On Friday, March 3, Gustavus Adolphus College will host the 33rd annual St. David’s Day observance, honoring the patron saint of Wales, with a mini-Gymanfa Ganu (Welsh hymn sing), reception, presentation, and luncheon. The public is invited to this annual celebration, one of the largest such events in North America on or around March 1 (St. David’s Day).
The mini-Gymanfa Ganu begins at 10 a.m. in Christ Chapel. Several hymns will be sung, led by a massed student choir of 200 voices. “Diadem” (“All Hail The Power of Jesus’ Name”), “Deemster” (“O Listen To Our Wondrous Story”), and “Cwm Rhondda” (“Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah”) will be directed by Greg Aune and Patricia Kazarow, conductors of the Gustavus Choir and the Choir of Christ Chapel, respectively.
“Bro Aber” (“O Come To Be Our Saviour”) will be sung to mark the 40th anniversary of the disaster in the tiny village of Aberfan, South Wales, where coal waste from nearby mines, loosened by heavy rainfall, slid down over Pantglas Junior School, killing 114 school children and six school staff members.
A reception will be held at 10:30 a.m. in Alumni Hall in the O.J. Johnson Student Union, followed by an 11 a.m. presentation by Mark Bjelland, associate professor of geography at Gustavus, who will speak on “Cardiff Today.” During the 2004-05 academic year, Bjelland was a Fulbright Scholar in Cardiff, Wales. The events of the day conclude with a Welsh luncheon in the college’s C. Charles Jackson Campus Center.
Cost is $13.50 per person for the reception and luncheon. Reservations should be made with the Office of Marketing and Public Relations, c/o Dana Lamb, Gustavus Adolphus College, 800 W. College Ave., St. Peter, MN 56082-1498. For more information, call 507/933-7520 or e-mail dlamb@gustavus.edu. Payment should be made payable to Gustavus Adolphus College. The reservation deadline is Monday, Feb. 27.
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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510