I went out to Briceville, TN, yesterday as I am again in Tennessee visiting relatives and stopped at the library, church and school since it was a lovely sunny day. Briceville is a very depressed area--it wassettled by Welsh coal miners and was a real boom town in its day--nowit is what you think of when you hear "Appalachia". The mine is stillworking, but just laid off a bunch more folks.

Anyway, the librarian works very hard to help the children keep readingand provides school supplies, etc., that they can just come in and takewhen they need them.

I told her I first heard of Briceville when I was hunting R. D. Thomas' book, Hanes Cymry America (1872)--he had a family connection to that area. There is an old Welshchurch there that is being restored--see picture of Knoxville ActorsCo-op among the tombstones in the church cemetery.

Anyway, Lynette (the librarian) asks people to send Christmas cards tothe children of Briceville--if you send them to her, she puts them in abasket and the children can each open one. If there is a little giftinside, the child keeps it, if there is money inside, it goes in thesummer reading program fund. (You don't need to put anything in thecard, though.) She has all the cards in notebooks that she showedme--from all over, including Wales. If you have a Welsh or coal miningconnection and can include a short note to the children, that is reallygreat.

Here's the address:
Briceville Public Library
C. Lynette Seeber, Library Director
P.O. Box 361
Briceville, TN 37710
USA

Just thought I'd pass this on, as many of you will be doing cardsanyway. It is the same address as above--just under library put(Children's Christmas Card) so Lynette doesn't open it.

I hope everyone is doing well and has a safe holiday season.

Thanks,
Mona