Attention all Wisconsinites! Help us beat Minnesota's Welsh! (If you're already member--sign up a relative or friend--what a great gift!)

Originally appeared in Ninnau www.ninnau.com

You can forget about football. When it comes to friendly rivalries, its not the Vikings versus the Packers or even Paul Bunyans ax, anymore. Ellis Jones, of Minnesota, has challenged Mona Everett, of neighboring Wisconsin, to see which state can recruit the most new members to join the Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu Association before the 2011 NAFOW in Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 1-4.

If you missed it, both Ellis and Mona were among about two dozen local Welsh society leaders attending the annual meeting of the WNGGA Affiliated Welsh Organizations (AWOs) at the 2010 NAFOW in Portland, when the discussion turned to increasing membership in the WNGGA.

AWOs are local Welsh organizations or businesses that have joined the WNGGA to support the preservation of Welsh culture on the international level. While there are approximately 120 AWOs located throughout Canada, the U.S., Wales, Australia and New Zealand, not all members of every local Welsh society are members of the WNGGA. The WNGGA depends on the local Welsh societies to attract new members and publicize the North American Festival of Wales. Most individual members and NAFOW attendees first hear about the international organization and NAFOW through their local societies.

The Board of Trustees of the WNGGA also looks to the local societies to suggest potential nominees to join the Board. All WNGGA Board members must have been members for at least one year before serving on the Board.

It was during a lively discussion about attracting new members to WNGGA, that Ellis threw down the gauntlet and Mona picked it up and accepted his challenge. Next August, the WNGGA will tally up new memberships and see which state recruited more new members. If Wisconsin wins, Mona has said she has a nice Cheesehead for Ellis to wear in Cleveland. If Minnesota prevails, it is certain Ellis will have something equally diabolical in store.

This is just one approach to attract new members to WNGGA. Does your state want to challenge a neighboring one? Or does your local Welsh society have other good ideas? Let WNGGA know, by emailing publicity@wngga.org. As always, local societies receive newsletters and publicity and membership materials from the WNGGA, along with advance NAFOW registration information to distribute to their members.

Membership applications can be printed from the WNGGA website www.wngga.org , or requested from WNGGA International Headquarters, PO Box 410, Granville, OH 43023.