Saint David's Day, March 1, 2010
A wonderful success by all accounts!
The Welsh flag was raised on one of the flagpoles in Carbondale's Memorial Park at 10 A.M. on March 1. Present at the ceremony were Lackawanna County Commissioner, Michael Washo; Brian Kaeb, president of the Lackawanna County Saint David's Society; Carbondale City Councilman John Gigliotti, Carbondale Community Development Director Christine Tocki-Mulvey (standing in for Carbondale Mayor, the Honorable Justin M. Taylor, who was unable to attend because of a previous committment); Ted Frutchey, Jerry Williams, and Tudor Williams, Lackawanna County Saint David's Society; Lackawanna County Commissioner, Corey O'Brien; Barbara Campbell, Joseph Pascoe, and Dr. S. Robert Powell, Carbondale Historial Society. A photograph by Tom Flannery of the group assembled for the flag raising was published on page one of the March 10, 2010 issue of the Carbondale News.
The guest speaker for the evening, Dr. Richard M. Loomis; David Thomas, president of the Wyoming Valley Saint David's Society; and Dr. S. Robert Powell, president of the Carbondale HIstorical Society and Museum.
A capacity crowd filled Durfee Parish Hall at the Trinity Episcopal Church, River Street, Carbondale, for the seventh annual Carbondale Saint David's Day dinner.
One hundred and twenty guests at the formal sit-down dinner, including representatives from the Waymart Area Historical Society, the Lackawanna County Historical Society, the Jermyn Historical Society, the Dunmore Historical Society, as well as representative from the primary ethnic organizations and societies of Lackawanna County
The dinner menu: leek and potato soup, salad, roast pork with prune and apple stuffing, glazed carrotts, mashed potatoes, peach shortcake, and homemade Welsh cookies (as dinner favors at each place setting; cookies made by Barbara Campbell, Lynda Nepa, Susan Mazza, and Claudia Lopatofsky)
Linen tablecloths and napkins, china tea pots (one on each table, from the collections of Joseph Pascoe, Barbara Campbell, and S. Robert Powell), as well as bouquets of real daffodils and leeks on each table all contributed to the success of the evening.
Bob McDonnell (McDonnell's Restaurant, Carbondale) catered the dinner. He is shown here, on the right, as he receives an ovation by the dinner guests.
At the speakers' stand, Lackawanna County Commissioner Michael Washo and Brian Kaeb, president of the Lackawanna County Saint David's Society; in the foreground, in profile, left, Joseph Pascoe; right, Jerry Williams
Guest speaker, Dr. Richard M. Loomis, a native of Denver, with a Ph.D from Cornell University in Medieval and Renaissance Literature. Dr. Loomis, who has published translations of Dafydd ap Gwilym, Gerald of Wales, and Guto'r Glyn, as well as early Arthurian narratives, spoke on the topic Singing In Welsh (O bydded i'r heniaith barhau) at the Carbondale Welsh Heritage Evening.
Brian Kaeb presented Dr. S. Robert Powell an award from the Lackawanna County Saint David's Society in recognition and appreciation of his continuing work to preserve and promote the Welsh heritage of the Lackawanna Valley of Pennsylvania.
Carbondale Mayor, the Honorable Justin M. Taylor offered remarks appropriate to the occasion and issued a proclamation (No. 2010-5), declaring Monday, March 1, 2010 Welsh Heritage Day in Carbondale, and asked that all citizens recognize and commemorate the day with appropriate ceremonies in honor of the importance of the Welsh people in Carbondale's history.
The Scranton Saint David's Welsh Male Chorus, Mrs. Frances Justin, Director, Mr. Gene Hopkins, accompanist, presented a concert of Welsh music, and a much-applauded medley of songs from the Broadway show My Fair Lady. The chorus was organized in 1949 by William Hughes of Scranton and patterned after the traditional male choruses in Wales. There are presently 14 members in the Chorus, including Carbondale native Bob Vandenberg (on the far right).
The Chorus is very active, singing for churches, civic, and social organizations, as well as nursing and retirement homes. They present a varied program of Broadway, patriotic, folk songs, and holiday music, as appropriate.
One of the Welsh tombstones in Carbondale's Maplewood Cemetery. This stone marks the grave of Mary Davis, who died on January 30, 1832, at the age of 44. She was the wife of the Reverend John Davis.
The Reverend John Davis and his wife Mary were among the twenty Welsh famiies who were brought to Carbondale from Wales by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in the late 1820s for the specific purpose of teaching the D&H the techniques and procedures of deep underground anthracite coal mining.
Carbondale USA
There are ten cities/communities in the United States with the name Carbondale. They are located in
Amador County, California
Garfield County, Colorado
Jackson County, Illinois
Warren County, Indiana
Polk County, Iowa
Osage County, Kansas
Menominee County, Michigan
Athens County, Ohio
Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Fayette County, West Virginia
Some important Carbondale "firsts": · 1829: the Delaware & Hudson Gravity Railroad from Carbondale to Honesdale began operations on October 9, 1829. This was the first commercially successful railroad to operate in America. · 1831: the first deep underground anthracite coal mine in America was opened here in 1831 (just West of the Seventh Avenue crossing on the Delaware & Hudson tracks) · 1850: the first eisteddfod (a Welsh musical and literary festival) in America was held in Carbondale on Christmas Day, 1850. Among the literarians and musicians who attended were Daniel Davies, Rev. John Moses, Thomas Eynon, Rev. Thomas J. Phillips, and Edward Jones. These were the pioneer eisteddofdwyr of America. · 1851: Carbondale was incorporated as a city on March 15, 1851, making it the oldest city (the "Pioneer" city) in Lackawanna County, and the fourth oldest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia, Lancaster, and York) · 1853: the first lodge in America of the ancient Welsh fraternal order of Ivorites was opened in Carbondale in the fall of 1853; the first public Ivorite celebration in America took place in Carbondale in August 1855, when a procession and other public exercises took place, under the direction of Thomas Voyle, Esquire, chief marshal, and Edward Roberts, Esquire. · 1859: the first anthracite coal breaker in America, the Racket Brook Breaker, was erected by the D&H, adjacent to the company's coal and rail operations in the vicinity of the Artesian Well. Distinguished / Celebrated Carbondale Natives: Architecture:
Rich architectural heritage; substantial number of nineteenth-century houses, including many high style Victorian houses, including the Eli E. Hendrick House and Park (designed by the celebrated American architect Andrew Jackson Downing)
This building, located on Salem Avenue in downtown Carbondale, is the former Masonic Temple. It is currently for sale. It is an architectural treasure that must be preserved! It has a few problems at present, but nothing that can't be solved. Contact the Historical Society at 570-282-0385.
Carbondale City Hall and Courthouse (Romanesque Revival structure, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983)
Historic Building for Sale
