihilation as part of the Create 50 Impact project. Three possible monologues of mine to be filmed in Welsh and English. Jaye also has an expensive-sounding script for which we’re trying to get Ffilm Cymru Wales funding. There’s a vague idea of mine for a longer film involving spooky goings-on in Merthyr Mawr (not far from Bridgend, South Wales – wonderfully strange-looking place) but we’ll probably stick to the short ones first.

I also have to come up with a logo for 2 Jays productions.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?.

Jonah: This year was my first ever trip to America and I think I hit two of the best parts of it with the best local guides. The first was Portland, Oregon where we were looked after by the AmeriCymru team of Gabby and Ceri, who took us out into the sort of wilds you don’t get in Llantwit Major, where we are based. The second was San Francisco where a friend of the family showed us around. My partner, the author Mari Griffith (featured elsewhere in AmeriCymru) and I were delighted to make the connections between the Old Country and the New. Hopefully that will be the first of many trips here. Tell your Hollywood friends, maybe they’ll invite us over.

Any other questions or observations – please contact me through AmeriCymru.

Thanks
Jonah.

Interview by Gaabriel Becket

Shipwreck at Morning Light – Cefn Sidan, Pembrey from the Vyvyan collection

AmeriCymru: How would you describe your work? If you had to choose a genre, what would it be?

Vyvyan: It is a well known fact that Wales is a truly beautiful country with majestic countryside and breathtaking coastline. Most of my work is based on seascapes although from time-to-time, an occasional countryside scene will capture my imagination. Living by the sea with a splendid view overlooking the Gower Peninsula, painting coastline scenes provides me with the “passion" to paint.

The overall style of my work can be described as contemporary and having practised as a graphic designer, my profession has provided me with a strong structural approach to my work especially with the use of colour, composition and technique.

AmeriCymru: How did you evolve as a visual artist, did you have particular influences or was it just more organic? What was your education as an artist?

From very early days, I always knew that art would play an important part in my life. As my education progressed, art became my favourite subject in school and I was extremely fortunate to have the support of my art teacher Wally Jones, who encouraged me to develop my interest in this subject.

Between 1966 & 1968, I studied graphics and fine art at Llanelli School of Art. My fine art lecturer was the well known Welsh artist, Tom Nash. He was greatly influenced by the renowned Welsh artist, Ceri Richards and on numerous occasions, Tom Nash demonstrated the style and contemporary approach Ceri Richards adopted to his work. This obviously left a lasting impression on me and to some degree, has had some influence in the way I approach my work.

During the two year period at the Llanelli School of Art, I also participated in a graphic design course which I enjoyed immensely and found that both these courses provided a perfect blend which has remained with me to this day. My lecturer in graphic design Howie Jones provided me with the platform to develop a keen awareness in graphic design.

Following my Pre-Dip course at Llanelli School Art, I went on to study graphic design at Ravensbourne College of Art & Design between 1998 - 1971. I qualified with a First Class Honours and then my career in graphic design commenced with a London Advertising Agency.

AmeriCymru: What media do you work in? Do you mix your own paints and pigments? What do you use?

Vyvyan: I tend to work mostly with oil paints as I generally paint with a palette knife on a large format canvas. Apart from the odd watercolour and acrylic, the majority of my work tends to be in the medium of oils and on average, I use a maximum of six colours to achieve the tone of colour for a painting and I never use black paint. Instead, I always use Pain's Grey

AmeriCymru: How do you usually choose your subjects, is it planned - “today a seascape” - or more that you see something and it grows on you or you have to recreate it?

The bestselling autobiography of the first superstars of rugby union, Terry Davies, has reached the shortlist of rugby book of the year at a prestigious awards.

Terry Davies - Wales’s First Superstar Fullback by Terry Davies with Geraint Thomas has reached the The Cross Sports Book Awards Rugby Book of the Year short list.

‘The Cross Sports Book Awards is the major annual promotion for sports writing and publishing leading to Father’s Day. The Awards will be filmed and aired on Sky Sports.

In his autobiography, Terry Davies reveals the truth about his life in rugby in the 1950s as well as the loss of his talented brother to leukaemia at a young age.

He also reveals all about what happened to that crossbar that was stolen from Twickenham in 1958.

The book tells of the remarkable life story of the Lions star, encompassing his childhood in Llanelli, learning rugby in Strade School, making his debut as a schoolboy for Swansea, entering the Royal Marines and winning his first cap before going on to become a household name

The boy from Bynea, who combined the good looks of a young Robert Redford with silky skills and tough as teak tackling, went on to wow crowds across the rugby playing world through his displays for Wales and the British and Irish Lions in 1959. The 2017 British and Irish Lions will embark on their tour to New Zealand in June.

From the highs of touring New Zealand and beating the All Blacks in their own back yard to the lows of a career-threatening shoulder injury, his rugby journey, which began as a nervous 17 year old one rainy day up in Ebbw Vale and ended with universal acclaim, is real Roy of the Rovers stuff .

‘Terry is a natural storyteller,’ said co-writer Geraint Thomas, ‘His book is packed with humour. He typifies the Welsh humour once so prevalent amongst the working class,’

‘His tale is both a social commentary and cultural account of Welsh life pre and post war as well as a priceless account of a bygone age of rugby union’ added Geraint.

‘As a young inspiring player he left a huge impression on me due to the way he stood out from the rest.’ added Sir Gareth Edwards, who wrote the introduction to the book.

The book is presented in memory of Terry’s brother Len, who was caped for Wales before Terry, but died in his twenties of leukaemia.

Geraint Thomas is a Swansea Valley based journalist, writer and playwright. After graduating from Cardiff University's School of Journalism he secured a position as a news reporter on the South Wales Evening Post where he is currently still employed. He also writes the occasional feature for Swansea Life magazine.

Category winners will be announced at a star-studded black tie dinner at – Nursery Pavilion, Lord’s Cricket Ground on 24th May at 6pm.

The winners of the awards will become the shortlist for the overall Sports Book of the Year 2017, voted by the public at www.sportsbookawards.com .

The Terry Davies Story: Wales’s first superstar fullback by Geraint Thomas (£9.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.